Simon Sinek shares his favorite interview question: "I hate surprises. Can you tell me something that might go wrong now so that I'm not surprised when it happens?" He explains why it gets people to reveal honest weaknesses and real feedback instead of polished answers.
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Did I share with you my favorite interview question? Ooh, tell me. So whenever I'm interviewing somebody for a position, I have one question. It's my go to. I will say, I hate surprises. Can you tell me something that might go wrong now so that I'm not surprised when it happens? It's a better way of asking, tell me what your weaknesses are. Right. Because if you say, what's your biggest weakness? Oh, I'm a perfectionist. And I'm not making it about them. I'm making it about me. I'm asking them to help me. And the answers I get are absolutely incredible. So, for example, one person told me, I'm really sensitive, and sometimes if you give me feedback, I sometimes personalize it and take it the wrong way and get really emotional.
Great thing to know. Now, it doesn't exclude them from getting the job, but it's certainly something that really helps me totally. But I know that going in now. No surprise. My absolute favorite question to ask in an interview, and it's unbelievable the answers I get. That's a fantastic question. I'm going to borrow that.
