Mark Murphy explains how to spot candidates' attitudes through behavioral interview answers. A strong answer shows someone who faced a challenge, took action to fix it, and learned something. A weak answer just complains about the problem without showing they did anything about it.
Remember our earlier discussion about problem bringers versus problem solvers? Well, this is why we ask questions like this, very open-ended questions. Could you tell me about a time that working in a team or group was challenging? Some people will tell you how it was challenging and what they did to make it less challenging. That would be our positive person here. Working on a team Developers were talented, but I saw the interface was flawed, so here's what I did to fix it. All sorts of wonderful problem solver kinds of activities. This person, again, real life answer. What did they say? Well, you asked them about a time a team or group was challenging, and well, lo and behold, they told you about a time that the group was challenging. They made no mention of how they would've fixed it. In fact, they're pretty much saying, I didn't fix it. I'm just, you asked me about a time it was challenging. Oh brother, I got times it was challenging. And that's what they gave you. But again, it starts to, once you start to outline this, it becomes a lot clearer. What is a hallmark of a great answer? What's a hallmark of a not so great answer?
