"Losers exist. Don’t hire them."
It may not be politically correct. But it is effective.
How to avoid hiring losers:
Hire for attitude over aptitude.
Skills can be learned.
Attitude is hard to change.
So how do we weed out losers?
Ask basic questions beyond work.
Look at the bottom of their resume.
- “What did you study in college?"
- "What were your favorite classes?”
- "Would you pick the same major again?"
If they spent $200k & 4 years on something, they should be able to speak about it for a few minutes.
“Tell me about your hobbies…”
“What are you passionate about?”
People should have passion for life beyond work.
Otherwise, they likely lack the ambition and drive to add to the company.
“What do you think about our website?”
Basic research before an interview is the bare minimum.
If they can't be bothered to put a little effort in or are too afraid to speak up, then they aren't going to put in effort for the company.
“Which of your previous jobs did you enjoy the most?”
"What did you like about it?"
Growing and improving require self-reflection.
If they haven't thought about things they've spent years working on, then they aren't going to improve as an employee.
The goal is to find winners even among the nervous or unpolished.
Even the "I don't interview well" warm-up and shine with these non-work questions.
And the overly polished interviewees will struggle with these non-traditional questions if they are secretly losers.
Credit to Bryan Goldberg for the original piece on Pando years ago.