Hiring and Retaining Top Talent Blog

I came across this list of classic Microsoft Interview Questions on a DIGG post and thought our readers might get a good chuckle. I would never recommend these be used as an interview technique since most of them suggest the interviewer is capable of making an assessment of the intellectual capability of the candidate. I would suggest this is far from the truth for most recruiters and hiring managers when they conduct interviews. Although some may swear by these interview questions - I would put them in the same interview question category as "What form of plant life would you come back as?"

The author claims the questions are from actual interviews conducted by Microsoft Employees. The interview questions are listed at http://www.sellsbrothers.com/fun/msiview/default.aspx?content=question.htm. My favorite of all is the "Why are manhole covers round?" Without cheating by going to this site, can anyone answer this question? Does Microsoft actually conduct interview training to teach hiring managers to ask these interview questions?

Barry Deutsch

© Copyright 2008 IMPACT Hiring Solutions. All Rights Reserved.

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All top talent possess the same characteristic. Their level of initiative far exceeds that of their peers. The tough question that we are frequently asked is "How do you measure intiative in the interview?" If you ask someone "Do you have initiative?" -- who thinks the typical candidate will come back and answer "Heck no, I'm a slug". Of course the candidate is going to tell you what you want to hear in the interview - most of them need a job - they'll tell you whatever it takes to convince you they should be hired.

So, how do you avoid the interview syndrome of candidates spewing back in your face whatever they sense you desire? It can be done by first understanding why initiative is the most important behavioral trait leading to success - far exceeding the importance of the other core traits. We explore the five core traits of success and their related interview questions on our website in the section on Interviewing Top Talent. Top performers demonstrate their initiative by:

Going above and beyond the call of duty

Doing the type of things their peers are unwilling to do

Not procrastinating

Anticipating what needs to be done

Not waiting to be told what to do

Being proactive

Who has someone like this on their staff right now? What if you could get 1 or 2 more? What if everyone you hire from this point forward has strong initiative? Would it make a difference in your success as an executive or manager? My guess is that the difference would be extraordinary!

Intiative is not a trait a candidate turns off and on over their career like a switch. They don't wake up at 25, 37, or 42 and leap out of bed one morning yelling "today is the day I start showing initiative". We're wired to show/not show initiative from some of earliest childhood experiences.

The candidates who achieve the greatest success have a strong consistent track record of showing initiative in almost everything they do. Try to measure this in your next interview and you'll be shocked at the low quantity of candidates who possess strong initiative. We contend only the 25% of all candidates will demonstrate initiative on a consistent basis. We'll explore how to pose the initiative interview question in another blog posting and I'll try to use an example of my Frosh-Soph Girls team to illustrate the importance of initiative.

Barry Deutsch

© Copyright 2008 Impact Hiring Solutions. All Rights Reserved

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Hiring sales people seems to be one of the most difficult positions companies seem to face. They are used to selling, they always have the answer, some are so smooth and the best are so friendly. So how do you separate the the best sales person from the ones that are embellishing and just good actors.
You […]

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Can anyone think of a good reason why most companies do not invest heavily in hiring training to teach effective job interviewing techniques? Most Managers and Executives are abandoned and left alone when it comes to interview training to effectively conduct candidate assessment. Although many companies are willing to give lip-service to the concept of […]

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Seth Godin’s article on interviewing is right that interviews are a waste of time. Most managers interview on past experience and never test or determines if the person can adapt that past experience to their company and their job. Hiring managers just assume they did a good job before so they will work out in my […]

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I am constantly asked in our workshops and webinars how can you accurately measure cultural fit?
 
One of the top ten mistakes in hiring occurs when a hiring executive or manager does not accurately measure cultural fit - or what we term Adaptability. A candidate may have come from a comparable company, have all the skills […]

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A Sure Way to Have a Candidate Fail is Ask Questions About Experience
We have assisted thousands of hiring managers with interviewing. In just about every case most interviews focus on candidate’s experience.
This for the most part is a complete waste of time. The interviewer spends hours often in great detail going thru every position the candidate has […]

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