Ask the Most Important Hiring Question

Marcianne Kuethen

November 27, 2012

Whether you’re an employer or a candidate, conducting a job search can be full of pitfalls. My resume may look just right for your job’s requirements, but am I really going to be able to produce the results you want?

To make it less tricky, here’s the most important question we should all consider in searching for a candidate or looking for employment: What’s the most important thing this person needs to do in this role in order to be successful?

Lou Adler, long-time recruiting expert, advocates that hiring managers ask this question first to help them prepare an accurate job description and performance objectives. And if candidates ask this in the interview, it will give them the opportunity to give an overview of their accomplishments that support why they’re a good fit for the job. Adler also gives a great, brief explanation of how to ask behavioral interview questions to assess a candidate’s competence and motivation.

First describe one of the objectives and then ask the candidate to describe something significant he or she has accomplished that’s most comparable. It takes about 10-15 minutes of fact-finding and probing to get the real answer to this, and you need to do it for each objective.

Read more here to get the full benefit of Adler’s interviewing advice.

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Marcianne Kuethen

Marcianne Kuethen is a Senior Writer at Amtec, where she has written over 700 blog posts in the past 18 years. Her family has led the company across three generations, from her father who founded Amtec in 1959 to her son Barrett who serves as President and CEO today. Outside of writing, she makes art, music, and gardens.