‘I’m a supervisor – I take advantage of easy check in interviews and do not rent those that fail’
All of us have been thrown off by a job interview question at some point, no matter how prepared we thought we were.
This hiring manager has a sneaky tactic to ensure they pick the right people, and it’s all to do with how they respond to a question about their hobbies. The man works for an IT firm and claims it helps him select the best fit for the role.
A query posted to Reddit said: “Hiring managers, what ‘special tests’ do you have for interviewees that you put them through without their knowing?”. The man replied: “I would ask about hobbies and then ask an uninformed (but hopefully not insulting) question about their hobby, even if it was one I was into myself.
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“As an example, if someone mentioned they collected comic books, I would query ‘Have they come out with anything new since the X-Men?'”. His interest isn’t particularly in what the hobby is, but he’s more intrigued to see how they react to the question – whether they respond with excitement or confusion.
He further remarked: “Some people would make me feel stupid for not knowing something they knew. Most would politely answer and maybe explain a thing or two. The really good ones would treat me like one of the lucky 10,000 and actually get me excited about their hobby.
“Since I was hiring for internal IT that would be working with senior-level staff, I had to find some way to guarantee that they weren’t going to inadvertently insult the founder or CEO.” Another manager divulged their own ‘secret test’: “I make them sit in a small room watching a video and leave then see if they gave the video their full attention or pulled out their phone by reviewing the recording.”
Yet another chimed in with their quickfire method to assess candidates’ readiness for the unexpected. They revealed: “When I managed retail 15 years ago, I would always make it to where I needed to sign something during the interview.
“Of course, I wouldn’t have a pen on me, and would ask the interviewee if I could use theirs. If they didn’t have a pen, they were out. I’ve always believed in being prepared and in retail, that can be as simple as having a pen on you for a customer to write a check.”
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