By: Maurice Gilbert
When interviewing new hires, many hiring authorities mistakenly only focus on the technical proficiencies of the candidate. Big mistake. Our most sophisticated clients focus on the traits listed below and have been rewarded with higher recruiting ratios, higher retention rates and the development of more leaders. The traits you want to focus on are: Leadership, Motivation, Tenacity, Creativity and Vision. What follows are some prompts and questions you may wish to use when screening for these specific traits.
Leadership
• Describe a time when you were attempting to sell an idea to someone senior to yourself in the organization and received considerable pushback. How did you attempt to overcome it? What did you learn from the exchange?
• What are the most important values and ethics you demonstrate as a leader?
Motivation
• What motivates you in your job? Provide an example.
• What inspires you?
Tenacity
• Tell me about a situation at work that was going poorly. How did you rally yourself and your team to get the job done?
• What is your perspective on failure?
Creativity
• Provide an example of how you have used your creativity to solve a problem.
• Tell me suggestions you have made to improve a process, product or service.
Vision
• What one thing would you change about our business if we should hire you?
• Provide an example of when you pitched a new product or service.
Maurice Gilbert is Managing Partner of Conselium Executive Search, which specializes in placing Compliance Officers and Legal Counsel for clients in the U.S., Europe, Latin America and Asia Pacific. Maurice is also CEO of Corporate Compliance Insights, a worldwide publication devoted to governance, risk and compliance issues. Maurice can be reached at maurice@conselium.com or maurice@corporatecomplianceinsights.com.
