14 Questions to Ask Candidates About Their Attitude
By Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter
Inc Magazine published an article called, “14 Interview Questions Managers Should Ask Job Candidates to Determine Motivation” Moptivation is the wrong word. You want people who are inspired and who care. These are their questions. The link to the article is https://thebiggamehunter.us/inc
00:00 Introduction
00:38 Motivation vs Inspiration
01:31 The 14 questions
05:02 Summary
05:56 Outro
Background Checks: What Employers Need to Know
Inc Magazine released an article for hiring managers. The article is entitled “14 interview questions managers should ask job candidates to determine 
motivation.” I’m Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter. People hire me for no BS coaching and career advice globally, because I make things easier for people regarding hiring more effectively, job search, managing and leading better, workplace issues and much more.
And I think the title should have been questions to ask to determine inspiration rather than motivation. Now, the difference between the two words, and I’m going to refer to a coach, I follow, Lance Secretan. Lance comments that motivation is lighting a fire underneath someone. Inspiration is lighting a fire within someone. And the difference is the difference between someone who cares about their work and someone you have to kick in the butt to get them to do the work. So I think you want inspired people rather than motivated people.
So when I read some of these questions, I’m going to change the words from motivated to inspired, in order to more accurately depict what I’m trying to get across.
So the 14 questions are “Tell me about a time when you went beyond your manager’s expectations to get the job done.”
Number two, “tell me about a time when you faced multiple hurdles while trying to achieve a goal. How did you react? And what steps did you take to overcome these obstacles? The first two are pretty easy.
“Think about a specific day you had at work when you felt particularly satisfied with your accomplishments. Can you describe what happened that day and what made it a good day for you?” And if you don’t see a smile on someone’s face when they answer that question, these people are going to be grinder personalities.
Number four, nothing wrong with being a grinder. I’m just pointing out that’s going to be the personality type. Number four, if you are working with a team that
was not inspired, they say motivated, how would you keep yourself inspired and inspire others in their work? The way it’s actually written is keep yourself motivated and inspire others to become more motivated, which makes no sense.
Number five, can you describe the work environment or culture in which you’re most productive and happy? What specific elements of that environment contribute to your productivity and happiness? I’m not a big fan of that question. But I want to acknowledge it.
Describe the time when you faced a challenging task or project. How did you stay motivated to complete it (I would just say inspired to complete it?
Number seven, tell me aboutt a time when you went above and beyond your job requirements. What inspired you to do so (they said what motivated you to do so)?
Your Next Great Hire May Have An Unconventional Academic Background
Number eight, describe a project or initiative you took on that . . . Let me take that from the top again. Describe a project or an initiative you took on that you felt passionate about. How did you stay inspired throughout the process? What you’re looking for us are answers that demonstrate that someone cares about doing great work.
Number nine, can you share an example of a time when you set a challenging goal for yourself? How did you stay inspired to achieve it?
- Tell me about a time when you had to work on a project that was not particularly interesting to you. How did you inspire yourself to stay focused and complete the work.
- Describe a time when you received recognition or praise for your work. How did that inspire you to continue performing at a higher level? /
- Tell me about a time when you have to work with a difficult team or client. How did you inspire yourself and engage in the work despite the challenges.
- Describe the work environment or culture in which you thrive and feel most inspired. How have you sought out or created such an environment in the past? Personally, my answer would be I don’t need external things. I care about doing great work. And thus I don’t need the environment to create that. I would prefer it not put obstacles in my path but I’m always going to go out to try and do good work.
Last, share an example of a time when you took initiative to improve a process or solve a problem at work. What inspired you to take on that challenge?
And most of the time, if you heard inspired, the original article said motivated, but I think you get the idea what you’re looking for are the qualities within a person that caused them to want to do good work that does make a difference. And it’s not just what they say that’s going to matter to you. It’s going to be how they say it, that’s going to be important. Do they sound happy as they answer questions, or does it seem like drudgery? Don’t begrudge them a difficult experience. After all, institutions sometimes put roadblocks in people’s way to get good work done. And if your environment is one like that, listen to their answer for examples of perseverance and make it clear to them that they may run into similar situations to your firm to what they previously experienced.
Hope you found this helpful. I’m Jeff Altman. My website is TheBigGameHunter.us. Go to the blog and go exploring. There’s just a lot there that will help you. In addition, you can schedule time for a free introductory call, Trusted Advisor Services where I answer your questions, you can schedule time to begin coaching with me. I want to help.
Also, at the website you can find out about my video courses, books and guides. Again there’s a lot there to help.
Lastly, connect with me on Linkedin at linkedin.com/in/TheBigGameHunter. Have a terrific day and most importantly, be great!
Focusing on skills could surface 19x more candidates
ABOUT JEFF ALTMAN, THE BIG GAME HUNTER
People hire Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter to provide No BS Career Advice globally because he makes many things in peoples’ career easier. Those things
can involve job search, hiring more effectively, managing and leading better, career transition, as well as advice about resolving workplace issues.
Schedule a discovery call at my website, www.TheBigGameHunter.us
He is the host of “No BS Job Search Advice Radio,” the #1 podcast in iTunes for job search with over 2600 episodes.
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