What Would You Do Differently?

I like this question for the hiring interview.

You could get specific with:

“Adam, in your last position with your previous employer, what would you do differently?”

You could get very specific with:

“Adam, in your last position, tell me about an outcome that didn’t go very well.”

Adam does.

And then:

“Thinking about that now, what would you do differently?”

You could go broad with:

“Adam, you’ve been in the workforce for fourteen years. Looking back on those fourteen years, what would you do differently?”

In some cases, your applicant may be prepared for this kind of question, but I think in most cases, you’ll get an unrehearsed answer. And that should give you a good insight into your applicant.