It is hard to find good employees, but things get even harder when you own a small business. The stakes are high, so you need to ensure that each of your new hires is a passionate, engaged and committed team player. Hiring is one of the most important things an entrepreneur will do to grow the company. A great employee versus an okay employee is the difference between success and mediocrity.
BlackEnterprise.com reached out to the Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC), an invite-only organization comprised of the world’s most promising young entrepreneurs. In partnership with Citi, YEC recently launched StartupCollective, a free virtual mentorship program that helps millions of entrepreneurs start and grow businesses. BE polled members of YEC to find out: What questions should I be asking potential hires? Here are their responses:
1. What scares you?
The difference between a good candidate and someone that will help build your business is that when you are committed to something, you accept no excuses, only results. By understanding what they are afraid of you can weed out those who might be afraid of making mistakes on the way to doing what is the impossible.
2. Which leaders do you look up to?
Understanding the leaders, mentors and experts a potential hire follows will help provide insights on what they value in others, as well as their specific interests within your industry. The professionals they look up to could also help highlight how they’d like to progress within their own careers in the future.
Brian Honigman, BrianHonigman.com
3. Tell me about a time you had an angry client and how you resolved it?
The best test of someone’s ability to handle stress is in the middle of a crisis. I always ask potential employees to walk me through a time a client was upset and how they resolved it. Did they come up with one solution or multiple solutions? Were they empathetic? Did they check back later on to make sure everything had been resolved? How potential employees handle stress is a top priority.
4. What do you read?
This is a great question to find out not only how people keep up on the industry that you’re in, but also a bit about who they are as people.
5. What was your biggest failure in life, and what did you learn from it?
I focus less on raw intelligence and work to find out what really drives that person. To get there — ask about their biggest failures in life, what they learned and how they ultimately overcame them. Find out what objectives they had early in life and whether or not they had the determination and creativity to outperform their peers regardless of the challenges.
Josh Payne, StackCommerce
Check out the rest of the list on the next page …
6. What did you do to prepare for this interview?
This question gives you a sense of how well the candidate prepares for meetings and how interested they are in your company.  Unlike with many others questions, a candidate can’t really BS an answer here. They either prepared by researching your company (in which case you can ask them follow questions about the articles they read or about your product), or they didn’t prepare.
7. What are the two bullet points you want to add to your resume in two years?
Asking what bullet points candidates hope to add to their resume gets to the heart of what they want to do. We always look for ambitious answers; but at the same time, we need answers that align with our vision for the company and role. If someone desperately wants to show progress as a sales person, but we only care about operations, then there’s a clear mismatch.Aaron Schwartz, Modify Watches
8. What is your business superpower?
I ask why they want to join my company. Then I ask what their business superpower is. Oprah Winfrey and Richard Branson know this at the drop of a hat. Finally, if the person can’t tell me the latest book or industry report they read, I assume they’re not into continuing education. Readers are leaders. The world moves so fast you can’t stay relevant without being a voracious reader. Audio books work also.
Joshua Lee, StandOut Authority
9. What else do you want to tell me?
If you’ve ever been on the other side of the interview table, then you know that prospects think about what they’re going to say. Of course, interviews rarely go as they anticipate.
Still, there’s no reason to miss out on that killer response that was supposed to knock you head over heels. Give them an opportunity to answer that question they’d been hoping for. You might be pleasantly surprised.10. What were the major takeaways from your last position? What did you learn and what would you do differently?
This interview question sheds light into a candidate’s ability to learn and adapt. Potential hires with thoughtful responses are more likely to improve on the job and have a mindset for growth.
11. Do you believe in this company? Do we make a difference?
The more belief they have in your company, the harder they will work on its behalf since they will align their personal goals with those of the company. If they think that the company makes a difference in the world, they will buy in more. Not every company provides a clear social impact or benefit, so potential hires should be able to identify how the world benefits from the company’s products or services.