In a lively blog post last week, I suggested that the following was the most important interview question (MIQ) of all time:
What single project or task would you consider the most significant accomplishment in your career, so far?
Within 48 hours, 125,000 people attempted to answer the question following the set of follow-up questions provided. It takes about 15 minutes to fully understand the accomplishment. When you try it out, you'll be amazed at how much you've revealed about yourself and your abilities. You'll also you'll discover the answers can't be faked, unless you take a shortcut.
(Note: I’ll be holding an informal webcast on Friday, January 25, 2013 at 10:30AM PT, reviewing this QUESTION, how to properly evaluate the ANSWER, and demostrate why all of your "better" questions have hidden flaws.)
From a practical strandpoint, without knowing what job is being filled, there's really no correct answer to this MIQ. To get part of the correct answer, you need to ask the hiring manager this first: What's the most important project or task this person needs to handle in order to be considered successful?
You need specific details to fully understand the scope of the job, but at least now you can compare the person's biggest accomplishment to this benchmark to determine if the person is too heavy, too light, or a possible fit. Now we're getting close to the correct answer. You can then dig deeper with those who are possible hires by asking the candidate the same MIQ question for 3-4 different accomplishments spaced out over the past 3-10 years. This reveals the person's long term trend line of growth and performance.
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