This interview question can reveal 10 important aspects of a candidate:
"When was the last time you missed a significant deadline?"
Here's what you can learn from their answer:
- Honesty and self-awareness: Their willingness to admit to missing a deadline shows integrity and self-reflection.
- Accountability: How they frame the situation indicates their level of personal responsibility.
- Problem-solving skills: The explanation of how they handled the missed deadline can showcase their ability to manage crises.
- Time management: Their answer may reveal their approach to prioritizing tasks and managing workload.
- Communication skills: How they communicated about the missed deadline to stakeholders can indicate their professional communication abilities.
- Learning and growth: Their takeaways from the experience can show adaptability and commitment to improvement.
- Stress management: Their handling of the situation can indicate how they perform under pressure.
- Team dynamics: If the missed deadline involved others, their response can reveal how they navigate team responsibilities.
- Work ethic: Their attitude towards deadlines in general can indicate their overall work ethic.
- Project management skills: Their explanation might shed light on their ability to foresee and mitigate risks in project timelines.
This question provides insights into the candidate's professionalism, resilience, and ability to learn from mistakes.
I hope you're starting to see that a few strategic questions is all you really need to identify if a top performer is a good fit for your team.