Blueboard CEO lists his favorite interview questions

5 interview questions that test for candidate self-awareness and their likeliness to stay

December 22, 2021 9:00 AM

Millions of workers have quit their jobs in just the last few months — which means employers will have a robust list of candidates to interview as people search for their next workplace.

But how can companies know which candidates will actually stick with their company and help them build a healthy and balanced workplace culture? Taylor Smith, co-founder and CEO at the employee experiential rewards platform Blueboard, says it starts with employers rethinking the candidate experience so that it aligns with company values.

“The candidate experience should be a mirror of what it looks like to work at the company,” says Smith. “That’s why Blueboard is a fan of the term ‘culture add’ instead of ‘culture fit’ — it's important to our company values that you bring your own energy, your own personality and your own gifts into our culture.”

Smith believes these values should especially be reflected in interview questions. For example, Blueboard prioritizes employees bringing their whole selves to work, building meaningful relationships in the workplace and engaging in meaningful work. In turn, Blueboard asks candidates questions that offer insight into how potential hires would interact and add to these values, explains Smith.

With that in mind, here are Smith’s top five interview questions that make for a more effective recruitment process.

What three parts of your character are you most proud of?

This question is just one of many that Smith finds helpful since it tests for self-awareness — a necessary component in a company that claims to value employees who do not limit who they are at work.

“We are looking for someone who has a developed idea of who they are and why they are the way they are,” says Smith. “When people get to that level of understanding and self-awareness, it’s much easier for them to be themselves.”

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Self-awareness is explicitly rooted in the company value that Smith calls, “dance a little different.” Smith also views it as essential to making meaningful bonds with co-workers.

“The idea is that everybody is an individual,” he says. “Everyone has their own quirks and their own lives. That’s the foremost pillar of our culture.”

At a deep core level, what motivates you?

While this question may seem simple at first glance, Smith finds that it can be insightful, if the interviewee can move past a surface-level answer.

“We will re-ask the question and make sure the candidate understands that we are actually curious about what drives them,” Smith says. “Again, we are asking difficult questions where there’s no right answer. Instead, the right type of answer will demonstrate you thought about it.”

This is another interview question that encourages the candidate to present whether or not they know themselves, although it may take some digging from the interviewer. Additionally, this question hints at what makes work meaningful to them, says Smith.

If you had to relive that experience, what would you do differently?

Rather than asking candidates hypothetical questions, Smith recommends asking about specific examples of past behaviors and experiences.

“I know some companies like hypotheticals, but that’s a dangerous game because if someone is quick on their feet, they can give great hypothetical answers,” says Smith. “We try to push up past examples of work, and we seek to understand why people made the choices they did.”

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Smith finds this question reveals someone’s character and their skills in practice. Most importantly, it allows candidates to discuss past mistakes as humans rather than just employees, explains Smith.

“We want someone who learns from their experiences and carries forward a growth mindset,” he says. “We’re also past the days where you had this private self and your work self.”

Assume that you get this role at our company and you're successful: What does that success mean for you personally and professionally five years down the road?

This question specifically tests whether this new employer-employee relationship will be long-lasting.

“I think it's incredibly important to know if we are able to help you get to where you're going,” says Smith. “If you get that alignment, that's where the magic happens.”

For Smith, the interview process is a two-way street — an employee should also find whether they will feel supported in their career goals in this new role, and an employer should know whether they can offer that support.

Tell me about a time in your career where you wanted something so badly that you were unstoppable in pursuing it, and what obstacles did you overcome?

Once it’s clear the potential hire’s personal and professional goals align with the company’s goals, it’s also important to test for resilience, explains Smith.

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“If they have a good answer to this question, then you know if they have the grit to get through the roadblocks that may come our way,” he says. “Now we have a higher degree of confidence that not only are they going to be a great add to the company, but they're also going to stay.”

Yet again, this question also asks for a certain level of self-awareness, which Smith believes is necessary to meld with company values as well as retention — in other words, an employee has to know themselves to know where they want to be.

“We’re taking Zoom calls with people in our homes. Employees just need to be themselves at this point and connect to people and their work in a meaningful way,” says Smith. “That’s really important in our culture and candidate experience.”