
The one job interview question you need to ask to find your A players - hoag
http://blog.venturocket.com/employers-and-recruiters/the-one-job-interview-question-you-need-to-ask-to-find-your-a-players/
======
georgemcbay
"Are you willing to work nights and weekends to get an assignment done on
time?"

Here's the thing about this question -- I am, in fact, willing to work nights
and weekends to get an assignment done on time, if that is a relatively rare
event, the deadline is actually meaningful, and if when it happens it is
recognized as a failure of planning that will be post-mortemed so as not to
become a regular event.

If you ask me that question on an interview, though, that's a huge bright red
flag that you're a terribly employee-abusive employer and I should never work
for you. If you'd like to believe that guy you interview after me who just
nods his head at that question and hopes for the best is more of an "A player"
than I am based solely on his answer to that question, good luck with that.

~~~
IanCal
"I am, in fact, willing to work nights and weekends to get an assignment done
on time, if that is a relatively rare event, the deadline is actually
meaningful, and if when it happens it is recognized as a failure of planning
that will be post-mortemed so as not to become a regular event."

I'm willing to work beyond the hours if they're uncomfortable asking (or don't
ask). It should be a very bad thing to ask people to work late or over
weekends, and should be recognised as a sign of a big failure. If they're
comfortable asking, then that person doesn't value my time.

------
incision
_> Are you willing to work nights and weekends to get an assignment done on
time?_

As an interviewee, I'd probably see that question as a huge red flag
suggesting a disorganized, "last minute" culture.

Don't get me wrong, I fully believe in putting in the time to get the job done
- when it becomes necessary, but I'd need to understand why and how often it
becomes necessary before answering a question like that.

------
MisterBastahrd
That's the one job interview question for me that identifies "B" companies.
Funny how that works.

"A" companies set realistic goals, realize that their employees are valuable,
and have intelligent and experienced managers who know how to estimate
projects.

------
IanCal
Wow, unless I really needed a job I'd leave if I was asked this.

At a previous interview I was asked how I maintained a healthy work-life
balance, which was extremely encouraging. They had a heavy focus on sensible
working hours, and my managers had told me on several occasions to go home
(adding, if there wasn't enough time to finish it before the deadline, it had
been planned badly).

"this isn’t to say that a healthy work-life balance isn’t in order — after
all, if health fails, work failure is not far behind"

Of course, because the most important reason why you would treat your
employees with some respect and hope they stay healthy is because you need
them to work, not because you in any way care about them. How nice.

------
gregjor
"Are you willing to work nights and weekends to get an assignment done on
time?"

How about, how often do you have to work nights and weekends to get your
projects done?

As a candidate if I was asked this question I'd conclude that the company is
disorganized, understaffed, biting off projects it can't chew, or all of the
above. Or that the boss is an alpha personality who would be a jerk to work
for.

If you want to hire and keep "A players" you need to have an A team and genius
ideas. Just working a lot of hours is not a guarantee of success; in my
experience it's more often a sign of failure and bad management.

------
BryantD
The article doesn't say; I assume that the people who say "no, I am capable of
working in a manner which ensures that I won't need to give you my whole life"
are the A players. B players think working nights and weekends is normal.

Right?

------
hga
Agreed with the other comments so far, a terminally huge red flag.

Now, if the question was of this sort, suitably tailored for the job, it might
be OK:

"If the production database gets wedged, would you be willing to work
overnight to get it fixed?"

(Been there, done that (my boss made a programming goof, had to do a point in
time recovery), company made sure we were fed and got home safely without
paying extra.)

Hmmm, it strikes me that even in this form the question is worthless for
interviewing, unless you have a remarkable talent for detecting lies, in that
anyone who's going to continue the process, or not look for another job ASAP
if they're desperate right now is obviously going to answer "Yes".

------
j2d3
You'll find your "A players" allright, you'll find them politely completing
your interview, and then declining any offers you might make. You might
consider researching the company where they end up working for tips about how
to find your A players, and, crucially, how to get them to actually work for
you.

------
Duhck
Better to ask "Are you willing to work at a place where you are required to
work late nights and weekends because our business is mismanaged and
delusional?"

------
rdouble
Nobody is going to answer "no" to this question besides an A player who has a
lot of other options.

------
tthomas48
The economist would say that this would be most likely to get you C and D
players. People who are having trouble finding or holding onto a job and are
truly desperate would be the only ones an economist would expect to answer
'yes' to that question. But I realize for a lot of companies having a guy who
looks busy is still more important than getting work done.

------
donjigweed
"Anytime someone gives you a simple answer to a complex problem, you're being
mainpulated." \- Michael Nygard

Discovering "A players" in the interview process is actually a pretty complex
problem. How anyone thinks a single, notoriously unreliable, self-report
measure is the answer is beyond me. Link bait?

------
PencilAndPaper
Asking "Are you willing to work nights and weekends to get an assignment done
on time?" would indicate to me as the interviewee that this employer might
have had problems in the past abusing this particular privilege.

Maybe re-title the article "how to make your candidates weary"?

------
jiggy2011
Or you just find people who are eager to please.

------
methodin
This is a bad question. A better question would be if the candidate works and
furthers his/her knowledge in their spare time to help make a product as good
as it can be. You want the people that would still be learning/growing
regardless of their job. This is admirable quality to look for (self-growth) -
not chasing empty time frames and deadlines.

------
ropman76
Would the follow up question be "would you be willing to sell your soul to
this company?". Horrible question. I had jobs where they worked for this and
it stunk.

------
jayferd
"No."

------
pasbesoin
Hmm. I may or may not be an A player, but you've just communicated to me the
distinct likelihood that you are not hiring me for the/an A team.

I'm a bit torn in making this comment, as I've seen my share of employees who
depend upon inertia to be real 9 - 5 (or, 4:45) types who don't give a damn
about the state of things when they walk out the door.

But if "crisis mode" is a significant enough factor to become a primary
interview question and topic? You're not doing it right.

------
alekseyk
'A player' will say nope and then work for your competition.

Not to mention that 'working' != 'working', I can sit in the office all day
and produce 10 lines of shitty code in between of talking to my co workers and
surfing the web.

That would make me an A player right? Wrong.

People who know what they are doing, will plan it properly so they don't have
to work after hours and set proper expectations.

But if you actually expect them to work late and on the weekends all the time
then you should be paying for it.

My life is not a charity.

