Are you hiring a victim or victor-mindset person?

If you’re managing a team, or a hiring manager, I bet sometimes you feel that when it comes to hiring, it’s almost like rolling a dice.

You and I know that the resume doesn’t reflect much anymore. I mean, your candidates can be high potential on the qualification side, but you know when it comes to actual work, attitude can be the real difference maker.

Let me ask you this though:

Have you ever hired a super competent staff only to find out a few weeks later that they have a very bad work attitude?

You notice things like slacking off when the bosses are not around, faking performance reports, challenging the directions of the management and more. Worse was when these ‘bad apples’ start infecting the other good staffs.

If you ask us, hiring for attitude right at the start can avoid all these potential problems. Sure, we all know that, but how do you test the attitude of a person you just met?

Power Interview Question #1: Tell me about a project that you’ve done in the past that didn’t work out. And why?

The first part of the question is just to open up the conversation about a failure they experienced before.

We all had failures in the past, but if your candidate replied that they haven’t had any failures before, it should already raise a red flag. Wouldn’t you agree that, even for a graduate, he or she should have experience some form of setbacks before?

The fact that the candidate do not acknowledge the mistake is a sign of denial, ignorance or just plain unaccountable, is something you would like to take note of.

However, the real meat is in the question is the second part - why?

Here’s where you can get a good reflection on the mindset of the person you’re about to hire. When you ask them about why they failed, and if they blame their circumstances or another party, then it’s a clear indication that they are a victim-mindset. Look out for words like “it’s their fault”, “I’m just a pawn”, “told them early already…” and so on.

A person with a victor-mindset, on the other hand, will take ownership of the failure. They will use phrases like “I did not have a plan B”, “I didn’t validate the market well,” or a simple “it’s my mistake”. Frankly, in the Asian culture, for someone to be open about their mistakes and to be accountable for it, is a rarity.

Although the second type of candidate (victor-mindset) is already a clear winner, you can take a step further and ask “What did you learn from the experience?” That is a growth question, and it’s a good indication if the candidate has the habit of self-reflection.

This is just one question that can instantly help you separate the good apples from the bad ones. Over the next few weeks, I'll probably be sharing a couple more posts on this issue. Because seriously, hiring is not as easy as it looks, especially when it's your own money!

Leave a comment below on what kind of hiring challenges you have, and I may even write on those. :)

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