Editor’s note: This article was first published in June 2015, and Karen Davis’s role at Hasbro, as described there, may have changed since.
There are plenty of job interview questions that even the interviewers don’t know where they’re going, simply because they can’t lead anywhere. They get asked because someone, at some point, asked them. That’s why we’ve already advised recruiters on some questions they should drop.
Everyone knows that when you’re asked what your greatest weakness is, you’re supposed to answer with a fake weakness and magically turn it into a strength.
And the classic question of where you see yourself in five years is ironic, considering that the interviewer doesn’t know for certain what they’ll be doing next year.
That’s why, more and more, HR managers are adopting questions that have neither a single nor a correct answer, where every answer can say something about the candidate.
That’s the case with Karen Davis of Hasbro, the toy giant, who asks a question that can throw even the best-prepared candidate.
Her favourite question is as simple as: “What’s your favourite quote?”
There’s no right answer. What she’s looking for are candidates with a real sense of passion and purpose. Your favourite quote (and there are often several) says what really matters to you and what inspires you.
In one way or another, it also shows that you’ve spent some time learning about some of history’s great leaders.
Those favourite quotes might be about change, gratitude, business or a philosophy of life.
See also: 23 motivational quotes for entrepreneurs
In an interview with Business Insider, Karen Davis explained that it doesn’t matter which quote it is, but she wants to see that the candidate has, at some point, gone looking for sources of inspiration.
She says one of the quotes she liked most from a candidate was: “Winners make things happen; losers let things happen.”
See also: 50 inspiring quotes from successful entrepreneurs
It isn’t a question whose answer decides whether you get hired, but it can be one more ingredient that helps you get selected, because rarely is someone able to lead teams without having studied great leaders, and rarely is there a star salesperson who hasn’t absorbed the wisdom of the best in the industry.
Rarely is someone able to inspire if they’ve never gone looking for inspiration.
That’s why it’s increasingly common for interviewers to ask candidates which books they’ve read most recently. Your reading habits and tastes reveal what really draws you in, enough for you to spend time reading about it.
Not having read a single book about the leading figures in the field you hope to work in also says a lot. And often, nothing good.
Featured image: Kenneth C. Zirkel, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
