Hire Smart Interview Questions Interview Instructions: These ten provocative interview questions are designed to help interviewers identify greatness in potential employees. Ask these ten interview questions during your interviews, and then evaluate each candidate using the Hire Smart Software in order to quickly identify great employees for your organization. 1. You are a rental car agent and it is 11:59 p.m. on New Year's Eve. You need one more car rental in order to get your $10,000 annual bonus. A person walks up to your rental car counter to rent a car from you that is obviously extremely intoxicated. Would you rent that person the car in order to get your $10,000 bonus? Desired Response: A great employee with strong ethics would immediately see the ramifications of renting this car and answer no to the question. Note all responses besides no. 2. What would a perfect work day for you look like? Desired Response: A great employee would talk about getting the most productivity out of the day. Look for clues like "I would start work early," "I would be able to help the team make important decisions." "I would be able to produce great results," etc. 3. If you were on a game show and you could automatically receive a guaranteed $1 million prize, or solve a simple algebra problem for a chance to win a $20 million prize, would you take the $20 million challenge or take the guaranteed $1 million prize? Desired Response: A great employee would be willing to take the challenge and go for the $20 million prize. Look for clues like "I am good with numbers"; "I am good with math," "yes, this is a no brainer" etc. Candidates that take the $1 million guaranteed prize may lack the ambition, drive and confident needed to be a great employee. 4. When you were in school, what were your study habits? Desired Response: A great employee would talk about the importance of hard work. Look for clues like "I went to the library every day", "I set out a specific time every day to study." "I worked hard because l love to learn" etc. 5. If you were given $10,000 to spend so that you could plan your perfect day, what would your perfect day look like? Desired Response: A great employee would talk about spending quality time with family and friends. Look for clues like "All of my friends would get together," "I would be a vacation with my family," etc. Note responses where the person would spend the day alone. 6. If you had to raise $20 million in order to finance the development of a product that would immediately change the world for the better, how would you approach it? Desired Response: A great employee would embrace this question and articulate clever solutions. Look for clues like "I would organize a group of family and friends to help me," "I would create a global social media campaign," etc. Note responses that would suggest that the person thinks that this task is too big for them. 7. If you were given the assignment of hiring people for key leadership positions in your department, what kind of people would you hire? Desired Response: A great employee would talk about hiring smart and hardworking employees. Look for clues like "I would hire very smart people," "I would hire hardworking people," etc. Note responses that focus on experience over intelligence and hard work. Note: Smart, hardworking and personable people love to work with other smart, hardworking, and personable people. 8. If you had to choose between being a the CEO of a hottest technology startup in the world, the president of the united states or a Nobel Prize winning physicist, which one would you choose and why? Desired Response: A great employee would see any of these options as achievable. Look for clues like "I would like to be president," "I would like to be CEO," etc. Note responses that don't see these as viable career options. 9. You have been given the assignment of taking your company's most important client out for an exciting night on the town. What would the night look like? Desired Response: A great and well-rounded employee would be able to quickly articulate a fun and exciting night on the town. Candidates that have trouble with this question may not have the personality needed to be a great employee. 10. If I came into the office at 7:00 a.m. on Monday morning, what would be the probability of me seeing you there already at work (please give me a number between 0% and 100%)? Desired Response: A great employee would be able to quickly articulate their desire to consistently work hard, even when no one is watching. Note candidates that give a percentage below 30%.