Do you want candidates who are enthusiastic about what they do for a living?
Of course, you do. However, passion for a profession is difficult to grasp. And, as with most subjective things, there’s a lot of misinformation out there about determining whether someone is passionate about what they do.
And, as with most subjective things, there’s a lot of nonsense out there about determining whether someone is passionate about what they do. However, the need remains. Using some of the following interview strategies, you can determine whether the people you are interviewing have a passion for what they do (or are simply paying the bills):
1. Inquire about candidates’ methods for staying current in their field. If there is a heavy reliance on professional training and formal activities that take place during work hours, you are most likely not dealing with passion. Pro tip: If they give you a source that they put time into, look into the most meaningful thing they learned from it. Let’s see how deep the person in front of you is with at least 5 questions.
2. Request that a candidate tells you about a major problem in their field that they’d like to solve and why. Inquire about what they’ve done to start figuring out the answer. Examine their responses closely. Is there any originality here? You may be passionate. There are a lot of glitters.
3. Inquire about a candidate’s methods for connecting with others in their profession, as well as how frequently they connect with others in their field outside of their company.
What do they talk about? What kind of information is exchanged? How have those connections aided them?
4. Pose Motivational Fit questions: When have you been most satisfied with your work at Company X? Worst Satisfied? If the answers show a consistent theme of discussing BS factors rather than a clear line towards being able to do interesting work related to their field, it’s difficult to project them as passionate about their field.
5. Also, no Skippy – Passion for something other than work does not count for you as an interviewer – it’s nice to know you run marathons, but it has no bearing on things that emulate passion for the profession – continuous improvement, innovation, and so on.
Begin by asking questions that will give you a clear picture of your candidates’ professional passion.
Read more on culture at AnalyticsFox Softwars: The art of appreciation
