Lou Adler, the CEO of The Adler Group, has talked about how interviewers can cut to the chase and determine whether or not a candidate is the right fit for an open senior management position. Mr. Adler proposes a single question as the basis for all other lines of questioning: to date, what has been the most significant accomplishment over the course of your career? Here we’ll discuss how you can prepare for such interview questions and what other types of situational interviews you should be ready for.
Your Most Significant Accomplishment
This salient question – what is your most significant accomplishment? – is great for the interviewer and the interviewee alike: the latter gets to spend time focusing on a specific example in which they shined, while the former gets a glimpse into how the potential employee processes information.
Follow-up questions allow the interviewee to share pertinent information about weaknesses or unexpected results and how he or she worked to overcome those obstacles.
In preparing for interview questions like this one, one needs to sit down and actually determine what their most significant accomplishment to date is. It is important to pick over that accomplishment with a fine-tooth comb: what worked well, and why did it work so well?
What didn’t go according to plan? What was the cause of the discrepancy, and what effects did it have? What measures were taken to rectify the situation? In short, in preparing for this question, you need to be willing to see both the positive and the negative in your accomplishments, to analyze every step that ultimately resulted in your greatest success.
As the interviewer, these sorts of situational interviews are ideal because you can analyze the depth of the potential employee’s ability to process situations. You can see what they perceive as their personal weaknesses and how they have dealt with those in the field, so to speak.
You can also assess their ability to confront defeat and transform it into success. Yet another benefit of situational interviews is the interviewer’s ability to determine to what extent the candidate and senior management see eye-to-eye and perhaps even identify areas in which the candidate will be a welcome and needed addition.
Other Types of Situational Interviews
In addition to questions about one’s most significant accomplishment, situational interviews also involve asking candidates how they would handle a situation the company has, could or is actually facing. The best way to prepare for such an interview is to delve into the company’s history: what issues have they faced in the past, and how were those issues resolved?
Would you have done anything differently? Try to determine what sort of problems the company could face in the near future and come up with viable solutions that you would implement if you are given the position.
Knowing the history of the company not only helps you prepare for this line of questioning, it also shows your dedication to the position.
As an interviewer, this type of situational interview is ideal because it removes the need to ask unrelated hypothetical questions. The question becomes much more about what your company has specifically faced and less about what a person in a similar position in the industry could face.
Focus on Your Leadership Abilities
Whether you are preparing for the interview or the one asking the questions, situational interviews give both sides the ability to get the most out of the interview process. If you want to take a leadership position, then you need to be able to discuss your leadership accomplishments and explain how you got there.
And if you are looking to hire, what better way to find out if a candidate is a match? No matter how you slice it, it’s a win-win situation.
