The NY Times did a really interesting interview with Tony Hsieh of Zappos. Zappos is one of my favorite online shoe stores. It was obvious from the interview that this guy deserves his position and income. The one thing I found intriguing was his hiring question asking how weird you consider yourself.
I can see why he would ask the questions in terms of self awareness and indications of being uptight, but I am not sure how I would answer it. I may have described myself as unusual or unique but weird? So if I ever have the opportunity to interview for a senior position at Zappos (stop laughing it could happen) I have prepared some points to think about my weirdness ranking.
1) I like to buy things in even numbers. I mean anything, such as buying 6 not 5 place settings or having to buy at least 2 ornaments but never three. It is a bit obsessive, as I will pass on a great set of glassware if I cannot at least 4. Marketing influence?
2) I hide cash. I put ten or five dollar bills in secret compartments in my purses or in my pockets when I put away my winter clothes. I forget about it and then when I find it, I get a happy surprise. Financial influence?
3) I cut out articles or print them from an interesting site. Pile them on my desk and after a week I simply throw them out. R&D influence?
4) I have a bizarre fear of school buses. Obsessively find articles on bus crashes or kidnaps and insist on reorting the stories to anyone who will listen (could be an issue with a post-birth trip to see The Sweet Hereafter) Just plain craziness.
There are probably a ton more examples but I am starting to feel really weird dwelling on it!
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Someone we know told me his favorite question to ask during an interview is: Who in history would like to meet that you can't meet today?
ReplyDeleteMine is Einstein.
Good question. I have two favorites when I hire:
ReplyDelete1) What were the last 3 books you read? You can tell if they are multidimensional or have interests outside of work.
2) Think of 3 people: one who thinks you are terrific, one who is ambivalent and one who doesn't like you at all. What would they say are your top 5 strengths and top 5 weaknesses? This question really gets to self perception.
Bonnie,
ReplyDeleteI have a better questions for your interviewies.
Can you really do this job?
I don't think those behaviors are weird. Weird behaviors would include:
obsessing about germs,the order of things and of course your haircut.
matt
Perfect question and thanks for thinking I am not weird :-)
ReplyDelete