By asking a negative question, you’re seeking positive answers, Ms. Simon says. “When you ask a question about a problem with a previous employer, you can get everything from a really horrible answer to a really nurturing answer.” Ms. Simon says she has seen everything from a candidate saying, “Well, why do you think I’m here? I quit,” to a candidate explaining a constructive process in which both parties sat down, talked through the issue and set up regular meetings to make sure they were both taking action to prevent further problems.
Ms. Palicki agrees that you can tell a lot about a candidate by asking about his or her previous work relationships. She recommends getting a sense for how easily the candidate will share the blame for a mistake. “If you’re talking about a problem and they say, ‘My boss and I just didn’t get along,'” the candidate is shouldering part of the responsibility for the failed relationship, she says. “If they’re saying, ‘My boss is a jerk, and I had nothing to do with it,'” they may be saying the same things about you in a year.
Ms. Palicki says she always asks candidates what they didn’t like about their last job. She says the best employees always give honest, understandable answers: the hours were rough and took a toll on the candidate’s family life, for example. But a candidate who either gives a laundry list of complaints — or says there were no problems at all — is either overly negative or dishonest.
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