Motivation-based Interviewing: A Revolutionary Approach to Hiring the Best

by Carol Quinn

So, let’s see if MBI fixes this issue. By adding an obstacle into your interview questions, and following the other rules, can we widen the range of possible responses? For example, if I say to the candidate, “Tell me about a specific time when you dealt with an irate customer,” could I get average answers where the candidate satisfied the customer but did nothing more? Sure. Is it possible I could get an answer that the candidate not only satisfied the customer but went further? Again, yes. Is it also possible I could get an answer where the candidate insisted the customer was impossible to please or that there was nothing else they could do to resolve the problem? You get the idea. Unlike when I ask for a success story, I can now get a full range of responses, including the kind that would deserve a score in the lower range.