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

by Carol Quinn

Including an obstacle in a question is achieved by adding one or two descriptive words—usually adjectives—that characterize a situation as challenging or difficult. Time or money aren’t problems when we have plenty of them. They become problems, or obstacles, when we don’t have enough. Words like insufficient, inadequate, not enough, or lacked can all be used as obstacles (but only one at a time). Below are two examples: Tell me about a specific time when you lacked the time necessary to achieve a goal. Tell me about a specific time when you were asked to achieve goals with an insufficient budget. There are a lot of obstacle word options. You could have an uncooperative, annoying, or unprepared teammate. How about having to communicate a tough, vague, or unwelcome policy change? You pick the adjective that best applies to your specific workplace. Questions that specifically ask for a success story, such as, “Tell me about a specific time you went above and beyond to satisfy a customer,” can easily cause interviewers to overrate candidates. It turns a one-to-five skill-scoring scale into more of a three-to-five scale.