Interview Questions Explained (High Level)

Link to Questions:

We posted these questions on our storefront window in hopes of accomplishing the following:

1. Reduce number of job applicants.  Based on the experiences of business owners, a "conventional" craiglist help-wanted ad for an entry-level position will generate at least 500 applicants, possibly more than 1000 because students are looking for summer jobs.  We wanted no more than ten, as it takes three hours to properly interview and review each applicant.

We had considered posting these questions on craigslist but decided against doing so for the following reasons:

a. We wanted "locals" (within 5 miles of our store) working at our store because they attract more customers (friends) to our store than someone who lives, say, 20 miles away.  Ideally, we'd have an employee from each of the area high schools and community colleges.  Thus far, we have Shorecrest, Shorewood, and Mountlake Terrace high schools, and Shoreline and Edmonds community colleges.  We'd like to add someone from Edmonds-Woodway high school, and perhaps representatives from UW-Seattle, North Seattle Community College, Lynnwood High School, and Bastyr University.  We're aiming to provide sports drinks to school athletic teams and to provide students with a public space to hang-out at. 

b.   We projected that posting these questions on craigslist would net 60-80 responses, still too many for us to handle.  (A restaurant in Seattle that used a similar approach to screen applicants generated twice as many responses). 

c.  Posting on craigslist is sure to generate some interesting egghead responses.  But we're not looking for eggheads.  We don't want eggheads because we already have one in Andrew.  We're just looking for people who are prepared to deal with and understand an egghead.  Some of these questions show how Andrew analyzes the world.  He sees metaphors everywhere and every social situation to him is a microcosm of some greater ideological struggle. 

Show a smoothie to a chemist, and she may see a kaleidescope of molecular activity; an economist may understand it in terms of its marginal utility.  We don't want employees who think this way because most of our customers don't think this way. They just want an affordable, tasty, and nutritious product and friendly, efficient service.  We want employees who keep things simple, who can translate what some egghead says about the impact of lutein on metabolic...in clear, plain, language.  Don't intimidate the customer and be knowledgeable enough to not be easily intimidated by egghead customers. 

2. Filter applicants who lack intellectual curiosity.  We're not measuring intellectual depth or maturity.  We're seeking those sincerely interested in learning the whys and wherefores of life. 

3. Learn more about an applicant's thought process and how they work to understand terms and ideas they're unfamiliar with.  We don't care about "correct" answers, we just want a sense of how someone works.  We're filtering (non-egghead) applicants who aren't willing to struggle with a problem they're unfamiliar with.

4. Force applicants to avoid using cliches like "I'm an honest, punctual, hard-working worker" when describing themselves to an employer.  We prefer a more indirect approach to learning about someone's skills, personality, and character.

5. Reduce impact of our prejudices when reviewing applicants.  They say first impressions count but nearly all people aren't good at assessing those they've only meet once.  It takes a long time and many different situations to get to know someone well.  Someone who seems confident may turn out cowardly when the boat flips and Jaws approaches; the fidgety and nervous may prove his courage when it matters the most.  That said, we don't want to be distracted by charisma, charm, and good-looks.  We don't want to turn someone away just because they seem "awkward," or, as is with most high school and college students, don't know how to write (or copy) a good resume and cover letter.  These questions give applicants another avenue to express and sell themselves.  Their answers, written on paper, allow us to see them without being distracted by noise like body-language. 

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Anyone who makes an attempt to answer these questinos and can make it through an interview with the two-headed monster receives an offer.  If we haven't scared them away by the end of the interview, then they're probably a good fit.

The filters haven't worked as well as expected.  You get a few who are like rocks.  No matter what you say to them, they take it.  We're starting to think that they block us out and focus on getting a job, any job, instead of figuring out ways to catch up so that they'll be qualified for a job at Fresh Fruit Smoothies once it begins.     

But overall, we're happy with our approach to hiring. 

We'll discuss our hiring philosophy in another post.