Not everyone will respond identically to the same set of questions. Business Insider recently reported on the process that the CEO of the marketing company Conventro, Jeff Zwelling, follows when hiring new individuals.
According to the piece, Zwelling likes to speak to new hires himself, which is already somewhat unorthodox. He goes beyond that by including one particular math problem in the conversation to let these candidates prove themselves.
It's not just a test of intelligence. It also allows him to see how well an interviewee handles him or herself under pressure. He poses the following riddle: "A hammer and a nail cost $1.10, and the hammer costs one dollar more than the nail. How much does the nail cost?"
Zwelling says that he does this in order to gauge what kind of thinker the person across the desk from him is, not to see if they get the right answer.
"If the person is hired, he or she will eventually have to sit across the table from top CMOs and will need to be able to answer the tough questions that come at them, to think on their feet, and to feel confident in their responses," Zwelling told the publication.
In a study featured in Psychological Science, researchers established a possible link between impulsivity and procrastination. Although this information might not be usable in an interview, it could also allow managers the chance to consider this relationship and its possible effects once an individual is hired.
If you don't partner with an executive search firm to conduct the recruitment process, you might miss out on some specialized ways to test executive aptitude.
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