Many CEOs know what kinds of employees they want at their company, and can point out the top character trait they seek in job candidates.
For Wisp CEO Monica Cepak, that trait is the ability to collaborate with your colleagues, especially when there’s a problem to be solved. To find out if a job candidate has the soft skill, she asks a particular interview question: What’s the hardest problem you’ve ever solved at work, and how did you reach a solution?
If an interviewee’s answer is “cross-functional in nature” — showing how they worked with other team members to solve an issue — they’re probably a team player who regularly seeks insights from their coworkers, Cepak told CNBC Make It on April 24.
An answer like, ”‘Oh, I did everything myself. Myself, myself, myself’” is a telltale sign that a person “can’t work well in an environment like ours because nobody can solve every problem [on their own.] We’re a team at the end of the day, and your ability to problem solve by working with others is key,” said Cepak, who has nearly 10 years of experience in executive-level roles.
Cepak isn’t the only company leader who seeks out specific traits in employees. Here are two more examples of CEOs’ biggest employee green flags:
