Hiring for Talent

You should be hiring for talent rather than skill. A skill is the ability to do a particular task, but talent is the ability to learn new skills and improve on the existing ones. If you are hiring for talent, you should be asking these questions:

• What was the last new thing you learned, and how have you applied it?
• Tell me about a situation where you did not know what to do. What action did you take, and why?
• What more would you like to learn about your job?
• In your last job, how long did it take you to feel like an expert?
• If we hire you, what are you going to do to get yourself up to speed?