Kat Cole, president of Cinnabon, tells Adam Bryant in a New York Times interview that before asking questions, she likes to see how job candidates interact with people in the waiting area.
"I'll ask people to offer the candidate a drink to see if there's a general gratefulness there, and they'll send me notes," she tells Bryant. "Then, when someone walks into my office, I'll have a big wad of paper on my floor between the door and the table. I want to see if the person picks it up. I don't make huge judgments around it, but it does give me a sense of how detail-oriented they are."
After some conversation, she finally says: "Tell me about the closest person in your life who you're comfortable talking about. What would they say if I asked them, 'What is the one characteristic that they totally dig about you?'"
Then she'll say: "What is the one characteristic that drives them insane, and that they would love for you to do just a little bit less?"
"People are pretty comfortable talking about that because I've pinpointed a person and a point of view," she tells the Times.