Strelka Institute for Media, Architecture and Design/Flickr
PayPal CLO Derek Hann (not pictured) says it makes the job interview far less awkward.
If you're looking for a job at PayPal and you score an interview with chief learning officer Derek Hann, consider yourself lucky. His interviews are like an open-book test.
The CLO, who focuses on learning and development initiatives at PayPal, told Business Insider that he wants job candidates to know exactly how they need to answer his questions.
So before he begins asking his questions, he'll prep them.
"How selfish would it be for me not to take that moment to teach them?" he told Business Insider. "That just makes for an uncomfortable interview for everyone. Then the candidate stumbles around in the dark."
Candidates then provide answers based on their own experiences. Ideal responses identify a situation and the task at hand, explain whatever action the individual took, and reveal the result of that action.
Before the interview starts, Hann said he makes sure the individual is familiar with the STAR method.
As part of this interviewing method, he sticks to a series of behavioral questions, which typically start with the phrase, "Tell me about a time when."
Hann said he encourages candidates to take a second to think about their responses. He'll even suggest jotting down notes breaking down the required elements of each answer - situation, task, action, and result.
"A real response reflects not only on your past experience but how you think about those opportunities," he said.
He said candidates are most likely to forget to include the most important aspect of their response - the result. Instead, they focus on the situation, task, and action, without going into impact. He wants job candidates to explain why what they've done matters.
"What are the fingerprints that you left behind?" Hann asked.