An exec at a $4 billion company puts every job candidate through the same thought exercise, and it tells him whether they're a team player
- Expect some interview questions designed to assess your collaboration skills if you apply for a job at ANGI Homeservices.
- That's according to Oisin Hanrahan, chief product officer at ANGI and founder of Handy (which was acquired by ANGI).
- ANGI's emphasis on teamwork isn't unique. Soft skills like communication and negotiation will be key attributes in the workplace of the future.
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The workplace of the future demands good collaborators.
According to LinkedIn CEO Jeff Weiner, soft skills - which include being able to communicate your thoughts articulately and forge strong relationships with colleagues and clients - are even more valuable than knowing how to code in the current job market.
At ANGI Homeservices, the $4 billion IAC brand that provides a digital marketplace for home services, teamwork is so important that hiring managers spend part of every job interview trying to assess how a candidate would fare in a highly collaborative environment.
But ANGI interviewers don't simply ask candidates to describe a time when they worked well in a group.
According to Oisin Hanrahan, chief product officer at ANGI Homeservices, the company has a more clever strategy to find out.
ANGI interviewers watch to see how a job candidate reacts when someone junior criticizes their idea
Hanrahan became chief product officer in 2019, after selling his household services startup, Handy, to ANGI in 2018. He told Business Insider that candidates for every role on the product team at ANGI are asked to prepare some work in advance, and then present it to a small group of people.
That's where things get rough.
One of the interviewees will start to dissect the candidate's work and propose an alternative solution to the problem.
"If the alternative solution being proposed is better, and the candidate recognizes that, it's generally a pretty good sign," Hanrahan said. That's in contrast to arguing, "Hey, this is my absolute point of view, and I have to stick to it."
Sometimes, Hanrahan added, an ANGI employee who is junior to the candidate suggests a different approach. "It's an even better check on whether the person will respond well," Hanrahan said. It shows whether the person is comfortable in a workplace where good ideas can come from anyone.
Read more: Becoming a 'big picture' thinker is one of the best ways to succeed at work. Here's how.
ANGI's emphasis on collaboration is likely to become standard in the next decade. A 2019 report from staffing and recruiting firm ManpowerGroup finds that by 2030, the demand for "human" skills, such as communication and negotiation, will increase 26% in the US and 22% in Europe.
As for Hanrahan, he said the candidate's behavior in this situation plays a big role in the ultimate hiring decision.
"Certain companies respect people who stick to their guns and just argue their point of view, no matter what," he said. "At Handy, we're really not about that."
Likewise, he added, at ANGI, "we're most focused on how do we collectively get to what we think the right answer might be, rather than any one person advancing their point of view aggressively."