Here's What Yahoo Chairman Maynard Webb Looks For In Job Candidates
Jan 9, 2015, 23:30 IST
Getty Images/BloombergYahoo chairman Maynard Webb.As a young job seeker just out of college, you may think your academic accomplishments or past work experiences are the most important things to prospective employers. But according to Maynard Webb, Yahoo's chairman, it's actually what you did (or do) outside of the classroom or cubicle that matters most.
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In a recent interview with The New York Times, Adam Bryant asked Webb: "How do you hire?"
"If I'm meeting you for the first time, I'll probably start by asking you about your first job and what you've done outside of school and work," Webb said. "I've found that there is a high correlation between work ethic and people's extracurricular activities that weren't driven by mom and dad."
Next, he told the Times, he likes to get a better sense of the candidate's self-awareness. He does this by asking questions like: "Six months from now, we're going to know each other very well. What will your team and what will I say that you do really, really well? And then what will they say that we all wish you did better?" "You'd be surprised at the number of times I've heard people say: 'Oh, nothing. You'll just love everything about me,'" Webb explained. "And I'll say: 'Dude, that's not true. It's not true for me. Let me give you some examples of the things you'll wish that I did better.'" After assessing the candidate's work ethic and openness, Webb will try to "probe on value systems and how they work in teams." He'll do this by saying, "Tell me about situations that were really tough, and how you got out of them." "I like to hear how they tell stories," Webb told the Times. Click here to read the full interview. Want your business advice featured in Instant MBA? Submit your tips to tipoftheday@businessinsider.com. Be sure to include your name, your job title, and a photo of yourself in your email.