The 4 interview questions all startup founders should ask job candidates to test their personalities and measure if they'll be rock star employees
- When you hire your startup team, it's important to look for candidates who will have more than just the right job qualifications.
- Startups need employees with agility and optimism to keep up with rapid change.
- Founders Marie Berry of Kara, Narie Foster of M.M. LaFleur, and Kimberley Ho of Evereden gave the interview questions they ask candidates to determine whether they're a good fit.
- Click here for more BI Prime content.
When your business expands enough to start hiring employees, it's important to ensure the people you hire are more than just qualified for the job.
Working at a startup means rapid change can be expected, and no two days are the same. So the employees you onboard should have the character and agility to keep up with the pace and stick it out for the long haul.
Narie Foster, a founder and startup advisor, said during an event in January that her startup team had to change meeting structures frequently, sometimes kicking people out of a meeting if it got too big. She had to set expectations that things were going to get weird and awkward. "If you want to be here, it's because you want this kind of crazy adventure ride with us," Foster said.
The monthly event was hosted by LMHQ, a nonprofit organization that rents out office space in lower Manhattan, and centered around women in business with a panel of three female founders: Marie Berry of Kara, Narie Foster of M.M. LaFleur, and Kimberley Ho of Evereden. The panel was moderated by Laura Chau, principal investor at Canaan Partners.
During the panel, the founders revealed the top questions they ask candidates when hiring for their companies. Here are the four questions you should ask to help hire the best team for your startup.
How would your last managers rate your performance?
Kimberley Ho is the cofounder and CEO of Evereden, a non-toxic skincare line designed for children and families. She said the interview question that's worked for her is, "Who were your last five managers? And on a scale of one to 10, how would each of them rate you and why?"
This gives you an opportunity to assess how honest a candidate is about their performance. If they only give you 10s, it's very likely they're bluffing and trying to overcompensate. It could also indicate how they receive feedback: Did they pay attention to the critiques of their previous managers? Did they use them as opportunities for growth?
How would you describe your personality?
Marie Berry is the cofounder and CEO of Kara, an automated marketing platform for businesses. She said it's not typical for a candidate to describe their personality during an interview. They'll talk about their accomplishments and qualifications, but need to be prompted to talk about themselves in a more approachable way.
Some candidates might explain how others would describe them or what they believe are their strengths and weaknesses. "The way they describe it gives me often a good insight into how the person ticks," she said.
What feedback would you give to your previous bosses?
Narie Foster is the cofounder and advisor of M.M. LaFleur, a work-clothing brand for women. She asks candidates to explain how they would describe their previous bosses and what feedback they would give them.
"How you talk about work environments that you both loved and didn't love, that really gets at what kind of cultures work well for you," she said.
What role do you tend to play in a friend group or in your family?
Foster also mentioned one way to get a candidate to reveal more of their genuine self is to ask what role they play in their friend group or family.
Another way to get to the core of someone's character is to ask a candidate to describe the lowest point they've had. "How you talk about hard times really shows both self awareness and where you fall on the optimistic and positivity spectrum, which often is very important getting through these kinds of jobs," she said.