Interviews on the Mind (Again) Wed, Feb 15, 2017

One of my favorite interview questions to ask candidates is “On a scale of 1 to 10, how lucky would you say you are?” I love this one because of the scalable number, and the array of reactions people give about their answer.

The number can reveal a lot about someone. There’s no wrong answer to this one, but the person who very quickly answers “10!” followed by a list of family and friends and health records, is usually a very different candidate overall than the person that says “Pretty average..a 5 I guess.” It helps to give me a glimpse into that person’s optimism, enthusiasm, and outlook.

But it’s the explanation that comes after the number that really counts. Some of my favorite answers have been things like “2. I’m not a very lucky person at all, but I don’t use that as a scapegoat for my outcomes”

Some other popular answers:

“I don’t believe in luck; I’m blessed”

“I don’t gamble so I don’t know” or oppositely so “I suck at roulette”

“Can’t complain"

So whether you believe in luck or fate or neither, and whether you’d give yourself a 2 or a 10 on the scale, it’s your reasoning and opinion behind it that matters most. When it comes to my opinion, I like to refer to this cool quote: