Always Positive

11. Ask the candidate why their last job, and/or the one before that, didn’t work out, or why they left.

Look for: A candidate who doesn’t blame others for their failures or life changes. Look for someone who projects a positive light on their past experiences and who assumes responsibility for their choices.

12. Generally, during the interview:

Look for: A candidate who makes you feel positive. A candidate who smiles, talks in positive terms, and seems optimistic. In some cases, they may even indicate their aversion to negative things (for example, watching local TV news with its endless litany of negative stories).

Look for: A candidate who projected these same qualities when talking with our “waiting room” employees. Is this ...

Get The Winning Manager’s Playbook now with the O’Reilly learning platform.

O’Reilly members experience books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.