Interviews, interesting question. I definitely think of all interviews as a two-way street. You are interviewing the company as much as they are interviewing you. Most job descriptions are pretty vague, especially in planning. I always ask something like, “What are the three things you want me to do/figure out/accomplish in the first six months?” If they hem and haw, they probably don’t have a good definition of the role which generally makes it harder for anyone to be satisfied. I also ask, what happened to the last guy/gal in the role? They won’t tell you directly, but if you listen closely (“nothing against them, but…”) you can spot a red flag if necessary.

Gretchen, if only I had the power to be a trendspotter! Maybe it’s the athiest in me but I just don’t believe in predicting the future. Describing the present is hard enough! Gladwell among others (in an article titled “The New Boy Network” free online) have documented the limitations of traditional interviews, in which we all tend to overvalue charm and have a hard time evaluating important qualities like reliability. In our biz, charm is important so our instincts aren’t all wrong. But when I really want to know, I ask the candidate to present something to me and the team. It tells a lot more about the candidates ability to make a persuasive argument ant think on his or her feet.

Yeesh.