POTENTIAL: INTERVIEW TECHNIQUES AND QUESTIONS NONO TION TTION T WHY IS POTENTIAL IMPORTANT? Founders are building companies that will grow exponentially, while people generally ALENT AALENT A grow linearly. SS As companies scale it is invaluable to have people who can grow with the company SESSES and not be left behind. This does not mean pegging all hopes on potential - there still has to be a minimum skill level. But it might mean foregoing some tried and tested experienced SMENTSMENT hires for others founders gauge to have less experience but greater potential for learning and development. To determine a candidate’s potential to succeed, we recommend that you start at the end and work backwards. If you hire someone and they are successful, what does that success look like? The answer may be different between junior and senior candidates, but the strategy is the same. Consider what they need to accomplish in their first six months to be deemed successful. Chances are it means acquiring skills and knowledge that they currently do not possess. The universal identifiers of potential are extensive learning capabilities, flexibility, a positive attitude, a desire to grow, high performance, high emotional intelligence, honesty and a vision for the future. As a final note: try to notice if the candidate has the ability to say “I don’t know”. If they can’t say “I don’t know,” they probably won’t ask for help, and their potential is limited. As the interviewer, you should be able to come up with a question about some esoteric but interesting piece of knowledge. They should show curiosity as to what the answer is. 8888