CEO reveals five powerful interview questions and answers to hire the best candidate

As much as skills are important while hiring, recruiters must also focus on the suitability of the candidate's attitude and experience. Finding the right fit for the job within the stipulated time is quite complex. However, identifying the most efficient interview methods and having clarity of expectations do the trick for recruiters. Matteo Franceschetti, CEO of the sleep fitness company Eight Sleep, cracked the code for simplifying recruitment based on his interviewing experience. In a podcast with 20VC (@20vc_tok) host Harry Stebbings, the millionaire CEO shared the 5 effective interview questions and the answers he expects from job applicants that can help hire the best candidate.

While hiring a candidate for his $500M business, the entrepreneur follows the same interview playbook. "How did you find the job and what did they hire you for?" was his first question and he said, "If they had 5/6 jobs, you wanna see if they were recommended by anyone or the previous managers. If it never happens, it's not a red flag, but it's not a positive sign." His next question to the applicant would be about their biggest achievement. "The biggest achievement seems like a stupid question but is one of the greatest questions," said the CEO and added that people generally talk about how they bonded with their team as an achievement. "I assume that you bond with the other team. I'm talking about what has been your biggest contribution, not your team's," he said and mentioned, "The best people come back with data. 'I improved the CVR of the website from 8% to 9.2% by doing A, B and C.'"

Franceschetti's third question to the candidates would be, "What has been the lowest point?" to which he said that many people start complaining like "They never gave me the right task" or "They didn't give me the freedom to operate." He then suggests that the recruiters mention the reference check to the candidates when inquiring about their previous manager as the fourth question. He said that lots of candidates then lie about their relationship with their previous manager to dodge the reference check. "You immediately see certain people becoming rigid," the CEO indicated regarding the candidate's shift in attitude.

As his final question, Franceschetti would ask about the applicant's reason for quitting the previous job. "There is a soft way to know, did they push you out or was it a RIF (reduction in force)?" said the entrepreneur. He insists that the recruiter can see patterns and make an assumption about their performance based on how or why they left their previous job. "So, when I get back to you as an executive, it's not Matteo's opinion. I come back with a list because I took notes and I saw X red flags. At that point, they trust me," he explained. When Stebblings asked how long such an assessment takes, the CEO replied, "With great people in 20, 25 minutes, I can go through five jobs that fast. There are some people where you go through three jobs in 30 minutes and that is another red flag."

The host could relate to Franceschetti's outlook, but people had mixed opinions over the CEO's method. One user, @sibel.olivia, commented, "Totally with you. Although having experience interviewing others, sometimes people that have great working skills may not be great at interviews." Another user, @khal2020rona, said, "If you're gonna ask me questions like this, I better be able to ask you questions like, 'What were the reasons your last three top performers left and if you made any changes?'"