Any successful CEO will tell you that the people you hire can make or break your company. So what are the top traits hiring managers need to look for, and how do they spot them in a candidate?
According to Elon Musk, it's not about what school you went to or your level of education. "There's no need even to have a college degree at all, or even high school," the Tesla CEO said during a 2014 interview with Auto Bild.
Instead, Musk looks for "evidence of exceptional ability" when it comes to hiring. "If there's a track record of exceptional achievement, then it's likely that that will continue into the future," he said.
How Elon Musk spots a liar
The problem is that anyone can say they're the best at what they do, but it can be hard — and at times impossible — to know whether they're telling the truth.
Luckily, Musk revealed his solution at the World Government Summit in 2017. He asks each candidate he interviews the same question: "Tell me about some of the most difficult problems you worked>Musk's strategy is effective, study finds
A study published in the Journal of Applied Research in Memory and Cognition last year in December uncovered several approaches to spotting liars based>If you want the job, tell the truth and be as detailed as possible
The study also found that using the AIM method can increase the likelihood of detecting liars by nearly 70%. That's good news for Musk — and other hiring managers who adopt this science-backed strategy.
As Musk said in the interview with Auto Bild, what he really wants to know is whether a candidate truly solved the problem they claimed to have solved.
"And of course you want to make sure if there was some significant accomplishment, were they really responsible, or was someone else more responsible?" Musk added. "Usually, someone who really had to struggle with a problem, they really understand [the details], and they don't forget."
After all, no one wants to hire someone who is all talk and no action. So if you want the job, don't skimp on the details.
