My Favorite Interview Question

Since I was the main hiring manager at one of my restaurant jobs and a member of three new store opening teams, I figure that I have interviewed well over 1,000 people in my life.  During those interviews, I have always asked the following question-

"On a scale of 1-10, with 1 being people oriented and 10 being task oriented, rate yourself and tell me why."

I love this question for many reasons.  First, I want the person I am interviewing to be decisive.  Thus, the only incorrect answer is 5.  I want you to be either a people oriented person or a task oriented person.  An answer of "5" tells me you are indecisive and are looking to please me by saying you are both.

Second, I love the question because, other than an answer of "5", there really isn't a wrong answer.  I don't care if you are people or task oriented, my main concern is why you consider yourself the way you do.  Do you like talking to people and getting to know them or do you do better with managing a to do list?  Explain to me why you chose the way you did.

Finally, I love this question because it gives me a way to balance my staff.  A successful staff must have a mix of people oriented and task oriented staff members.  The people oriented staff members are going to be the ones who chat with tables, make friends with guests and are very social around the restaurant.  The task oriented staff members are going to be the ones who are good at pre-busing, running food/drink, and complete side-work in a very timely manner.  If you had a staff full of people oriented people, you would have servers lolly-gagging at tables talking to guests when there is food/drink to run and tables to pre-bus.  If you had a staff full of task oriented people, you would have servers doing nothing but side-work and food running and forgetting about the hospitality aspect of running a restaurant.

Next time you have to conduct an interview consider asking the applicant "On a scale of 1-10, with 1 being people oriented and 10 being task oriented, rate yourself and tell me why."  See what they say.  Ask your current staff, too.  Do you have a good mix of people and task oriented staff?  If not, consider hiring the opposite of what you have the most of.  It will make a difference in the service you provide.