What to ask: We look for a time the candidate wanted something so badly, they were unstoppable in pursuing it. Or a time they overcame an obstacle,” Hamilton s

What to ask: We look for a time the candidate wanted something so badly, they were unstoppable in pursuing it. Or a time they overcame an obstacle,” Hamilton says. As you listen to the answers to those questions, pay close attention to both the tasks and the duration described. “Try to get a sense of how long that person can stick it out. How long are they going to beat their head against a stats problem?” Good qualities for an academic (or inventor type), but doesn't seem to have much correlation with the kind of "grit" needed for most commercial development work. In which, the vast majority of the time, we benefit the most from "triaging": that is, discerning when not to go down rabbit holes, and when not to "bang our heads" against problems when it may be better to simply... route around them, or leave them be until some sunny day arrives when there's a legitimate business need to properly resolve them, and we have appropriate resources available to do so.