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Just to clarify, I do not suggest asking about mistakes a person has made. That is both a hint that I'm looking for a flattering narrative and not quite true.

Just to clarify, I do not suggest asking about mistakes a person has made. That is both a hint that I'm looking for a flattering narrative and not quite true. I'm looking for someone who can think back and identify the things he/she was wrong about. What were the false assumptions, how did those come to light, how would you solve a similar problem differently after that experience, etc. In other words, is the candidate someone who has a rational meta-process going on about his/her decisions and is able to refine his/her approach based on learnings. I'm ideally looking for small things that show clear evidence of that kind of thought process. As for body language, I agree, and I think my choice of the term "poker face" was a bad way of describing a certain kind of evasiveness which can indicate bad motives or bad people skills, either of which can make the person a bad hire.

rntz 11y ago
> I think my choice of the term "poker face" was a bad way of describing a certain kind of evasiveness which can indicate bad motives or bad people skills, either of which can make the person a bad hire. As a practical matter, how do you detect this kind of "evasiveness", and differentiate it from (say) plain old introversion or nervousness?
- grandalf 11y ago
  Good point. I certainly require more than a few moments where I sense it before I feel confident in considering someone's behavior evasive. Suppose you're having a conversation with someone and in 15 minutes one of you chosen at random is going to have to trust the other with his/her life. What kinds of signals indicate that the person is trustworthy, understands the potential future, and is accurately representing him/herself? There are some people where I never feel the kind of connection I'd want to feel in that scenario, and others where I feel it fairly early on in the interaction. Just a kind of straightforwardness, not extraversion or social comfort.
  - nbb 11y ago
    Seems like an easy way to end up picking a lot of people like yourself. After all, it's a lot easier to feel connected to someone like yourself.
    - grandalf 11y ago
      > people like yourself That is certainly a risk with any notion of "culture fit", but any time someone who cares about culture is interviewing someone that fit is being evaluated to some extent.

rntz 11y ago

> I think my choice of the term "poker face" was a bad way of describing a certain kind of evasiveness which can indicate bad motives or bad people skills, either of which can make the person a bad hire. As a practical matter, how do you detect this kind of "evasiveness", and differentiate it from (say) plain old introversion or nervousness?

grandalf 11y ago
Good point. I certainly require more than a few moments where I sense it before I feel confident in considering someone's behavior evasive. Suppose you're having a conversation with someone and in 15 minutes one of you chosen at random is going to have to trust the other with his/her life. What kinds of signals indicate that the person is trustworthy, understands the potential future, and is accurately representing him/herself? There are some people where I never feel the kind of connection I'd want to feel in that scenario, and others where I feel it fairly early on in the interaction. Just a kind of straightforwardness, not extraversion or social comfort.
- nbb 11y ago
  Seems like an easy way to end up picking a lot of people like yourself. After all, it's a lot easier to feel connected to someone like yourself.
  - grandalf 11y ago
    > people like yourself That is certainly a risk with any notion of "culture fit", but any time someone who cares about culture is interviewing someone that fit is being evaluated to some extent.