As a banker, I asked each entry-level candidate to tell me about something that they did that was hard. Basically, I want to know how they will perform when it'

As a banker, I asked each entry-level candidate to tell me about something that they did that was hard. Basically, I want to know how they will perform when it's gut-check time. The real world will provide occasions where their character will be tested. One positive about this method is that I got to hear some interesting stories, whether it was the kid that started his own commercial hookah bar in college or the one that expelled a friend as a member of his college honor council. It was easy to tell which candidates had the right stuff and which did not. Intelligence is important, but the kid that was voted most likely to succeed in my high school was not near the most intelligent. And for what it's worth, I think the voting was accurate.