Interviewing with New Purpose: The 5 Interview Questions I’d Like to Ask

We have an engagement crisis in the today’s world of work. According to recent research, the majority of our workforce doesn’t feel a real connection with their work. I find this incredibly disheartening. However, the question remains as to how we rectify this epidemic. I do feel that we have the tools (tests, assessments, etc.) and knowledge base to move forward – but our mindset has yet to catch up with the pressing need.

We must provide more opportunities for honest conversation – more sharing – more trust – more exploration into what really connects an employee to their work. We need to lay it all out openly and discuss what really matters. No gimmicks. We simply need to examine what makes us tick and embrace whatever that might be.

This type of “career transparency” can begin with the interviewing process. To impact this staggering lack of engagement – we need to interview with a new-found purpose. This means using the interview platform as an opportunity to discover information that might directly impact future levels of engagement. In particular, we might probe areas that have been linked with higher levels of engagement: Feeling valued, appropriate feedback mechanisms and topics related to energized supervision.

Here are the questions that I’d like to ask:

1. What are the elements of your work that energize you?
2. What kind of performance feedback (specificity, frequency) do find most useful?
3. What type of supervision helps you to become maximally effective?
4. How does the role we are discussing align with your strengths?
5. If you could implement one innovation or idea within our industry, what would that be?

What questions might you ask? Share them.

Special thanks to one of my readers Dave Erikson ( The 10 Career Questions I’d like to Ask Just About Everyone), whose comment motivated me to write this post.

Dr. Marla Gottschalk is a Workplace Psychologist. She also writes for Linkedin and US News & World Report.

Friday Catalyst: Martin Seligman – The New Era of Positive Psychology

Are You Listening?

Have you ever heard someone described as a really great listener? Being defined in this manner implies all sorts of positive attributes; Fairness. Maturity. Open to opinion.

There are so many reasons to emphasize the power of listening in the workplace. From developing future leaders to teaming skills – the art of listening is a much needed skill set. Many leadership experts feel you simply cannot excel in business today without this skill – and I agree fully. Listening can not only make you more likeable – it can change the face of your career.

Tom Peters, author of In Search of Excellence – aptly calls this skill set “strategic listening”. No matter what your role or organizational purpose he is adamant that listening is critical. Listening is about respect. It is about making a commitment to others. It is about commitment to progress and change.

What you might gain from tweaking your listening skills:

• You’ll grow as a contributor. Learning to put your own thoughts aside for just a moment, will help you process new ideas. Overall, you’ll be in a better position to absorb more of the knowledge that is around you.
• You’ll be better positioned to handle problems. When challenge occurs – effective listening skills can help you to understand dissenting opinions and varying points of view. As a result, you’ll have a far greater chance of finding needed solutions.
• You’ll discover hidden potential. In many situations, your most effective team members may not be highly vocal. Hang back and let them know you value their opinions – they’ll be more likely to come forward and contribute.

We can all improve our listening skills. For now, hold back and let others complete their thought. Then reflect on what you have learned. It’s a great place to start.

Dr. Marla Gottschalk is an Industrial/Organizational Psychologist. She also writes for Talent Zoo and Linkedin.

Friday Catalyst: Grant Blakeman – Minimalism – For a More Full Life

So, you’re busy – I get it. Life can get a bit overwhelming. But, on some level we have to take responsibility and “curate our lives”. This means leaving some empty space in our day to collect ourselves and mull over what has occurred.

I’d like to think that we could all incorporated some white space in our lives – where we can settle ourselves and think about what might come next.

Let’s try that and see what happens.

A Career Has Many Doors

When my boys were grade schoolers I loved to spend time in their classrooms. One year, I volunteered as the “Picture Parent” – where I was responsible for sharing the work of great artists. At other times, I attended class celebrations. The children were always such an energizing force. I would always try to start a conversation about their very early aspirations concerning work and career, “What do you want to be when you are older?”, I would ask. As you can imagine, their answers were absolutely limitless; astronauts, teachers, to be like my “Mom” or “Dad”.

However, one answer was a little unusual. A 6 year-old boy let me know that he wanted to be two things – a lawyer as his parents were both practicing attorneys  – or a “pancake flipper”.  Of course, this caught me a little off guard, but I was very curious as to how this highly specific interest developed. (His mother confirmed his early passion for all things related to cooking and I didn’t want to inform him that the job, per se really didn’t exist.) So, I inquired as why he chose that particular role.  He responded, “Because I’m, really good at it”. All I could muster in response was, “That’s an excellent reason.” Which it surely was.

In the minds of children the career horizon is limitless and any spark of talent has the possibility of being explored and realized. But, as time passes we often leave behind one or two of these “sparks”. This happens progressively during our work lives – as we place certain aspirations, skills and talents on a shelf and close the “virtual” door. Life happens. Work happens. We modify our career aspirations to meet the opportunities which are presented. Certainly, we move forward as best we can.

As a result, I believe we are presented with much untapped potential within our workforce. Among us are hidden innovators, entrepreneurs, artists, leaders and mentors. Many with dreams and pockets of real untapped talent – locked behind the “virtual” doors that have closed. I would like to think that we can weave them back into our work lives somehow. But first we must pause and acknowledge them.

A career has many doors – and it is up to us to open them.

Have you left a career dream behind and rediscovered it in some way? How can we discover the hidden talent that exists in our workplaces?

Dr. Marla Gottschalk is an Industrial/Organizational Psychologist. She also covers career and workplace topics for Linkedin and US News & World Report.

Sunday Notes – Your Body Language Shapes Who You are: Amy Cuddy – The TED Talks

Can our bodies change our minds? According to the research the answer is yes – and “tiny tweeks can lead to Big Changes.”

What’s the Status of Your Psychological Capital?

You can read the research – or you might simply feel it in your gut. With some essential workplace issues, it really doesn’t matter how you discovered the concept – it’s opening the door and letting it in that matters. This seems to be the consensus on workplace positivity.

Maybe, it’s a sign of the times -  realizing that we cannot do our best work if we feel undervalued or hopeless. Many of us simply would like to feel more positive about our daily work lives.

So how do we accomplish this?

Well, we have some interesting clues from a key group of researchers (Luthans, et al. 2006), who have been investigating the application of positivity to the workplace. They have discovered that we might need to focus on the strength of our “Psychological Capital” (PsyCap). Psychological capital, is a second-order construct, composed of 4 key “psychological resources” that we access to cope with the challenges of our work lives.  (They are as follows – HERO for short.)

• Hope. A belief in the ability to persevere toward goals and find the methods or paths to reach them.
• Efficacy. The confidence that one can put forth the effort to affect outcomes.
• Resilience. The ability to bounce back in the face of adversity or failure.
• Optimism. A generally positive view of work and the potential of success.

You can read more about Psychological Capital in a recent LinkedIn post, “Why Positivity is So Essential in the Workplace.”

What do you think? Does positivity have a role in the workplace?

Dr. Marla Gottschalk is a Workplace Psychologist and coach. She also writes for Talent Zoo and Linkedin.