LinkedIn CEO Jeff Weiner oversees a platform that helps millions of people get jobs, and he knows what makes a great hire.
When interviewing job candidates, he always asks two specific questions. For the CEO, a person's response to them can make or break an interview.
Speaking with Gayle King, co-host of CBS This Morning and editor-at-large of "O, The Oprah Magazine," at a recent panel at Hearst Tower, Weiner said that he begins every interview with them.
The CEO's questions are:
- What is your dream job?
- Looking back on your career, what do you want to say you accomplished?
Candidates who are able to provide solid answers to these big picture questions demonstrate that they've given their careers some serious thought, and that impresses him. (King made a point of jotting down his questions, saying she'd start asking them, too.)
"It always makes a strong impression on me when someone's got real clarity with regard to that response," Weiner tells King.
The sooner you understand what it is that you want to do, the faster you can get there.Jeff WeinerCEO of Linkedin
Of course, the answers to these questions can change over time, as many people will have second or third careers over the course of their working life.
"If you don't know exactly what that is," the LinkedIn CEO says, "at least think about optimizing for two things, your passion and your skill, and not one at the exclusion of the other."
Start thinking about what your work life will look like six months, one year or a decade from now, and write down goals for yourself, your skills and companies you'd love to work for.
"The sooner you understand what it is that you want to do," Weiner says, "the faster you can get there."
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