Killer Interview Question: What Is Your Spirit Animal?

Not all interview questions need to be super serious — in past KIQs we’ve looked at dealing with time bombs, surviving the zombie apocalypse and the best way to unload a jumbo jet full of jellybeans. Here’s a question in a similarly fun vein from HootSuite CEO Ryan Holmes.

Wolf picture from Shutterstock

In pagan religion, a “spirit animal” was a fauna-based totem that was meant to represent the traits and skills of a particular person or tribe. It can also help to break the ice during job interviews (while also telling you a little about the prospective employee in the process.)

Ryan Holmes, founder of social media management system Hootsuite, asked his current executive assistant to name her spirit animal as part of her job interview. As Holmes explains, she went with an unconventional choice:

She told me it was a duck, because ducks are calm on the surface and hustling like crazy getting things done under the surface. I think this was an amazing response and a perfect description for the role of an EA. For the record, she’s been working with us for over a year now and is amazing at her job.

Not everybody will provide an insightful answer — expect to meet plenty of eagles and wolves, for example — but at the very least, it should help to put the person in the hot seat at ease and set a relaxed tone for the remainder of the interview. (Incidentally, we totally want to hear what your own spirit animal is in the comments.)

[Via Business Insider]


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