Interview Question
I hired, or was involved in hiring, many people over my career. My experience went something like this: HR would decide where and when to advertise the open position, then, if we were fortunate, they would ship me a stack of applications to review. This process allowed them to keep the hiring expenses down for the corporation.
I’m going to pause here for a moment to share some insight for any younger people who might be reading this devotion. Let’s say you were handed a stack of 20 to 50 applications to wade through that also included a resume or Curriculum Vitae. Time is a valuable commodity. Not only do you have to go through those applications, either by yourself or as part of a team, to select a set of viable candidates that will move to the next step, which is a telephone interview, but you will then have to whittle that list down even further for in-person interviews. Ultimately, in conjunction with HR, an offer might be made. I go through all this to point out that the process takes time that could be put toward other work. This is why the interviewer is motivated to ask meaningful questions during brief phone or in-person interviews. From my perspective, the interviews were used to determine whether the candidate could do the technical work and fit with my team.
Early in my career, I came up with an interview question that I liked (and candidates didn’t): “If you had to describe yourself as outgoing and aggressive or introverted and passive, which would you pick and why?” I liked this question because most people have a natural bias associated with the words “aggressive” and “passive” they must wrestle with to answer the question. For me, the answer wasn’t important, but the explanation for the answer would convey how well they knew themselves.
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.” - Galatians 5:22-23 ESV
This passage was a part of a devotion and reminded me of my trick question. The definition of the word “gentleness” is the quality of not being overly impressed by a sense of one’s self-importance. Synonyms include humility, modesty and meekness. When I think of the word “meekness,” I think of being passive or timid. Worse, “meekness” may even lead to thoughts of incompetence. However, meekness can be used to describe a king who used his authority not to dominate, but to care for his subjects. Now, what comes to mind?
“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” - Matthew 11:28-30
Our King, Jesus, is likewise powerful and gentle. The creator of the universe described himself as gentle and lowly. Our savior is the definition of perfect gentleness, but this meekness is not weakness.
“For the Lord will vindicate his people and have compassion on his servants, when he sees that their power is gone and there is none remaining, bond or free. Then he will say, ‘Where are their gods, the rock in which they took refuge, who ate the fat of their sacrifices and drank the wine of their drink offering? Let them rise up and help you; let them be your protection! “'See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no god beside me; I kill and I make alive; I wound and I heal; and there is none that can deliver out of my hand.” - Deuteronomy 32:36-39
There are lots of words that have several meanings depending on context, society, etc. The one thing I’m sure of is God loves me and I don’t deserve it. I pray I can put aside myself and worship him every day.
Notes
1.) I borrowed (heavily) from a Crossway devotion I got on November 4 on Galatians 5.
2.) Most candidates picked “outgoing and aggressive” as the better of the two choices. They tried to minimize the negative aspects associated with the “aggressive” description. A good portion answered with the other choice and minimized the negative aspects associated with the “passive” description. Probably the best answer I got was from a few who answered they could be both, depending on the situation, but leaned more to one of the choices. Those people understood their own strengths and weaknesses and recognized the need to step out of their comfort zone when needed.
