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Elon Musk asks the same question at every interview to spot a liar - It works

Thursday, 01/02/2024, 14:33 (GMT+7)

Elon Musk has revealed the secret to success: he uses a trustworthiness test during interviews to determine whether candidates have lied

In the interview with Auto Bild, Elon Musk revealed an important question he always asks job candidates to test their credibility.

Every time you go for an interview, you often feel stressed when an employer asks tough questions. You have no way of knowing what difficult questions an employer will ask until you face them.

Depending on the position and job requirements, employers will pose questions for candidates to answer.

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According to Musk, he always asks the candidate: 'How did you make decisions at key transition points?. Image Credits: Getty

If you're stressed out by the difficulty of job interviews, don't worry; billionaire Elon Musk, the world's richest man, has shared the questions he often asks candidates to check their credibility. You can refer to Musk’s set of questions to see if you can pass Musk’s problems!

According to an interview with Auto Bild, Elon Musk revealed an important question he always asks job candidates. 

According to Elon Musk, it doesn’t matter which school you went to or your level of education. The CEO of Tesla said: There’s no need even to have a college degree at all, or even high school,”

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In the interview with Auto Bild, the CEO of Tesla, Elon Musk, reveals the question that he asks at every interview to spot a liar. Image Credits: Getty

When the CEO of Tesla was asked what skills he looks for in candidates, he revealed that he usually focuses on just one question rather than focusing on a candidate's college education or degree.

What is the question that Elon Musk asked candidates in the interview?

Elon Musk told Auto Bild: 'What are some of the tougher problems [you've] dealt with and how [did you] dealt with those?'

"And how they made decisions at key transition points," he adds.

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According to Elon Musk, he reveals that he typically just focuses on one question during the interview. Image Credits: Getty

Instead, Musk looks for "evidence of superior ability" when hiring. "If there is a record of good performance, it is likely to continue to happen in the future," he said.

Because “the people who really solved the problem know exactly how they solved it,” he said. “They know and can describe the little details.”

Musk’s approach is based on the idea that people making false claims lack the ability to prove them convincingly, so he wants to hear how they solve a tough problem step by step.

Musk often says, “People who struggle with a problem truly understand it and don’t forget it.”

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Musk looks for 'evidence of exceptional ability' when it comes to hiring. 'If there's a track record of exceptional achievement, then it's likely that that will continue into the future,' he said. Image Credits: Getty

"So you can ask them very detailed questions about it and they'll know the answer, whereas the person who was not truly responsible for that accomplishment will not know the details". He added.

Before, the former CEO of accounting platform Xero left several people stunned after using coffee during interviews

Trent Innes is best known as the former CEO of the accounting platform Xero and currently serves as Chief Growth Officer of SiteMinder.

Previously, Trent Innes relied on the "coffee cup test" to gauge a candidate's attitude during a job interview. He won't hire anyone who doesn't pass the "coffee mug test," as he reveals attitude is more important than any common interview question.

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The boss of an accounting software firm, Trent Innes, has shared the coffee test during the interview, leaving numerous people stunned. Image Credits: Getty

Through his work, Trent Innis interviewed many candidates, all of whom were put to his unique coffee cup test.

In a conversation with the business podcast The Ventures, he shared his advice on the matter. He said:

"I will always take you for a walk down to one of our kitchens and somehow you always end up walking away with a drink."Then we take that back, have our interview, and one of the things I’m always looking for at the end of the interview is, does the person doing the interview want to take that empty cup back to the kitchen?

"You can develop skills, you can gain knowledge and experience but it really does come down to attitude, and the attitude that we talk a lot about is the concept of 'wash your coffee cup" 

According to Innes, he claims this method has been proven effective in keeping office kitchens clean.