Many researchers have documented how the traits of “self-awareness” and “awareness of others” correlate with success.

One of our clients recently asked: How do you assess for “self-awareness” during an interview?

In a post from our archive, Dave Mashburn provided a great answer to this question:

Self-aware people are open to feedback.

Ask the standard: “What are your strengths and weaknesses?” question during the interview.

When the candidate talks about their weaknesses, follow-up with this question:
“What are some of the things you’ve done to improve your weaknesses?”

Or, “What is your strategy for improving your __________ (earlier stated weakness)?”

This gets you past the canned answers and helps you discover if the candidate is working on getting better.

This information is important because a truly self-aware person wants to improve their weaknesses.

Tomorrow we’ll work on assessing for “awareness of others.”