Why aren’t you a good fit?
Asking candidates why we should NOT hire them has turned out to be a remarkable filter.
We are now hiring for a peculiar role of Educator and have received 107 applications. We didn’t hire a recruiter (on purpose), so I’ve read all of them. One thing stood out.
Why aren’t you a good fit
Our application form consists of three questions:
Why are you a good fit?
Why aren’t you a good fit?
Any questions for us?
Surprisingly enough, the question that helps to spot our potential matches the most is the second one — why aren’t you a good fit?
Turns out, very few people can answer this question in a thoughtful, sincere, and empathetic way.
Here’s a typical answer:
Why aren’t you a good fit?
I'll admit I haven’t used Fibery extensively yet. However, after reading your article on Fibery101, I’m excited by its potential—and I’m no stranger to work management platforms. In previous roles, I’ve worked with tools like Salesforce, ServiceNow, and Trello to organize workflows and drive collaboration.
<…>
These tools have sharpened my ability to learn new systems quickly and think in modular, flexible ways, skills that align closely with Fibery’s approach and the kind of mindset needed to guide others through its possibilities.
Note how the first sentence is a half-hearted attempt at answering the question, and the rest is self-advertising. A few people went even further than that:
Why aren't you a good fit?
I can only not be a good fit if I am not selected after an interview and I will like to learn how to improve.
People can’t help but radiate self-confidence even if nudged otherwise. I also guess that, unlike with other questions, ChatGPT is pretty hard to prompt on this one.
Why aren’t you a good fit
For comparison, here’s someone we ended up interviewing:
Why aren't you a good fit?
I'm a chronic overthinker. This makes my work better but also means I sometimes spend longer planning the perfect approach than it would take to just... do the thing. I'm working on shipping faster, but I'll need teammates to occasionally tell me "good enough, ship it."
<…>
I've never owned something quite this big solo. Bigger scope than my previous gigs, for sure. I'm excited about it, but being honest about the step up.
Here’s another empathetic answer that led to an interview:
Why aren't you a good fit?
Although I have a big experience in creating different kinds of training materials, all of my experience was conducted in Russian. I do speak English at B2/C1 level (but I don't have a valid certificate), but still it would be a new thing for me to try.
<…>
Also I am not a coder (I have studied basics of Python, Pascal and macroses for MS Office, but never actually used these in real projects).
At first, I had doubts about how strong the correlation between the answer to this question and our cultural fit is. So I invited a few candidates to interviews despite their meh answers if the rest of their application was strong. None of them turned out to be people we wanted to work with.
On the other hand, out of the people who answered thoughtfully and sincerely, none were eventually rejected due to a culture mismatch.
Everyone has their limitations, and I prefer to learn about them sooner rather than later. We try our best to be open about ours in the job description and elsewhere, and expect the same from our future teammates.
You’re not for everyone. We’re not for everyone. That’s fine.
Favourites
Three things I’ve found interesting lately:
✍️ Two classic essays from the late 2000s that influence my approach to work to this day: I try to hire managers of one to buy me some focus time in my maker’s schedule, manager’s schedule.
🎬 (40 mins) The most meticulously crafted stand-up comedy I’ve seen in a while: Maybe They're Dead by Ryan Goodcase. “Every time a girl asks me what time I was born, I wish I never was”.
🎙️ (35 mins) If aphantasia really is a handicap, and why it doesn’t necessarily make sense to treat it. Bonus points for the name of the episode.
This was issue #2, find more at antoniokov.com.
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