Standard reference checks yield generic praise. To identify true A-players, ask their former colleagues a high-stakes question: “Would you quit your current job to work for this person again?” An enthusiastic “yes” is the strongest hiring signal you can get.

To get past a curated interview persona, ask a candidate to describe a time they had to work with someone they viscerally disliked. Their answer reveals their true approach to conflict, blame, and collaboration under pressure.

Mitzera's CEO uses this common interview question as a reverse filter. He becomes suspicious if a candidate's answer is too perfectly tailored to the job they're applying for, as it may signal a lack of genuine personality or well-rounded interests beyond their professional life.

Standard reference calls are predictably positive. To get the truth, ask the reference, "What job do we need to hire next to help this person be successful?" The description of the required role will almost always be a perfect antonym of the candidate's skills, revealing their weaknesses.

To understand a candidate's perspective and definition of excellence, ask what criteria they would use to hire someone for the same position. This meta-question reveals their priorities, uncovers nuanced aspects of the role you may have missed, and improves your own hiring criteria.

When interviewing, ask candidates: 'In six months, what would be a nightmare situation for you here?' Their answer reveals their work-style preferences and anxieties, highlighting potential mismatches with your company's reality and helping you hire for retention.

To assess a candidate's true character and values, move beyond standard interview questions. Use unexpected, personal prompts like "What's something your parents taught you?" or "What was your first job?" These questions reveal foundational lessons, resilience, and personal drive, which are hard to gauge otherwise.

Framing a question about past errors as a "do-over" bypasses management defensiveness. It encourages more honest reflection on decisions and reveals a leader's capacity for humility, a key trait for avoiding corporate blow-ups.

Instead of broad questions, Musk drills down into a single problem, often one he knows well, to gauge a candidate's depth of knowledge and detect if they are exaggerating their contributions. This 'video game' approach tests how many layers of a problem a candidate can get through.