As an executive with more than 20 years of hiring experience, Facebook's Head of Global Recruiting Miranda Kalinowski knows what it takes to land a job at today's top companies.
Prior to joining Facebook in 2004, Kalinowski worked at PwC for three years and Accenture for 16 years, helping both firms to grow and expand their staff as a recruiter. Having interviewed dozens of people throughout her career, the long-time executive says there is one go-to interview question she always asks to see if a candidate will be good for her team.
"So I essentially want to know what people's strengths are," she tells CNBC Make It. "And, I find a good way to ask or find that out is to say, 'On your very best day, that day that you went home and you were air punching thinking that was the best day ever, what did you do?'"
This open-ended question, she says, allows her to get insight on "what motivates people and what their strengths are," as they discuss the projects they completed or goals they accomplished on one of their best days at work.
"We're a strength-based organization," she says in regards to Facebook, "so we're looking for the things people do when they're losing track of time because they're so absorbed [in the work]."
While there is no right way to answer this question, Kalinowski explains that she is expecting potential employees to elaborate on the skills and qualities that will make them a standout candidate for the job. This includes, she says, candidates who can prove in an interview that their strengths align with the mission of the company and tie into their ability to create new things and build community.
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"At Facebook we are really proud of our mission, which is to give people the power to build community and bring the world together," she says. "So we want people who are really proud of and inspired by that mission." Additionally, she says, we want "diversity, new perspectives and builders. And I don't mean you have to be an engineer or a product designer."
She explains that "whether you're an engineer, financial analyst or manager," she is looking to hire individuals who "love creating new things and figuring out how to continuously improve them." This may include, she says, building new "teams or processes or products."
"That's what we mean when we say builders," she adds. "And that's what we look for."
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