The 6 Sneaky Questions Facebook Uses to Weed Out ‘Whiners’ and Selfish Job Candidates

It takes team players to build a successful company — just ask Facebook.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg speaks during an event at Facebook headquarters on April 4, 2013 in Menlo Park, California. Zuckerberg announced a new product for Android called Facebook Home. April 10 he announced a new political group. (Photo: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Jay Parikh, global head of engineering and infrastructure at the social media giant conglomerate revealed in an article for the Harvard Business Review recently the six questions his company asks of prospective employees to weed out those who might only be looking out for themselves.

"Look for empire builders, self-servers, and whiners in the hiring process — and don’t hire them," Parikh wrote.

"All companies screen candidates for skill sets and experience," he added. "Everyone wants to hire the best and smartest people they can find. We add additional criteria, screening for the ability to calibrate to a team environment."

Check out the six questions Parikh says Facebook executives ask of potential talent:

1) "Describe your responsibilities as a leader.”

2) “Can you tell me about four people whose careers you have fundamentally improved?”

3) “Describe a few of your peers at your company and what type of relationship you have with each of them.”

4) “What did you do on your very best day at work?"

5) “What does office politics mean to you, and do you see politics as your job?”

6) “Tell me about a project that you led that failed. Why did it fail and what did you learn?”

"Questions like these are meant to get the discussion started and allow the interviewer to ask follow-up questions," Parikh wrote.

"Successful candidates should clearly demonstrate that their priorities are company, team, and self — in that order," Parikh continued. "This makes it more likely that they’ll put the company’s mission above their individual interests and that they’ll set the proper example for others."

(H/T: Business Insider)

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