Fortune | FORTUNE 09月29日 23:07
面试中的“意想不到”:Lyft CEO的客户导向考察
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Lyft CEO David Risher 在面试中常会提出一个看似奇怪的问题:“为一位失聪人士设计一辆汽车”,以此考察应聘者能否设身处地为客户着想。Risher 强调,理解客户需求是构建卓越客户体验的关键。他本人曾在亚马逊和微软工作,深受客户至上理念影响。文章还介绍了其他 CEO 使用非传统面试问题的例子,如前 Indeed CEO Chris Hyams 询问 iPhone 或 Android 选择原因,以及 Great Place to Work CEO Michael Bush 询问周末活动,这些问题旨在了解应聘者的决策过程、透明度和真实性。最后,文章建议应聘者在面试结束时主动询问“有什么是我可能无法获得这份工作的吗?”。

💡 **客户至上是核心考察点:** Lyft CEO David Risher 通过“为失聪人士设计汽车”的面试题,旨在评估应聘者是否能真正站在客户角度思考,理解并满足他们的独特需求,从而判断其是否具备构建卓越客户体验的能力。

🚀 **CEO的早期职业经历影响深远:** Risher 在微软和亚马逊的经历,尤其是与 Jeff Bezos 的共事,深刻塑造了他对客户需求的重视。他认为,客户是善变的,必须每天为客户创新,这是实现业务增长和盈利的关键。

🤔 **非传统面试问题揭示思维方式:** 除了 Risher,其他 CEO 也使用独特问题来了解应聘者。例如,询问手机品牌偏好或周末活动,这些问题的目的并非寻找“正确”答案,而是观察应聘者如何做出决策、沟通以及是否愿意展现真实的自我。

🗣️ **主动提问,展现积极态度:** 文章建议,在面试即将结束时,应聘者可以主动询问“有什么是我可能无法获得这份工作的吗?”,这不仅能展现应聘者的积极性和对职位的重视,还能提供一个了解潜在顾虑并加以解决的机会。

But even if you make it to the interview stage, you might not be prepared for the curveball question Lyft CEO David Risher likes to ask: “Design a car for a deaf person.”

The prompt may sound unusual, but for Risher, it’s a quick way to “suss out” whether a candidate can put themselves in the shoes of a customer—the ultimate green flag he always looks for when making a hire.

“I want to see the candidate close their eyes and ears and imagine what that feels like, then be able to describe the experience to me in detail, including what someone in that position might need,” Risher told the Wake-Up Call at Work newsletter.

“That’s how I know I’ve got someone who can build great customer-obsessed experiences.”

From Harvard MBA grad to tech CEO

Before he ever led a major tech company, Risher studied comparative literature at Princeton University and went on to earn an MBA from Harvard. His early career path took him to Microsoft and later to Amazon, where his obsession with customer focus took root.

The now 60-year-old often credits his experience working directly with Jeff Bezos as pivotal in shaping his approach: “Jeff taught me to wake up every morning remembering that customers are fickle, so you’ve got to innovate on their behalf every day,” Risher said.

That philosophy remains crucial as Lyft faces fierce competition from ride-sharing rivals like Uber.

“To create a profitable rideshare business, then, we’ve got to create enough ride volume to cover our costs. Anything left over is profit,” Risher wrote in a letter to shareholders last year.

“The best way to do that is to create a rideshare network that is so amazing that people choose it millions of times every day—and even more in the future. And there’s only one way to get there: customer obsession.”

Fortune reached out to Risher for comment.

Expect the unexpected during your next job interview

Risher isn’t the only chief executive who throws out unconventional questions to get a deeper read on applicants. Many executives keep unique prompts in their back pocket—not to trip candidates up, but to reveal how they think, decide, and communicate.

For example, former Indeed CEO Chris Hyams swears by a deceptively simple one:

“It might seem strange, but I ask everyone, ‘Do you have an iPhone or an Android, and why?’” Hyams told Fortune

And while he admitted there’s not a right or wrong answer to the question—it’s more of an icebreaker than can help reveal the interthoughts of an applicant.

“I’m mostly curious about how people make decisions,” Hyams explained. “And it’s actually a long 15-minute series of back-and-forth on this, where I get to learn a little bit about the human being, and about how they make decisions.”

Michael Bush, CEO of Great Place to Work, told Fortune he sometimes likes to keep it casual and ask applicants simply what they like to do on the weekends.

“Usually, that’s unexpected, and I want to learn something about it,” he said. “I want to see if they’re willing to be transparent and truthful, or if they’re going to be filtering their comments, feeling that they have a fear of being judged.”

As the interview begins to wrap up, there’s one last thing you should ask before leaving the room, according to self-made millionaire Barbara Corcoran:“You look at the person interviewing you and you say to them: ‘Is there anything standing in the way of you hiring me?’”

Were you asked a curveball question at your last job interview? Or do you have an uncommon question you like to ask candidates? Share it with preston.fore@fortune.com.

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面试技巧 Lyft CEO 客户导向 David Risher 招聘 Job Interview Customer Experience Hiring
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