The one question that 'makes or breaks' Microsoft job interviews revealed by former HR boss

It's always fascinating to get an insight into the way that massive tech companies sift through the many, many job applications they field.

Job interviews are famously full of trick questions and brain teasers that don't necessarily always involve exactly the sort of work you'll actually be doing if you get the role. Instead, these questions typically expose how your brain works, to see if you're able to think outside the box and get creative.

Sometimes that might make for a really complicated question, but in other cases it can be really simple, as demonstrated by Chris Williams, former vice president of HR at tech giant Microsoft.

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That sort of position means that Williams has experience with a lot of interviews, and he shared some of that expertise in a piece for Business Insider in 2022.

"There are a few important things I'm looking for when hiring," Williams wrote.

"I want to see a smart, passionate learner who can communicate. Someone who can dive right into whatever challenge comes their way. A person who will promptly learn what they need to and help others by sharing what they've learned."

So, according to Williams, he made a point of zoning in on that question of learning, by asking the very simple query: "Tell me something you've learned in the last couple of days."

He'd often clarify to the candidate that this didn't have to be something professional, but rather anything that came to mind from the last few days that they felt they'd learned.

He felt that the best candidates would typically be able to come up with something quite quickly, and that their answer would often be a window into something that they were truly passionate about.

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Williams wrote: "Maybe they've learned how to format pivot tables in Excel. Perhaps it's how to make a better battle bot. Could be the history of a poet they love. Or how to teach their child to ride a bike. Maybe it's how to cook leeks. I've seen people talk about games they love and sports they've just picked up."

So, the topic of choice wasn't really the point, and it didn't matter too much if the candidate didn't grab the opportunity to once again boast about some sort of professional skill. Rather, it was all about seeing whether they had a thirst for knowledge, and evaluating how they were able to communicate that new knowledge once they had it.

Communication is a huge part of being a success at almost any job, after all, so it's reassuring to see that it was a key consideration somewhere like Microsoft.