Anyone have any questions I should ask doing a phone interview with a potential student worker? I usually go on "vibe" (the two I fired were people I had bad vibes with an hired anyway because of logic), but that is hard to get on the telephone.

My favorite interview question is whether the candidate, given a project and a deadline, would rather finish on time and hand in something imperfect, or hand it in late but perfect.

My favorite interview question is whether the candidate, given a project and a deadline, would rather finish on time and hand in something imperfect, or hand it in late but perfect.

That is interesting. I don't know which one is the "right" answer, especially since I want them to be timely AND perfect.

This is also a hard position, because I need someone to be able to back me up on the phone, for which you need to be super friendly and resourceful and to do boring repetitive tasks with great attention to detail.

The young woman I am interviewing has one of the cutest job duties I have ever seen:

• Fed, changed, and rocked newborn babies

That's a really great question.

This is also a hard position, because I need someone to be able to back me up on the phone, for which you need to be super friendly and resourceful and to do boring repetitive tasks with great attention to detail.

Those seem like a pretty standard combination of low-level tasks, though. Not that everyone is good at all of them, but it's not a crazy thing to ask.

Those seem like a pretty standard combination of low-level tasks, though. Not that everyone is good at all of them, but it's not a crazy thing to ask.

It seems like not very many college students do both well, though. Or I have no idea how to evaluate whether or not they will be good at boring repetitive tasks. I mean, some people really love them!

It seems like not very many college students do both well, though.

Yeah, I'm sure that's true. And why my temp bosses always liked me -- I was really good on the phone and good enough in the database or whatever the boring part was.

Yeah, I'm sure that's true. And why my temp bosses always liked me -- I was really good on the phone and good enough in the database or whatever the boring part was.

I was like that too. I now SUCK at the boring part (although I probably wouldn't if it was my only job), so I really need someone to be able to pick up the slack. Or just do those things

My favorite interview question is whether the candidate, given a project and a deadline, would rather finish on time and hand in something imperfect, or hand it in late but perfect.

The answer is...increase the budget/resources and meet time and quality. Isn't that the project management constraint trifecta?

It's also being purposely evasive, so double win. But if you mention triple constraints, maybe you'll get lingo points.

OMG, I want a Paul Bettany issue. Not Paul Bettany issue, though.

increase the budget/resources and meet time and quality

Not an available option. The candidates try that all the time. Even if they refuse to answer the question, I learn something from how they handle it, and what they will be like to manage.