AT&T’s Jennifer Van Buskirk has been with the telecom giant for over 25 years and leads a team of roughly 20,000 people. So she’s no stranger to hiring.
A few years ago, the head of business operations launched a startup, now operating as Cricket Wireless, a subsidiary of AT&T. Cricket Wireless is now worth over $6 billion and has more than 13 million customers, a spokesperson for AT&T said.
During that process, she had the opportunity to build her dream team — and her goal was to find employees who were willing to think big. Through trial and error, Van Buskirk discovered two interview questions that she still uses to help her identify the right candidates.
“I’m a bit of an adrenaline junkie, probably professionally and personally,” Van Buskirk told Business Insider.
The executive looks for similar qualities when interviewing candidates — those who are “courageous enough to take the bold move, the big risk.”
Your greatest risk
Van Buskirk’s first big question is: What’s the greatest risk you’ve ever taken and why?
“When you’re driving change or starting something new, it’s really important to get people that can thrive in that kind of environment,” Van Buskirk said.
She said she’s open to responses about both personal and professional risks, but in general, she’s looking for a “big, bold move,” and she’s looking to hear how comfortable the candidate is with getting uncomfortable. She said she’s heard responses about people moving to a new country or making a pivot into a new industry.
Van Buskirk said she herself has done plenty of risk-taking activities, including skydiving and launching a business, and she’s looking for others who can also take big leaps.
“Those that didn’t have that experience, I found, weren’t as proficient or successful in these different environments where that was required,” Van Buskirk said. “You have to be okay living in that land of uncertainty.”
Van Buskirk said that one person who didn’t get hired said their biggest risk was getting married.
“I thought they might have either bad judgment or were really risk-averse — one of those two things,” Van Buskirk said.
What would you change
Van Buskirk’s second question is: If you started all over again, what would you do differently and why?
The executive said this question helps reveal “how big and bold” the candidate is willing to go with their ideas. The bolder the response, the better, Van Buskirk said. That could even mean saying they wouldn’t do the job at all, or that they would cut down half of their responsibilities.
While the executive asked these questions when she launched her startup over a decade ago, she said with AI transforming the workforce, people will only be limited by their “ability to dream big enough.”
Van Buskirk said if a candidate responded with an answer about how they would change a small, singular aspect of their career, that would indicate they’re not thinking broadly enough.
“That’s a fail, because there’s always some improvement that can be had, if you can think big enough,” Van Buskirk said.
