I recently read Tony Hsieh’s book Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits, Passion, and Purpose and was floored by the level of evolution his company, Zappos.com, has reached. They talk in depth about how to create a company culture, get their employees in the groove, and make a ton of money along the way.

Listed below are the interview questions that Zappos uses with new hires. These are just samples from the book, but shed light on how to really see what someone is about.

  • Give me an example from your previous job(s) where you had to think and act outside the box.
  • What was the best mistake you made on the job? Why was it the best?
  • Tell me about a time you recognized a problem/area to improve that was outside of your job duties and solved [it] without being asked to. What was it? How did you do it?
  • Would you say you are more or less creative than the average person? Can you give me an example?
  • If it was your first day on the job at Zappos and your task was to make the interview/recruiting process more fun, what would you do for those eight hours?
  • What’s an example of a risk you took in a previous job? What was the outcome?
  • When was the last time you broke the rules/policy to get the job done?

Do you have any questions to add? Share it below in the comments.