Jeff Bezos revealed his favorite job interview question and why one 'wrong' answer could mean you’re not hired

If you've ever wondered how Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos interviews people, then he has offered a glimpse into his process.

When it comes to job interviews, there are any number of tests that companies can use to determine who's the right person for the role.

Some bosses might use the 'Coffee Cup Test', where they offer the interviewee a cup of coffee or tea, and then see if they take their cup back to the kitchen and wash it when they're done.

If you just leave it in the sink, or worse yet don't even take it back to the kitchen, then it's bad news.

But Bezos has a slightly different approach to how he assesses whether someone is the right fit.

Bezos previously shared his approach to interviews (Alexander Tamargo/Getty Images for America Business Forum)

Let's be honest, if you're being interviewed by Jeff Bezos personally these days then it's probably not for a job in one of Amazon's warehouses.

However, in 2012, Bezos shared the criteria he looks for when interviewing candidates, and it's now resurfacing on social media.

So what is the most important characteristic that the previous world's richest man looks for in a prospective employee?

Inventiveness.

“When I interview people, I ask them to give me an example of something they’ve invented,” Bezos said more than a decade ago.

He explained that this doesn't have to be a patented thing, but something which will be useful.

Crucially, this isn't so much thinking outside the box, as 'inventing your way out of a box'.

Bezos has been the richest person in the world on numerous occasions (Arda Kucukkaya/Anadolu via Getty Images)

“You want to select people who like to invent their way out of boxes and don’t necessarily immediately go to either/or - ‘we can do A or B’,” said Bezos.

He explained that it doesn't even have to be about answering with a correct answer, but responding with the right question.

“The right question is, ‘How can we do A and B? What invention do we need to be able to do both?’ So that’s a lot about selection," he explained.

Bezos has also spoken about how failure is also an important part of succeeding.

“To invent, you have to experiment,” he said. “And if you know in advance that it’s going to work, it’s not an experiment.”

In a letter to shareholders in 2015, Bezos even wrote: “One area where I think we are especially distinctive is failure. I believe we are the best place in the world to fail (we have plenty of practice!), and failure and invention are inseparable twins.”

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