Are you a goal oriented person?  Asking this question in your next round of interviews is a dead end yielding very little information about the candidate in front of you.  You want to hire a person who is focused and driven by purpose.  With such a brief time together in an interview, you have to ask specific questions aimed at getting information to determine if the candidate is a suitable fit.  Here are 7 questions centered around goal orientation to get you started.

1. Can you think of a time when you worked hard to attain a difficult goal or get something accomplished against the odds? What was the situation and what did you do? 

2. Describe the professional accomplishments of which you are most proud.

3. Explain a project where the targeted objectives were not achieved; what did you learn from this experience

4. Have you experienced times when you have had more to accomplish than your normal schedule permitted? If yes, when was the last time that happned and what did you do about it? If no (but doesn’t elaborate), what keeps that from happening?

5. How do you approach your day/week/goal period?

6. How do you define success?

7. How do you set specific work goals?