Elon Musk has revealed one of the key credibility questions he always asks job candidates.
You might think you could get away with making yourself look a little more heroic in a testing situation by putting on some cheeky embellishments on an old resume or an interview, but that’s not the case when you’re facing Tesla CEO Musk.
In a 2017 interview with Auto Bild, Musk was asked what skills he wanted candidates to have.
However, Musk made it clear that instead of focusing on an applicant’s college qualifications or degrees, he usually focuses on just one question.
While asking them “the story of their career”, the X owner revealed: “I really just ask: ‘What’s the harder problem?’ [you’ve] Countermeasures and methods [did you] Have you dealt with them?
“And how they made decisions at critical transition points,” he added.
But why is this one key question so important to Musk?

Now, the richest man in the world today says that “one question is usually enough” to give him a “very good gut feeling about someone,” and that he can also reveal whether he’s being lied to. It explains that it can be done.
Musk continued, “What I’m really looking for is evidence of extraordinary ability that they faced really difficult problems and overcame them.
“And of course, if there’s something important that happens, you want to see if they were really responsible or if there was someone more responsible.”
Musk said that typically, “people who have had to wrestle with an issue really understand it and don’t forget it.”
He decided: “So if you ask them very detailed questions about it, they’ll know the answer, but people who aren’t really responsible for the outcome won’t know the details.”
Also, don’t just take Musk’s word for it. Indeed, he lists this question as one of his 8 common problem-solving questions that you might be asked if you have a job interview coming up.
The site says, “If the job you’re applying for requires you to think analytically or problem-solve, your interviewer may ask you problem-solving questions. may vary, but some examples come up frequently.”
And in fact, one of the questions posted on the recruitment website has a similar theme to Musk’s. “Tell me about a time when you faced an unexpected challenge at work.”
In conjunction with what Musk said about not lying and taking credit for things you shouldn’t say, Indeed advises:
“The STAR technique involves describing the situation, the task, what action you took, and the outcome. Select an example that had a positive outcome and talk about what you learned from that experience. If possible, relate this to the job description.”