“It might seem strange, but I ask everyone, ‘Do you have an iPhone or an Android, and why?’” Hyams tells Fortune.
It might seem like a trick question, but the job platform chief says it’s more of an icebreaker that can reveal a lot about an applicant. There isn’t one “wrong answer” that could cost them the job.
“I’m mostly curious about how people make decisions,” Hyams explains. “And it’s actually a long 15-minute series of back-and-forth on this, where I get to learn a little bit about the human being, and about how they make decisions.”
Most people answer iPhone, with typical reasoning being they’ve stuck with the brand since being put on their family plan in high school. Others open up about the apps they enjoy using on their phone, generally, giving Hyams a peek into their passions. When that happens, he also asks what they would change about the platforms.
“You can actually have a really interesting set of conversations around how important it is when you choose a product, that you can get stuck with that thing for a very, very long time,” Hyams says. “I ask people what apps they use, and that’s a way to learn a little bit about them.”
She looks for team players who work across different departments—if a candidate only boasts about doing things by themself, they get the boot.
