Picture this: You’ve spent hours applying for the dream job and sitting through multiple interviews. Finally, you think you’ve won over the hiring manager when they ask, “when can you start?”
You’d be forgiven for thinking the right answer, is “straight away.” After all, you want to seem eager.
But be warned: Shapiro says being available within two weeks is a big red flag that could land you in the rejection pile. “They don’t get the job, because they’ll treat us the way they treat that former employer,” Shapiro recently told CNBC in 2024.
“I want an [employee] with a level of commitment to their organization—even if they don’t love their job—where they won’t leave their employer hanging.”
Unless, of course, you’re unemployed—in which case, the pass-fail question doesn’t apply.
Fortune has contacted Shapiro for comment.
It’s perhaps unsurprising that Shapiro values loyalty among workers—after all, the 69-year-old has worked in his current post as CTA’s chief exec for more than three decades.
For Shapiro, it doesn’t matter how senior the prospective candidate is, they’ll still be subject to the same test—and the longer their notice period, the better.
Shapiro said he used the go-to question when hiring the company’s chief operating officer. He recalled being “very thankful” that she said need up to six weeks to adequately transition from her former job.
“I said, ‘That’s perfect. You got the job,” he added.
Although Shapiro didn’t specify her name in the interview, Christina Brady is CTA’s COO according to the association’s website.
He even applies a similar loyalty test to employees already in the business when they hand in their notice period.
Departing under good conditions, including giving at least two weeks’ notice is often a consideration whenever CTA rehires “boomerang” employees, Shapiro added.
Shapiro’s interview test may have stood the test of time, but many hiring managers today are tossing their go-to questions out of the window because of AI.
Greg Yang, one of 12 cofounders at Musk’s latest AI venture, said a “candidate tried to use Claude during the interview, but it was way too obvious.”
Yang’s post inspired other employers to speak out about the way savvy job seekers are abusing AI tools—and how some are scrapping their trusty interview questions in favour of a more conversational approach in response.
One employer even said he now asks the candidate to ask him questions about the job: “If they can’t adequately question you, they probably don’t have enough experience.”
Other hiring tests Orianna has covered include:
