Some skill sets are easier to screen for than others. A writing sample will highlight communication skills; extremely tough questions will test a candidate’s ability to think on his or her feet; and asking the applicant¹ to discuss previous roles will provide information about his or her experience.

有些技能相对于其他的技能来说还是挺容易就能测量出来的：一份写作样本就能体现你的沟通能力；极端刁钻的问题就可以测试面试者的临场反应能力；提问面试者上一份工作的情况就能了解他/她的工作经验。

But how can you test for "soft skills," such as teamwork and empathy, during the interview?

但是，如何在面试中测试（团队合作精神和换位思考等）“软技能”呢？

There’s no magic formula, but essentially² you need to look for two things: self-awareness (because you want a candidate who can make the connection between his or her actions and professional outcomes) and instincts (because you want someone who would intuitively take the empathetic, team-oriented and optimistic approach).

实际上并没有什么神奇的法则，但最基本的就是你必须考虑两件事：自我意识（因为你需要的是一名能够把他/她的行动与专业技能综合运用在一起的面试者）以及本能反应（因为你需要的是能够自觉地为他人着想，有团队凝聚力以及积极的团队成员）。

To that end, read on for two questions you can ask in future interviews that will help you sniff³ out the perfect people to add to your team.

综上所述，在未来的面试中，你可以提出下面这两个问题来帮助你找到合适的团队成员。

1. "Can you tell me about a time when you worked as part of a group?"

1. “你能告诉我关于你工作的内容吗？”

To start with, red-flag a candidate who tells a story about how the group was useless until he or she rode in on a white horse and saved the day. First, this person hasn’t done the interview prep necessary to know you shouldn’t speak poorly of others. Second, it’s not a good sign if the story that comes to mind is one where he or she personally succeeded and the team failed. The "I’m smarter than everyone else" response indicates both low self-awareness and poor propensity⁴ for teamwork.

一开始，在面试者抱怨团队如何不济，吹嘘自己是如何拯救团队的时候，给他/她一些提示警告。首先，这位面试者没有好好地准备这次面试，并没有意识到面试官并不想知道他是如何说别人的坏话。其次，如果一个人表示他/她个人是多么的成功而团队是多么的失败，这并不是一个良好的征兆。如果他/她的回应是：“我比任何人都聪明。”这便意味着他/她在团队工作中是自我意识薄弱，有不良意识倾向的一个人。

But what if the candidate is exceptional because the team was flailing⁵ and he or she saved the day? A candidate who works well with others will tell the story differently. He or she will include the merits of the other approaches and frame it more as a story that shows initiative, leadership and creative thinking, rather than one about being the smartest person on the team. This time, the "I had the solution" answer works.

但如果这位面试者是一个例外呢，如果真的是团队正面临危机，而他/她帮助团队脱离困境呢？如果这位面试者与其他同事相处友好，他/她就会用另一种态度来表达这件事。他/她会在表述这件事情的时候提到所有其他方法的优点，并让你听起来更具主动性，领导才能和创造性思维，而不是表达自己是团队中最聪明的人。而此次，“我找到了解决的方法。”这个回答更具说服力。

Of course, the best answer is one about a time when a team successfully worked together. The candidate would discuss the other members' contributions as well as his or her own and include what it taught him or her about working well with others. You know this candidate will bring strong teamwork skills to the table (and that his or her first instinct is to discuss working with others positively).

当然，最佳的回答就是曾经能够与团队很愉快地相处工作。面试者会提到其他团队成员和他/她自己对于团队的贡献，以及他/她所学到的与他人友好相处的方法。你就会知道，这位面试者能够把强烈的团队精神落到实处（并且他/她的第一反应就是主动与他人合作）。

2."Can you tell me about a time when you had to ask for help?"

2. “你能说说你需要他人帮助的事情吗？”

This is one of my all-time favorite interview questions. Why? Because smart candidates know that every answer should make them look like the best choice. So, seeing how an applicant approaches this question will let you know if he can describe (and view) himself as an asset, even when discussing a failure.

这是笔者最喜欢提问的面试问题之一。为什么呢？因为聪明的面试者就知道每一个回答都应该让他们看起来是最佳的选择。所以，看看这位求职者是如何回答这个问题的，就能够让你了解到他如何让他自己有价值，即使是在讨论挫折的时候。

The red-flag answer here is, "I can’t really remember the last time I had to ask for help." This person thinks the only way to make a good impression is to be perfect. He not only lacks self-awareness, but he could be a dangerous hire, because when he makes a mistake (and who hasn't?) he may not be comfortable telling anyone.

最危险的回答是：“我实在无法回忆起上次我寻求帮忙的时候。”这位面试者单纯地认为留下良好印象的唯一的方法就是表现完美。他不但自我意识薄弱，而且如果聘请他对团队来说可能是一个威胁，因为一旦他犯了错误（谁不会呢？），他可能并不能理性地告诉别人。

A second-rate answer would be one that includes a "fake" example (similar to the cop-out answers to "What’s your biggest weakness?"). An example of this would be something along the lines of: "I thought I had the best solution to a problem, and then I hit an obstacle and reached out to someone, and then I realized I did have the best answer all along." This candidate gets points for reaching out to someone else when she needed a sounding board, as well as having the ability to take a step back and reassess when things weren’t working, but she still isn’t comfortable admitting to making a true mistake.

另外一个相对也不算理性的回答，就是包含“虚假”的例子（类似于逃避“你的最大缺点是什么？”的回答）。比如这样的回答：“我认为我有解决这个问题的最佳方案，然后我清扫了障碍并向他人给予援助，然后我就发现其实我一直都能够找到最佳的解决方法。”这一位面试者能够意识到他人需要回应的时候给予了帮助，并且能够哎事情不如意的时候退一步重新评估，但她仍然无法正面承认自己犯了错误。

The best answer is one in which the candidate identifies a mistake she made and how she learned from someone else. Why? Because it takes learning experiences in prior⁶ roles to apply the lessons learned to a future position. Moreover, an answer like this gives a candidate the chance to speak sincerely about mentorship and growth — which is great for her to share and for you to hear. An ideal answer might sound something like:

这个问题的最佳答案应该体现出，这位面试者能够意识到自己犯的错误并能够从他人身上学到经验。为什么呢？因为这样能够从职位更高的成员身上获取到未来提升职位的经验。再者，类似这样的回答可以给面试者一个机会表达自己对于导师和学生关系以及个人的成长的看法——对她是一个很好的分享经验，对你是一个很好的故事。理想的回答应该像这样子：

“I remember a time at my first job when a disgruntled customer called, and no matter what I said, I couldn’t seem to make her feel any better. Even though she didn’t ask to speak to a manager, I asked my supervisor⁷ to speak to her and listened as he ably addressed her concerns. There were some key phrases he used to defuse the situation that I simply hadn’t heard before. I paid attention to what he said so that I was prepared the next time I had to handle a situation like that for myself. ”

“我记得在我的第一份工作的时候有一位不太高兴的顾客给我们致电，而且无论我说什么，她似乎都没有感觉满意一点。即使她没有要求与经理面谈，我也主动请求我的上司与她沟通，听取她的需求。上司表达了一些缓解紧张局面的说法，都是我从未听到过的。我留心去听他说以便下次处理同样事情的时候能够有所准备。”

Oh, and it should go without saying that this is still an interview. So a candidate who admits to doing anything negligent⁸, illegal or mean-spirited automatically fails this question, regardless of whether he demonstrates exceptional honesty and self-awareness when relaying the story.”

啊，别忘了这仍然是一场面试。所以如果一位面试者承认了他的工作疏忽，不合规则或不由自主的表现出心胸狭窄，就无法在这个问题上得分了，即使他在述说的过程中多么极力地证明自己非凡的忠诚和坚强的自我意识。

Screening for soft skills is just as important as testing for technical abilities. Use the questions above to make sure your new hire has the emotional aptitude⁹ to handle the job.

测试职场软技能和测试真实的专业技能一样重要。利用上述的问题能够确保的新成员有更高的情商应对工作难题。