Elon Musk's Talent Filter

This framework outlines Elon Musk's approach to hiring, which focuses on identifying candidates with genuine problem-solving experience and skills.

Core Concept

• Ask candidates about the toughest problems they've dealt with and how they solved them
• This question filters out those who haven't actually solved significant problems

Key Benefits

• Identifies candidates with real, hands-on experience
• Allows for detailed follow-up questions to verify depth of knowledge
• Quickly filters out candidates who lack practical problem-solving skills

Implementation

• Ask: "Tell me about the toughest problems you've dealt with and how you dealt with those at your last company or project"
• Follow up with very detailed questions about the problem and solution
• Genuine problem-solvers will know intricate details; others will struggle to provide specifics

Additional Hiring Questions

• Steve Jobs' approach: Ask "Why are you here?" to understand motivation
• Jeff Bezos' method: Ask "Do you consider yourself a lucky person?" to gauge optimism