The Mindfulness Blog

I read a piece the other day entitled, "30 Questions That Should Be Asked In A Predictive Behavioral Interview". It's been a while since I last interviewed-- either as interviewer or applicant-- but the article tweaked my curiosity. And as I read it, it sadly proved to be disappointing.

The personality traits being tested for were: Adaptability, Culture Add, Collaboration, Leadership, Growth Potential and Prioritization. Why do those particular traits matter? The piece posited that asking the 30 questions that followed would be a good way to identify candidates who would excel because, "soft skills reveal potential".

Who am I to argue with that assertion? The questions suggested were targeted, and seemed to be pretty straightforward but to my surprise, they did not inquire into whether a candidate might have any thoughts about mindfulness or meditation. In point of fact, none of the questions inquired about wellbeing, or whether the existence of a wellbeing initiative would influence a candidate's view of a prospective employer.

If I were still interviewing for a firm, I'd certainly like to know what the man or woman I was interviewing might say about wellbeing. I'd also assume that an interviewee might like to know the firm's view of the matter. But that's just me-- and the experts in predictive behavior apparently have a different opinion.

Predicting most things-- particularly, a job candidate's future behavior-- is a tricky, if not impossible task. But asking questions about one's view of wellbeing, is clearly relevant to any inquiry aimed at predicting reliability or future job performance, and even if those questions were not at the top of my list, they would certainly make the top 30.

I believe that lawyer wellbeing is the sine qua non of the future of the legal profession-- any profession, for that matter. Let's talk about it!