What are the most important qualities to convey about yourself in a job interview? Duncan Wardle, former head of innovation and creativity at the Walt Disney Company, says he looks for one trait in particular.
Wardle, now the founder of creative consulting firm ID8, spoke to CNBC Make It from WOBI’s World Business Forum in New York City on November 6th.
“I look for curiosity first,” he says. “I want to know that people are curious, and that’s probably the biggest concern.”
Wardle points to young children’s natural curiosity.
“What’s the one word that little kids ask you over and over again? ‘Why?'” he says. “Then when I go to school, they tell me to stop asking ‘why?’ because there’s only one right answer.”
But those who keep asking are looking for “core consumer truths” and “insights into innovation,” Wardle said.
Become a lifelong learner
Many business leaders and executives also value the curiosity of job seekers and employees.
Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky said the number one characteristic the company looks for in job candidates is curiosity.
“To innovate, you have to be very curious and ask a lot of questions,” he previously told CNBC Make It. “You can’t assume you know the answers. Even if you think you do, you always have to reevaluate.”
Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates has attributed his success to curiosity, saying he “always encourages people to learn a wide range of things.”
Mark Cuban said curiosity is one of the most important soft skills job seekers have.
Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi also said she has been “incredibly lucky” in her career because she is “very open to everything.”
“Be interested in meeting new people, be interested in interests outside of your immediate field of education…and that curiosity opens doors to the world and opens doors to opportunity,” Khosrowshahi said during a fireside chat at Brown University in April.
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