It’s a simple question, and yet the logical answer is wrong. At least that’s what an influential CEO holds, explaining what it reveals to him decisively.
The title image is a symbolic image.
What is the question? Gary Shapiro reveals in a conversation with CNBC which question he asks every candidate at his company. He is the CEO of the Consumer Technology Association
(CTA), which organizes a large trade show in Las Vegas annually, among other things. Shapiro always wants to hear a spontaneous answer to the question: “When can you start?”
Anyone who answers this question correctly from his point of view gets the job for which they have already shown themselves to be suitable. But a response that is only humanly understandable ensures that the candidate leaves the office without a new job in hand.
Loyalty matters
What is the correct answer according to Shapiro? There are actually several answers that Gary Shapiro would find satisfactory. Because only one really irritates the CEO: immediately. Anyone who would ideally prefer to leave their old employer, if they currently have one, on the same day and would start at CTA is unworthy to work at CTA for him. He justifies this as follows:
I want an [employee] who shows a certain level of commitment to their company—even if they don’t like their [old] job. They shouldn’t abandon their employers.
Because anyone who simply quits their current job at that moment could also behave like this in the future towards CTA. It should be several weeks that a candidate requests to thoroughly finish the old job to start their new tasks.
Are there no notice periods? Yes, in Germany, notice periods of at least one month are usually the norm. Regulations can be found in the Civil Code. In the USA, however, it’s less common. There, jobs can practically start on the same day the old one ends.
Realistically, a few weeks is little time to thoroughly and responsibly hand over a workplace, at least in higher positions.
Another CEO accidentally gained notoriety—albeit dubious. He only needed a single online call to lay off hundreds of people. The consequences of that he must still feel today and even undergo further training: CEO fired 900 employees in one call, had to attend etiquette training
