How do you hire? An answer by Brian Chesky of Airbnb

How do you hire? What do you look for, and what questions do you ask?

For every hire, you need a very specific thesis of what you’re looking for, and it has to be simple. It can’t be a bunch of responsibilities; it’s got to be a word, or a mantra, and it has to be around the outcome or goal that I want them to achieve.

More broadly, we’re looking for people who see the world as it could be rather than as it is. They’re dreamers, big thinkers, and they are generally trusting — they’re not cynical, although they are very contrarian and they are willing to challenge the status quo. They are kids at heart — not in terms of maturity, but in terms of curiosity.

I also ask people to summarize their life in three minutes. I’m trying to figure out the formative decisions and experiences that influenced who you are as a person. Once I figure that out, I’m trying to understand the two or three most remarkable things you’ve ever done in your life. Because if you’ve never done anything remarkable in your life until this point, you probably never will.

Chosen excerpts by Job Market Monitor. Read the whole story at Brian Chesky of Airbnb, on Scratching the Itch to Create – NYTimes.com.