It’s a simple question and yet the logical answer is wrong. At least that’s how one influential CEO thinks it and explains what crucial things she tells him.
The title look is a symbolic image.
What is the question? In an interview with CNBC, Gary Shapiro reveals the question he asks every applicant at his company. He is CEO of the Consumer Technology Association (CTA), which, among other things, organizes a large trade fair in Las Vegas every year. Shapiro always wants to hear a spontaneous answer to the question, “When can you start?”
Anyone who answers this correctly from their point of view has the job for which they have already shown themselves to be suitable. But a humanly understandable response ensures that the applicant leaves the office without a new job in his or her pocket.
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What is the correct answer according to Shapiro? There are a number of possible answers that would satisfy Gary Shapiro. Because only one thing really upsets the CEO: immediately. Anyone who would like to symbolically leave their old employer, if they currently have one, and start at CTA on the same day is unworthy of working at CTA. He explains this like this:
I want one [Arbeitnehmer]who shows a certain level of commitment to his company – even if he is his [alten] Don’t like job. He shouldn’t let his employers down.
Because anyone who simply quits their current job could behave the same way towards CTA at some point in the future. It should be a few weeks that an applicant asks for time to thoroughly finish the old thing and start with his new tasks.
Are there no notice periods? Yes, in Germany, deadlines of at least one month are usually common. There are specifications in the Civil Code, for example. But less so in the USA. Jobs there can start virtually on the same day as the old one ends.
Realistically, however, a few weeks is not enough time to hand over a job thoroughly and responsibly, at least in higher positions.
Another CEO achieved unintentional fame – albeit a dubious one. He only needed one online call to fire hundreds of people. He still feels the consequences of this today and even has to undergo further training: CEO fired 900 employees in one call and had to take a etiquette course