Workplace culture is important to us at Zebra. What type of work environment do you dislike working in?

"I dislike working in environments with little room for growth. I appreciate my current company, but there are few growth opportunities, and I want to progress professionally. I would like to work in an environment with greater opportunities to learn new skills and business concepts. Zebra Technologies is known for a culture that supports learning and career growth. I feel I would be supported in my desire to expand my professional skill set here."

I thrive in creative and innovative environments. I enjoy working with new technology and high-performance teams. I can make almost any environment work, but I do not enjoy stagnant environments as much. I know Zebra Technologies is a company that embraces change, which is one of the top reasons I am excited to interview here today.

One of the first questions my colleagues and I would discuss in our interview debrief meetings was, 'did anyone uncover any red flags?' Red flags did not eliminate a candidate, but they were important enough to work through as a group before we invested additional time. In my experience, asking a candidate what they dislike was a common red flag generator.

Here's an example: I asked a candidate what types of IT projects they dislike. They responded that they dislike working on projects with an unclear scope. RED FLAG. My team primarily worked on custom software development projects in an agile setting. The scope of our efforts was typically loosely defined and refined by the team and the product owner as we went along. I was fearful this candidate might be uncomfortable working in such a fluid environment with a high rate of change. There is nothing wrong with disliking unclearly defined projects, but we did not want to hire a poor fit for the work we would be asking them to do.

This question and questions like these are used to ensure Zebra Technologies selects the right candidate for the right role working with the right teams. Answering authentically benefits you and your interviewer, so take some time to think about what you dislike before your interview.