Jennifer Dulski knows what she's looking for when she's hiring.

The CEO and founder of Rising Team, which sells team development programs, has worked as a leader in companies like Google and Facebook. When she's bringing on a new member of the team, she looks for adaptability and the ability to bounce back from obstacles, as well as creativity and ambition.

To make sure a candidate possesses these qualities, however, she doesn't just ask them about success in their career. "I always start by asking people to tell me about their life before their resume," she says.

Here's why.

'I can see those patterns in people's early life'

For Dulski, proof that candidates have the kind of characteristics she's looking for comes from who they are as people as opposed to who they are as workers.

"People who are ambitious and creative and adaptable and overcome obstacles," she says, "I can see those patterns in people's early life." She'll look for stories about starting a business and selling lemonade or T-shirts as a kid, for example. If she's interviewing an engineer, she might look for stories about taking objects apart and putting them back together to see how they work.

Applying that natural drive and effort, "it's clear when they do that in their lives, they're likely to do that at work," she says.

'Tell me about your life before your resume'

Some people will automatically tell Dulski about their passions and successes early in life even before she asks. Good salespeople usually do, she says.

But for those who don't, she gives one simple prompt: "Tell me about your life before your resume," she says.

"How did you get to be the person I see on paper and go back as long as long as you're comfortable," she says she tells them. "Share only what you're comfortable with." That will often prompt the kind of storytelling that helps her figure out what qualities the candidate brings to the table.

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