Here's the interview question one CEO asks candidates to figure out if they'll be happy at his company

Most employers want to hire workers who are passionate about what they do - and the savviest hiring managers find creative ways to figure this out in the interview.

For instance, Lew Cirne, CEO of software analytics company New Relic, tells The New York Times' Adam Bryant that he asks all candidates to describe a day where they've just had the greatest working day of their life. He then says: "You're driving home and you're on cloud nine. What was it about that working day that made you so happy?"

He tells Business Insider that this question is a great way to determine whether someone is passionate about their work - and those are the people he wants to hire.

"If you're doing what you love to do and it gives you that tingle down your spine, you're going to execute at a high level," Cirne tells Bryant in a recent interview.

He says he wants his employees to have the best days of their lives working at New Relic, "where work isn't just a means to an end," he explains. He doesn't want to hire people who think of work as something they have to "get through" so they can eventually start living the life they've always dreamt about.

"Work should be both fun and challenging, working on projects that matter," he says. "I like to say, 'I love my Mondays.' And, I want to work with people who share my passion, so we can have some fun while we build amazing products that our customers love."

Ultimately, he tells us, his goal is to build his company into one that will last decades, "and having the right team of passionate people is an important piece in accomplishing that vision."

Click here for the full New York Times interview.