idiotic job interview questions

In My Humble Opinion
1

Everybody except the idle rich has probably had to answer these two questions at a job interview:

What are your strong points?

What are your weak points?

With unemployment at just about 8%, very few people have the ability to point out to the interviewer how incredibly stupid those questions are. I can’t help but wonder, though - is there a “right” answer that employers are looking for? Do they just want to watch you squirm? Do they think they can judge your ability as a customer service rep or a bookkeeper by how you answer, or react to, these questions?

I’d be very interested to hear from employers who use these questions to screen applicants.

2

My favourite answer for my weak points is: I’m a perfectionist.

3

I’m definitely not going to say in a job interview that I can’t defend myself, which is indeed my weakest point. :frowning:

Honestly, the job market has gotten to the point where someone I know has had THREE interviews. What’s the job? Cashier at Best Buy. :confused:

4

I’ve asked the weakness question previously, partially out of interest to see how they handle it, and partially out of interest to see if they’d honestly answer the question.

5

One reason for asking is to see how self aware a person is. If what I see as a weakness in the candidate is something that they claim is a strength, we have a problem.

Another part is just trying to gauge the person’s ability to communicate effectively. The questions are common precisely because they are difficult to answer well. An excellent communicator can describe strengths without sounding arrogant, and can describe weaknesses without sounding defensive or evasive (and without just admitting to being a complete clown).

6

Weak points: my knees.

I ended up deleting those questions from the official interview sheets that HR gave me. I could always find that information by talking to the person and asking questions pertinent to the position. I really hated the answer “I’m a perfectionist”, because the person never turned out to be even close to that. “Explain to me what reverse chronological order means” is a much better indicator of aptitude for the position of admin assistant.

I also hated the question “Where do you see yourself in five years?” Unless someone has an ironclad plan of attack (or a terminal illness), he usually has no idea where he’ll be in even a year.

7

The one that always makes me squirm and fidget is “tell me about yourself.” What’s the best way to handle that one?

8

I used to be a viable candidate for employment… until I took an arrow inna knee!

You can say almost anything. Basically, they just don’t want to be creeped out by inept social skills (“Me? Why would anyone want to know anything about me? I’m just some lowly worm trying desperately to get by in this meaningless life”). Avoid interests that are too fringy (“On weekends, I play a 30th level elven wizard with my LARP”), avoid personal details that they may be fishing for but aren’t allowed to ask (“I hope to get pregnant as soon as possible!”), and talk about the mainstream movies you love to see and restaurants you love to frequent with your group of friends. Basically, pick a sign and read off an astrological blurb.

My weak point: I care too much.

My strong suit: Same answer.

9

Careful with this one. Some years ago a recruit candidate said this while interviewing before the police and fire commission. To which a Captain said “sorry, we don’t hire people with personality disorders” and walked out of the room.

I know the candidate didn’t get the job, but I have no way of knowing if it was because of his answer to that question.

10

Some employers consider the mention of interest in LARP or even video games in general (especially World of Warcraft) a deal-breaker in a job interview.

I graduated back in the day when employers stood in line to hire us, not the other way around, and the one person in my class who didn’t have a job waiting for her upon graduation had a thing for taking a yo-yo out of her purse while in a job interview and playing with it. :rolleyes: :eek: This was something I heard about more than once, from more than one person.

11

Mostly I just use that one to get a candidate warmed up and comfortable. I’m really not interested in making someone uncomfortable or catching them off-guard. I just want to see how comfortable and charismatic the candidate is, because those are important characteristics in the job I hire for.

12

This is better suited to IMHO than GQ.

Colibri
General Questions Moderator

13

**David Wallace: **What do you think are your greatest strengths as a manager?
Michael Scott: Why don’t I tell you what my greatest weaknesses are? I work too hard. I care too much. And sometimes I can be too invested in my job.
David Wallace: Okay. And your strengths?
**Michael Scott: **Well, my weaknesses are actually… strengths.

14

“Tell us about a time you had to deal with an angry customer, and how you dealt with it.”

I drew a total blank. Guess I’ve never worked for any sucky companies in a customer-facing capacity…

15

In the past I’ve always answered those questions seriously and conversationally, but it occurs to me that beginning a response to one of the chit-chat questions by saying “Good question…” might be construed as sarcasm.

One that sticks out as bizarre was for an on-campus job as an undergraduate – the old “where do you see yourself in five years?” Asked of an undergraduate of the same age as most of my peers.

I did try once shortly after college at a seasonal temp job for a retailer the whole “Any questions for me?” --“Really, we’ve addressed everything I’m most concerned about, but, just one more question: when do I start?” Got hired.

That last line of questioning is IMHO one of the best an interviewer can take – keep trying to honestly probe about the prospect’s food-hole looking for more information. The canned questions deserve (a) canned answers delivered with a non-verbal set of cues appropriate to the interviewer or (b) canned answers delivered with the amount of somber true-facedness that would match the apparent sobriety of the interviewer.

Think of the game played with marbles described by the proto-Holmes in Poe’s “Purloined Letter.” It seems to me most interview questions are, unseen often by the interviewer, actually questions “about” adaptability and intelligence and social awareness.

16

That’s actually a great question for them to ask.

17

I love the answers at the beginning of this Scmoyoho vid on Youtube. “My greatest weaknesses are I work too hard, and my strengths are too strong.”

I’ve pulled the old Steven Wright “I’m going down anyway, let’s make it interesting” gambit in an interview and said “Seriously? You’re asking me the job interview equivalent of ‘what’s your sign?’”

My personal take is that those questions are for the preliminary HR interview, which is a pre-screen, and they’re looking for boilerplate bs - they’re mostly making sure you can show up for an interview on time, dress professionally, and fake being mentally competent for 10 minutes. Sounds easy, but anyone that’s worked HR can tell you there’s a huge fail-rate just for that.

If the person I’m going to be working with/under asks something like that when they’re could be asking relevant questions, I’m filled with dread and misgivings.

18

You give a detailed explanation of the factors in your background that make you the obvious best choice for the job.

Regards,
Shodan

19

No, don’t talk about your personal life at all. (This is straight from career coaching from a major outplacement firm, btw, and I happen to agree with them.) For starters, it’s not their business, but more importantly this is your big shot to sell yourself to the hiring manager. You can tell them whatever you want without being constrained by a specific question, so pick things you think will get you the job. What skills do you have that they need? Now’s the time to bring it up.

Just dive right into your work history that is the most pertinent to the job you are applying for. This isn’t a casual conversation over a beer; this is you showing that you have exactly what the hiring manager is looking for. Don’t waste time on anything else. The hiring manger won’t care. I’ve never had an interviewer who asked what my hobbies are, and they all seemed quite satisfied that I dove straight into my qualifications.

Anyway… my favorite for “what is your weakness”: I have a tendency to under-sell myself. This has the added benefit of actually being true. I personally think that good work (or bad work, for that matter) should speak for itself, so at the office I don’t do as much “look at me! look at what I did!” peacocking as other people do. Unfortunately this usually means getting taken for granted, so if I end up in an office again, I’ll probably have to figure out how to peacock while remaining less obnoxious than my co-workers.

20

I can well remember wondering why the heck anyone would ask me inane questions about my strengths, weaknesses, and where I want to be in 5 years. Until I started doing the hiring myself. I learned that what these questions are really asking:

  • Do you know why you’re here?
  • Do you know who we are and what we do?
  • Do you know what I want?
  • Do you know who you are?
  • Are you honest?
  • Are you articulate?
  • Are you easily flustered?

My advice? Be yourself. Be the best version of yourself, of course, but be yourself. Unless you have a really weak interviewer sitting across from you, he will know if you are just playing him.

Another bit of advice that I would assume everyone knows (but based on my interviews is not the case): find out whatever you can about the company and the interviewer ahead of time. Many times the strength/weakness/5 year plan questions practically answer themselves if you know what the company is looking for.

And for the sake of all that is good, do not invent a weakness. Do not dress up a strength as a weakness (interviewers read Dilbert too). Either go with one you really have, or if you honestly can say that you have no pertinent weaknesses, then point out one of your areas that you would like to improve the most.

Another bit: many times the interviewer is as nervous as you are. Hiring somebody is a big decision, and if you screw it up, that’s going to hurt you for a long time. Anything you can do to make them feel at ease is going to improve your chances; one of those things is honestly telling them who you are (your best version, of course).

And please note: I always assume that the person sitting in front of me is the best version of that person I am ever going to see. This is his (or hers, but for brevity I’m sticking to “his” today) best suit. This is his best mood. This is him at his most eloquent and at his most informed. So don’t be afraid or embarassed to impress me, because I’m expecting you to do exactly that.

And although you didn’t ask, I will throw in a bonus tip sort of related to the uncomfortable “about me” questions: sometimes interviewers will intentionally or unintentionally put you in a “stress” position. The classic is to position you so that you are looking directly into the sun. Another favorite is to set two interviewers so that you can only see one at a time. There are lots of others. In these cases, the best solution is to politely ask the interviewer to rearrange things so that you are no longer in that stress position. For instance, darken the window or move so that you are no longer staring at the sun. You win, regardless of what happens.

Most of the time he apologizes, and you get out of the stress position. If he refuses, then you know that this is merely a stress test, so it’s mostly defanged anyway.