# idiotic job interview questions **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 25, 2013, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idiotic-job-interview-questions/659318 "2013-05-25T15:33:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Darth\_Panda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ee7513/32.png) [@Darth\_Panda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Panda)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2013, 11:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idiotic-job-interview-questions/659318/21 "2013-05-26T11:00:55Z")
> [@chewsick](#): > > 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. Honestly, I don’t think age makes too much of a difference here. No one knows what job they’ll have or want in 5 years, and listing an actual job isn’t really a good answer. A good answer, to me, is something like “I’d like to have the opportunity to start managing people by them,” or “be in a position to help drive decisions around new product launches,” or even a super honest “Well, my short term goal is that within the next year I’ll learn this industry well enough to know where the best fit for me will be.” ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2013, 11:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idiotic-job-interview-questions/659318/22 "2013-05-26T11:43:53Z")
“Where do you want to be in 5 years?” (A) I want to have your job;) ---
**Author:** ![MandaJo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@MandaJo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MandaJo)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2013, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idiotic-job-interview-questions/659318/23 "2013-05-26T13:01:38Z")
> [@Bremidon](#): > > 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. Related to that: I teach high school juniors, and we are starting on college essays. In every class, I’ve asked “What does it say to schools when you send in an essay–an essay you had all the time and resources in the world to prepare–filled with errors and typos and mistakes?” Every single class has chorused back “That you don’t care”, because that’s the standard party line. I was like 'No. I’m a big, competitive university. I assume you care. If there are errors, I assume you are too stupid to get it right, even with time and help. Would you want someone that stupid at your school?". It really changed their perspective: we avoid saying “don’t look stupid” because it sounds mean, but that’s really the issue, more than carelessness. They certainly fear it more. As far as “tell me about your weaknesses” type questions, I like them, and what I look for is if the person has a plan to deal with those weaknessess–a workable plan. If someone is “I am naturally really disorganized, but I control it well by making sure to get to work half an hour early and that half an hour is always dedicated to organizing my desk and my files–no exceptions”, then I know that not only can this person handle this one weakness, they know how to handle weaknesses in general: they aren’t fatalistic about their flaws. The other things you can do, of course, is bring up a weakness that is irrelevant to the job: for teaching, for example, I think “I hate to sit still: I need to be doing things, interacting with people: that’s why I joined this profession” is a pretty good answer. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2013, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idiotic-job-interview-questions/659318/24 "2013-05-26T13:26:06Z")
I have been interviewing people for over 30 years and have never asked the strength/weakness question because you get bullshit answers that don’t help you determine whether the candidate is suitable for the job. I have also been interviewed dozens of times and have never been asked that. > [@Chefguy](#): > > 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. I sometimes ask this and it’s a valid question. I don’t want to know if this person has a crystal ball. You don’t need an ironclad plan of attack, and I’m not going to check on you in five years to see if you were right. None of us ever end up where we think we will be in five years. But I would prefer someone has goals and wants to grow in their career. I want people who can grow with my company, not people who are just here to pick up a paycheck. If you say, “I am content with what I do and I want to keep doing exactly the same thing,” or “Who the hell knows?” then you are not my next employee. If you say, “I’d like to become a manager” or “I want to move from day-to-day coding to be a solution architect” or “I want to move from programming to being a trainer” or just about anything else that shows you are forward-looking then you’re a good prospect. ---
**Author:** ![Bremidon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac91a4/32.png) [@Bremidon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bremidon)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2013, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idiotic-job-interview-questions/659318/25 "2013-05-26T13:34:21Z")
> [@Darth\_Panda](#): > > Honestly, I don’t think age makes too much of a difference here. No one knows what job they’ll have or want in 5 years, and listing an actual job isn’t really a good answer. > > A good answer, to me, is something like “I’d like to have the opportunity to start managing people by them,” or “be in a position to help drive decisions around new product launches,” or even a super honest “Well, my short term goal is that within the next year I’ll learn this industry well enough to know where the best fit for me will be.” Good answers. If you spice it up with some language that shows you know what the company / boss might need in 5 years, then you have an excellent answer that will stick a bit more in the interviewer’s memory. ---
**Author:** ![Lasciel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e79b87/32.png) [@Lasciel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lasciel)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2013, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idiotic-job-interview-questions/659318/26 "2013-05-26T15:41:51Z")
> [@CookingWithGas](#): > > **I want people who can grow with my company, not people who are just here to pick up a paycheck.** If you say, “I am content with what I do and I want to keep doing exactly the same thing,” or “Who the hell knows?” then you are not my next employee. If you say, “I’d like to become a manager” or “I want to move from day-to-day coding to be a solution architect” or “I want to move from programming to being a trainer” or just about anything else that shows you are forward-looking then you’re a good prospect. (bolding added) And I’m a hiring manager, and I’m looking for the exact opposite. I ask the 5-year question and I\*\* don’t \*\*want to hear that you want my job, or that you want to move up in the company. This is a dead-end entry-level position with very little chance of moving up, and none at all that leaves you in my department. I don’t want to hire and train someone and then lose them and have to start over. I ask that question and I want to hear something like “I want to have a steady part-time position where I have time for family” and “I want to stay close to my hometown” as answers. Now my boss, two levels up, probably does want someone with some drive and ambition, but even then, the stratification is such that saying you want to be in x position in 5 years means you don’t understand our workplace. As for the “tell us about yourself” question - it’s a trick, obviously. We don’t want to know about you. We want to know what you SAY when you’re faced with your interviewers sitting and staring at you while you deal with a very open-ended question with few limiting parameters. What do people tend to do? 1. Ramble. I’ve had interviewees go on and on and ON - one guy took about 10 minutes, with us nodding and smiling while he just went on… couldn’t seem to find a stopping place that he liked. It was HORRIBLE. 2. Tell us all the things we want to know about you but aren’t able to legally ask. Please, tell us all about your cats or hobbies or children or parents or your inability to get on permanent disability 😕 or your recent stint in a mental hospital :eek: or your problems with your in-laws :dubious: or how you can’t wait to have a customer-service position because you feel it can further your personal “ministry in Christ” :smack::smack: 3. Sit there uncomfortably for about a solid minute saying “um” and then spitting out something inane such as “I like flowers” :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2013, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idiotic-job-interview-questions/659318/27 "2013-05-26T16:03:05Z")
> [@Bremidon](#): > > 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. This is something I think about every day, because I had to quit my last (final?) job in the field where I have my degree without notice. ☹ There was no other option, because if I had stayed there one more day, I would have been a patient IN the hospital where I worked. The job was literally killing me. I had only worked there 6 months and had relocated for this job to a city where I knew nobody, so it was not a decision made lightly. A colleague at my old job recently did the same thing after 11 years; she was going to give a 2- or 4-week notice, but decided to simply hand in her badge and get her stuff on the way out. Things had just plain old gotten that bad for her. ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Panda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ee7513/32.png) [@Darth\_Panda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Panda)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2013, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idiotic-job-interview-questions/659318/28 "2013-05-26T23:23:13Z")
> [@Lasciel](#): > > (bolding added) > > And I’m a hiring manager, and I’m looking for the exact opposite. I ask the 5-year question and I\*\* don’t \*\*want to hear that you want my job, or that you want to move up in the company. I’m in no way finding fault with your answer, but I actually do want someone who wants my job. I have no intention of staying at the same level I’m at, but I’ll need someone qualified to replace me. One of the last managers I hired, I picked over someone else because I can actually see him taking my place. But, like you said, there are jobs that are kind of dead ends. As far as the individual contributors in my department (I manage managers, currently) - particularly in the group I used to manage (and which I hired the person to replace me as manager of that spot) - I always believed in hiring and developing people to move on to better things. Losing good people is tough, but I like the idea of having a reputation as a group that helps build people up and get them promoted - it lets us get the best pick when hiring internally. You just to make sure that the churn is staggered. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2013, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idiotic-job-interview-questions/659318/29 "2013-05-26T23:58:57Z")
> [@Lasciel](#): > > And I’m a hiring manager, and I’m looking for the exact opposite. I ask the 5-year question and I\*\* don’t \*\*want to hear that you want my job, or that you want to move up in the company. Different companies have different hiring goals, and your criteria fit what you need. But you still ask the question! My point was only that it can be a perfectly valid question. ---
**Author:** ![Kaio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c68b51/32.png) [@Kaio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaio)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2013, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idiotic-job-interview-questions/659318/30 "2013-05-27T00:18:07Z")
> [@CookingWithGas](#): > > But I would prefer someone has goals and wants to grow in their career. I want people who can grow with my company, not people who are just here to pick up a paycheck. If you say, “I am content with what I do and I want to keep doing exactly the same thing,” or “Who the hell knows?” then you are not my next employee. If you say, “I’d like to become a manager” or “I want to move from day-to-day coding to be a solution architect” or “I want to move from programming to being a trainer” or just about anything else that shows you are forward-looking then you’re a good prospect. I thank my lucky stars no one has ever asked me this in an interview, because I don’t have an interviewer-acceptable answer. The truth is: not in this desk job, that’s for sure. I’d like my arts career to be robust enough to support me without need for a day job anymore. Realistically, that may never happen. But that’s what I want. Since I kinda doubt that the guy hiring for the desk job wants to hear me say that my career goals are not even close to in-line with the company I’m interviewing for, what do I say? I’m left with either an outright lie, or something bland and generic that’s too vague to be meaningful (and is probably obviously so). Anyone have any ideas? > [@Lasciel](#): > > What do people tend to do? > > 1. Ramble. I’ve had interviewees go on and on and ON - one guy took about 10 minutes, with us nodding and smiling while he just went on… couldn’t seem to find a stopping place that he liked. It was HORRIBLE. > > 2. Tell us all the things we want to know about you but aren’t able to legally ask. Please, tell us all about your cats or hobbies or children or parents or your inability to get on permanent disability 😕 or your recent stint in a mental hospital :eek: or your problems with your in-laws :dubious: or how you can’t wait to have a customer-service position because you feel it can further your personal “ministry in Christ” :smack::smack: And this is why you never _ever_ tell them anything personal in an interview. Stay on task! ---
**Author:** ![chewsick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6f9a4e/32.png) [@chewsick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chewsick)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2013, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idiotic-job-interview-questions/659318/31 "2013-05-27T01:06:37Z")
> [@Kaio](#): > > I’m left with either an outright lie, or something bland and generic that’s too vague to be meaningful (and is probably obviously so). Anyone have any ideas? Ad 2, you learn to lie better. What exactly is your problem? You can’t sit still in an interview and sell somebody a bill of goods? They’re doing the same thing to you, believe me. Just get comfortable on that side of the couch – you will be selling yourself every day. Why not just get good at the job and accept that you will be looking strangers in the eye and telling them what they want to hear? ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2013, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idiotic-job-interview-questions/659318/32 "2013-05-27T01:09:23Z")
> [@Kaio](#): > > I thank my lucky stars no one has ever asked me this in an interview, because I don’t have an interviewer-acceptable answer. The truth is: not in this desk job, that’s for sure. I’d like my arts career to be robust enough to support me without need for a day job anymore. Realistically, that may never happen. But that’s what I want. > > Since I kinda doubt that the guy hiring for the desk job wants to hear me say that my career goals are not even close to in-line with the company I’m interviewing for, what do I say? I’m left with either an outright lie, or something bland and generic that’s too vague to be meaningful (and is probably obviously so). Anyone have any ideas? What kind of job are you interviewing for? If it’s a clerical job (a “desk job” could mean a lot of things) or something else without stringent qualifications then I don’t think you’re going to get that question. The jobs where I would ask that question are people with degrees in math or computer science who have made a career of software and systems development or administration. I agree that you don’t want to say, “Anywhere but here.” 🙂 I think it’s OK to say that you are trying to get some experience so you can make some plans, but you’re not sure yet what direction you want to go. At least that indicates awareness. What I don’t like to see is a blank look on someone’s face that shows that until I asked, they never gave any thought as to what they want to do after next week. ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Panda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ee7513/32.png) [@Darth\_Panda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Panda)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2013, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idiotic-job-interview-questions/659318/33 "2013-05-27T01:28:23Z")
> [@Kaio](#): > > The truth is: not in this desk job, that’s for sure. I’d like my arts career to be robust enough to support me without need for a day job anymore. Realistically, that may never happen. But that’s what I want. > > Since I kinda doubt that the guy hiring for the desk job wants to hear me say that my career goals are not even close to in-line with the company I’m interviewing for, what do I say? Just answer what you’d like to be doing if the art career isn’t enough to support you entirely. There’s nothing wrong with having backup plans, and your employer doesn’t really need to know about your art - everyone has other interests, and dream jobs. ---
**Author:** ![AngelSoft](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/angelsoft/32/440_2.png) [@AngelSoft](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AngelSoft)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2013, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idiotic-job-interview-questions/659318/34 "2013-05-27T02:08:15Z")
> [@CookingWithGas](#): > > What kind of job are you interviewing for? If it’s a clerical job (a “desk job” could mean a lot of things) or something else without stringent qualifications then I don’t think you’re going to get that question. The jobs where I would ask that question are people with degrees in math or computer science who have made a career of software and systems development or administration. Actually, I’ve been applying for nothing but clerical/customer service/office jobs for the past year and in the few interviews I’ve gotten, I was always asked that question. I usually answer with something about a stable position and the opportunity to have learned new skills. Along with the ‘strengths/weaknesses’ question, it’s one of my most hated ones. ---
**Author:** ![GESancMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gesancman/32/2923_2.png) [@GESancMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GESancMan)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2013, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idiotic-job-interview-questions/659318/35 "2013-05-27T02:51:55Z")
> [@CookingWithGas](#): > > But I would prefer someone has goals and wants to grow in their career. I want people who can grow with my company, not people who are just here to pick up a paycheck. If you say, “I am content with what I do and I want to keep doing exactly the same thing,” or “Who the hell knows?” then you are not my next employee. If you say, “I’d like to become a manager” or “I want to move from day-to-day coding to be a solution architect” or “I want to move from programming to being a trainer” or just about anything else that shows you are forward-looking then you’re a good prospect. I’ll be interviewing for a tenure-track faculty position at a community college next week. I’ve been figuring if I’m asked the “five years” question, I’ll tell the truth: Now that I have my MS degree, I’m looking to become a full-time faculty member at a community college, and work there for the next thirty years until I retire. Would that be a bad answer? I mean, sure, I’d love it if I eventually work my way up to being the department chair or something, but that won’t happen within five years. ---
**Author:** ![Snnipe\_70E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5a626/32.png) [@Snnipe\_70E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snnipe_70E)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2013, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idiotic-job-interview-questions/659318/36 "2013-05-27T03:44:48Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Weak points: my knees. > > 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. I had a pat answer for that. 5 Years. It would depend on how the company is doing. If the cmpany is expanding and If the company looks inside for promotions by then I would know enough about how the crew operates and would be qualified to take the next step. During the the 5 years I wold be able to use my experience to help bring the younger men up a notch or two, and I would also be able to learn from them at the same time. ---
**Author:** ![chewsick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6f9a4e/32.png) [@chewsick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chewsick)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2013, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idiotic-job-interview-questions/659318/37 "2013-05-27T03:49:28Z")
> [@GESancMan](#): > > I mean, sure, I’d love it if I eventually work my way up to being the department chair or something, but that won’t happen within five years. Just saying, you might want to spend some time in academia before jumping into the “Dept Chair” spot – nobody wants to get stuck with that job, at least anyone serious. If you think that’s an impressive title, spend another year or two in academia. Or at least do your time as DGS or DUGS and then think about all that time you could have spent performing research or teaching vs signing forms and crap. Then multiply by a million. Some people like administrative work as opposed to academic work, which is fine, but you might want to consider again. ---
**Author:** ![R3d\_Anonymous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/aeb1de/32.png) [@R3d\_Anonymous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/R3d_Anonymous)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2013, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idiotic-job-interview-questions/659318/38 "2013-05-27T03:52:35Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > 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. What is it with you and your crusade against video games? I ask because I see that you have made a similar remark in another IMHO thread saying how interest in video games would be a deal-breaker for you in a relationship. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2013, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idiotic-job-interview-questions/659318/39 "2013-05-27T04:01:38Z")
> [@MandaJo](#): > > The other things you can do, of course, is bring up a weakness that is irrelevant to the job: for teaching, for example, I think “I hate to sit still: I need to be doing things, interacting with people: that’s why I joined this profession” is a pretty good answer. On the opposite end, I was thinking it might be good to bring up a weakness that’s relevant to the job but on a reasonably high level. For a teacher, it might be something like, “I’m very good at designing assessments that assess exactly what I teach, and I’ve gotten pretty good at working with students on remediation when they don’t do so well on the assessment, but I’d like to improve my ability to design assessments that give clear feedback to me on what categories of skills/knowledge need reteaching to which groups of students,” and then give an example of what that might look like. (This is my late-night best try; forgive me if it’s lame). The idea is to show both that you know your field and that you’re interested in improving your already-high skill set. ---
**Author:** ![Sehmket](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Sehmket](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sehmket)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2013, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idiotic-job-interview-questions/659318/40 "2013-05-27T04:26:57Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > “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… I ask this question in interviews! (Well, a couple similar ones, depending on which version of the HR sheet we are currently using). Two things - non-customer examples are totally ok - I had someone explain how they talked down an angry neighbor about a noise issue. Close enough! Second, there are WRONG answers to this question. REALLY wrong answers. One older version of this one ended with something like, “How do you deal with frustrating situations?” The only interview I just stopped and said, “We are done here,” was the guy who answered that with, “I like to hit things.” So… sometimes, the dumb questions are meant to weed out people, more than really tell you anything about the people who CAN answer them. The other weed-out question I like is the one about describing a situation that you were involved in that could be seen from multiple perspectives. I don’t really care WHAT the situation is (I hired someone last week who was very delicately trying to describe something that I’m pretty sure was a complicated three-way.), but if you say something like, “Well, there’s a right and a wrong in every situation” or “I’ve never really been in a situation that could be seen any other way,” well… you’ve got some growing up to do before I want you on my team. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idiotic-job-interview-questions/659318.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idiotic-job-interview-questions/659318.md?page=3)