# 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:** 19\ **Page:** 3
**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, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idiotic-job-interview-questions/659318/41 "2013-05-27T06:12:26Z")
> [@chewsick](#): > > 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. Why yes, I should _totally_ lie my way into a job. That could never backfire, and it’s perfectly okay to be dishonest. :rolleyes: I have no problem selling myself. I have a full suite of solid skills, so I don’t even have to lie to do it. > [@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. > > 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. Eh, I’m not entry-level and haven’t been for years. At at a mid-to-senior level in marketing/design. My main issue is that the more I expand my skillset, the more my jobs have dragged me away from the things in marketing/design that I actually enjoy doing. So at this point, implying that I still don’t know what I want from my career trajectory is not going to come off well. I’d be happy to go back to the creative-oriented stuff I used to do, but I can’t get anyone to call me for those jobs. Anything I could say about the jobs I do get interviewed for, would likely come off as totally lacking ambition, because my ambitions lie entirely elsewhere. > [@Darth\_Panda](#): > > 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. Yeah, this is probably the best bet, except I’ll neglect to mention that I’ll want to be part-time by that point. 😉 I still worry that it will come off as unambitious; or else I stick with the generic “I’d like to still be doing creative work, with some added responsibilities.” I _have_ considered deflecting the question with humor. It would be fairly easily done, as I could joke about the fact that I planned to stay in this city for three years, and I’m still here, many years later. I don’t know if an interviewer would roll with that, or get annoyed at my dodge, however. ---
**Author:** ![stui\_magpie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stui_magpie/32/11010_2.png) [@stui\_magpie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stui_magpie)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2013, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idiotic-job-interview-questions/659318/42 "2013-05-27T06:37:26Z")
I’ve done a bit of interviewing over the years. I’ve used the strength/weakness questions a few times but not all the time. I’ll sometimes throw it in if the person I’m interviewing strikes me as a cocky prick, just to see what they say. The one about the customer, I use variations of that technique a lot getting people to describe how they actually acted in a situation that’s relevant and as someone else pointed out outside the workplace is fine. The question I’ve been asked at interview that threw me for a loop was one for a HR Manager at a contact centre in the burbs. A lot of construction work was going on nearby and apparently some of the beasties used to make their way into the underground car park. So when I got asked, “You get told there’s a snake in the carpark. What do you do”? it threw me totally. This is Australia, there’s a 99% chance it’s venomous and going out with a shovel to cut it’s head off is illegal. What they were looking for was a detailed communication and risk management strategy, which I sort of outlined after I spent 20 seconds getting my head working. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2013, 7:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idiotic-job-interview-questions/659318/43 "2013-05-27T07:29:42Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > You give a detailed explanation of the factors in your background that make you the obvious best choice for the job. > > Regards, > Shodan But don’t put the interviewer to sleep. I’d want to see an elevator pitch - a very to the point list of ones assets as related to the job. But I agree that this question gives the candidate a really good chance to sell him or herself. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2013, 7:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idiotic-job-interview-questions/659318/44 "2013-05-27T07:33:00Z")
> [@f.coli](#): > > 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? > I’d be very interested to hear from employers who use these questions to screen applicants. I never, never use these questions, or any from the standard question list. One wonders if interviewers who use these have bothered to read the resume of the candidate. The jobs I interview for require specific technical skills, and I spend all my time evaluating the candidate’s experience and enthusiasm. I guess if you are looking for someone to fill a crap job these might be okay, but anything a bit higher than ditch digger - no. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2013, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idiotic-job-interview-questions/659318/45 "2013-05-27T15:26:02Z")
> [@Anonymous User](#): > > 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. I’ve seen too many lives and relationships ruined because of them. ---
**Author:** ![Patch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a183cd/32.png) [@Patch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patch)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2013, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idiotic-job-interview-questions/659318/46 "2013-05-27T15:41:41Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > 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. My answer to the weakness question is to bring up a weak point, but spend most of the response describing how I eliminate is as a weakness. When I was asked the question, my response was that I tend to get tunnel vision and focus on only one solution, but I’ve found that simply by talking the problem over I recognize new ways of dealing with the problem, and I followed that up with an example. I like giving examples of how my career experience related to the question. After giving a bunch of interviews, I find the answers the candidates give all feel the same and they just blur together. Being able to talk about that you did makes the candidate stand to the interviewer, in my experience. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2013, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idiotic-job-interview-questions/659318/47 "2013-05-27T17:32:02Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > I’ve seen too many lives and relationships ruined because of them. No you haven’t. No one has. They’re _video games_, not weapons of mass destruction. Also, you really want to get a good feel for the guy or girl asking the interview questions. Right now, the only people are hire are teenagers for after-school-type jobs. The ones that can talk intelligently about video games or movies or books (I work in a library) have a huge edge over the ones who can’t. ---
**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, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idiotic-job-interview-questions/659318/48 "2013-05-27T18:00:38Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > They’re _video games_, not weapons of mass destruction. You don’t know that… ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2013, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idiotic-job-interview-questions/659318/49 "2013-05-27T18:40:35Z")
> [@Anonymous User](#): > > You don’t know that… You’re right, if I pile enough game boxes on top of each other, I can tip them over and pin down at least two people. Two people minorly irritated counts as “mass destruction” right? ---
**Author:** ![perfectparanoia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a5b964/32.png) [@perfectparanoia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/perfectparanoia)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2013, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idiotic-job-interview-questions/659318/50 "2013-05-27T18:50:48Z")
I am one of those people who have had many job interviews and always got the job (I didn’t always take it, obviously). The strengths/weaknesses thing. I am just honest. Most of my strengths are weaknesses, too so I just flip them on their heads and talk about what I am doing to keep them as strengths. For example, I always have great ideas and love implementing them. The weak side of that is sometimes I can’t keep those to myself even when I know the other person doesn’t want to hear it. So, I am working on reading social cues to reduce that. As to ‘tell me about yourself,’ I usually peg off a joke. ‘I am a scorpio and I like long walks on the beach.’ or somesuch. If they don’t think it’s funny or are put off, I likely don’t want to work there anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2013, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idiotic-job-interview-questions/659318/51 "2013-05-27T20:11:18Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > I’ve seen too many lives and relationships ruined because of them. And you’ve not seen lives and relationships ruined by anything else? Be honest now, because _no intelligent adult_ is that sheltered. I think a lot of the stress around the “Where do you see yourself in five years?” question comes from the idea that, if the interviewee starts to sound like a go-getter, the interviewer will conclude that their job will be at risk from this young upstart and thus won’t hire them. Which is a perfectly idiotic way to run a company, such that any company run that way isn’t one you’d want to work at to begin with. ---
**Author:** ![MandaJo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@MandaJo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MandaJo)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2013, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idiotic-job-interview-questions/659318/52 "2013-05-28T01:45:16Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > 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. That makes sense to me: focus on skills rather than personality flaws, because skills can be learned. “I am not as adept with [complex, fairly obscure programming tech] as I would like to be, but that’s mostly because I’ve never really had the time or opportunity to develop that skillset: I feel pretty confident that could get up to speed quickly if I had a training/a manual/a deadline/whatever. I did just that when suddenly needed to know [different obscure programming thing] and this is how I did it.” I am switching jobs this fall, and in that interview I was asked “What would your students say were your greatest strengths and weaknesses?” That was a bit of a twist, but I said “They might say I can be a little cranky and sarcastic” and then I talked about how when a kid comes in and asks “When’s tutoring?” while standing under a huge poster labeled “tutoring hours”, I sarcastically make them turn around and read it to me, and really, I should just tell them. It was probably not an answer that flattered me, but if occasional sarcasm is a deal breaker in a school culture, I need to know before I take the job. ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2013, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idiotic-job-interview-questions/659318/53 "2013-05-28T02:04:39Z")
> [@Darth\_Panda](#): > > 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). Another reason is that these questions are “gimmes.” They come up in LOTS of interviews. You should have an answer prepared. The answer should understand the psychology of the question - that strengths and weaknesses are often interrelated and that you work to address the weakness - i.e. “my biggest strength is that I’m very detail oriented, however, this can also be a big weakness for me because I can get lost in details and not take things beyond the appropriate level of abstraction. I have learned its important for me to regularly check in and make sure that I am not going too deep.” If you haven’t bothered to prepare by having a canned answer to this question, are you going to bother to prepare by having clean pants to wear to work? ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2013, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idiotic-job-interview-questions/659318/54 "2013-05-28T03:49:55Z")
> [@Derleth](#): > > I think a lot of the stress around the “Where do you see yourself in five years?” question comes from the idea that, if the interviewee starts to sound like a go-getter, the interviewer will conclude that their job will be at risk from this young upstart and thus won’t hire them. Which is a perfectly idiotic way to run a company, such that any company run that way isn’t one you’d want to work at to begin with. Five years? It would be nice to have that kind of job security. It’s a stupid question. It’s assumed the candidate wants to make a long term career with the company he’s interviewing at. A better answer would be to turn it around and ask what the typical career path is for that position. ie. Jr analyst for a year, then analyst, then typically sr analyst after 2-4 years, then manager, etc. Plus who knows what will happen a year from now? Generally if you answer the strength / weakness (or any) questions with the snarky, sarcastic joke responses people give here, you won’t get the job. So I guess the system works. The only really “stupid” questions IMHO are ones that indicate that the interviewer doesn’t understand the position, hasn’t read your resume or is otherwise unprepared. ---
**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 28, 2013, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idiotic-job-interview-questions/659318/55 "2013-05-28T18:32:03Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > Five years? It would be nice to have that kind of job security. > > It’s a stupid question. It’s assumed the candidate wants to make a long term career with the company he’s interviewing at. It’s not a stupid question.What would be stupid would be assuming there is only one right answer for every situation. I do not assume or even necessarily \*want \*a candidate that will stay at least years. I want to know, “Does this person give a shit about his own future?” Because if he doesn’t, he probably isn’t going to give me his best effort. ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2013, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idiotic-job-interview-questions/659318/56 "2013-05-28T18:36:18Z")
“My greatest weakness is not being able to come up to an answer to this question that will not make me look like a douche who is just listing his strengths, weaknesses that won’t matter to his job, or skills he just wants to improve.” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2013, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idiotic-job-interview-questions/659318/57 "2013-05-28T19:15:26Z")
> [@CookingWithGas](#): > > It’s not a stupid question.What would be stupid would be assuming there is only one right answer for every situation. > > I do not assume or even necessarily \*want \*a candidate that will stay at least years. I want to know, “Does this person give a shit about his own future?” Because if he doesn’t, he probably isn’t going to give me his best effort. It’s stupid because there is no right answer to the question short of answering “duhh…Idonno”. Unless it’s some sort of churn and burn job, I would expect the candidate sees themselves growing with the company over the next 5 years. That might mean a promotion in 2-3 years. Maybe a low level management or subject matter expert in 5. partner or managing director in 7-15 years. Then again, they may change their career focus in a couple of years and explore a different area of the company. Anyhow, the question is stupid if phrased or answered as if there is a correct answer. As I said, it’s better to ask it as a lead-in to a discussion of career path, expectation setting and interest. I don’t know that I get any of those sort of questions anymore. Mostly my interviews seem to consist of sitting down with some managing director or VP and just talking about my background, the project and stuff like that. Often over lunch. ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2013, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idiotic-job-interview-questions/659318/58 "2013-05-28T19:41:16Z")
> [@CookingWithGas](#): > > It’s not a stupid question.What would be stupid would be assuming there is only one right answer for every situation. > > I do not assume or even necessarily \*want \*a candidate that will stay at least years. I want to know, “Does this person give a shit about his own future?” Because if he doesn’t, he probably isn’t going to give me his best effort. Except you seem to make a lot of assumptions about what answers translate to giving a shit about one’s future. For example, earlier you said a response like “I like this work very much and would like to continue doing this” nixes someone’s candidacy, as it suggests they’re only interested in picking up a paycheck. That’s a lot to infer from a statement of being happy with one’s work. You’re also not a fan of people saying they’re unsure, when plenty of capable, ambitious people _aren’t_. Thankfully, I haven’t been asked that question in many years, as it is such a BS question and the answer is always some vague plan, I guess, but open depending…? In other words, “Who the hell knows?” Fortunately, people have still hired me despite never having laid out a 5 year plan when asked. ---
**Author:** ![Bone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bone/32/407_2.png) [@Bone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bone)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2013, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idiotic-job-interview-questions/659318/59 "2013-05-28T19:47:53Z")
I always ask what aspects of their previous jobs they liked and disliked the most. I know what the current job is, and if those things line up or don’t line up in a good way it’s telling if they will be a good fit. I ask them this before I tell them about the job to get a less tailored response. Sometimes when I haven’t had time to prepare, I switch the order and just say, You ask all your questions and after you’re done, I’ll talk about the job and fill in any details. If they haven’t probed enough it’s easy to gauge genuine interest. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idiotic-job-interview-questions/659318.md?page=2)