Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

The Dumbest Interview Question

laouini.blogspot.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

1–10 of 73 posts

Re: The Dumbest Interview Question

#3

Post by btilly »

The question may be dumb, but dodging it is foolish when it is so easy to turn it to your benefit.

My answer is, "I am too extroverted." And I go on to explain that I am unable to engage in heads-down focused programming for extended periods of time without mental breaks because of my personality. I point out that most of the public is extroverted, but most programmers are introverted and I explain the reasons for that. Then I say that despite this handicap I am a very productive programmer.

My answer is sincere, honest and true. Furthermore I set proper expectations around what I am like as a person. The fact is that I am extroverted, and I will need those mental breaks. If they are unwilling to accommodate that, then I don't want to be there. And I've found that letting people know it up front makes it easier for me to get those breaks down the road.

So I believe that the right answer to this question for you is to bring up the issue that you suspect you'll most need to be accommodated on if you get the job. Are you a religious Jew who needs to leave early on Friday? Do you have kids who get sick every so often? Are you the kind of person who works best arriving and leaving late? Whatever your need is, when you trade off your short-term goal of getting the job versus your long-term goal of being happy in that job, learning up front how they will react to that request is well worth any possible damage to your odds of getting the job.

Furthermore the mere fact that you answered the question honestly rather than transparently dodging it usually makes the questioner happy. Which usually has more weight with them than the flaw you revealed.

Re: The Dumbest Interview Question

#4

Post by huangm »

I'm not sure I see a difference between preparing answers to 'What is your greatest weakness', and preparing answers to any other interview question.

Any interview question loses its information value once enough people know about it / blog about it / etc. And I certainly think the spirit of the question is useful... Maybe the interviewer can ask a differently worded question in the same spirit, but this question definitely doesn't deserve such contempt.

Re: The Dumbest Interview Question

#9

Post by gamble »

"My greatest weakness is [plausible yet trivial issue]. It was a minor problem on [studly project X], but I took the bull by the horns and tackled it with [a suspiciously detailed action plan]. Now my coworkers see me as [some sort of Greek god]."

The most important thing to keep in mind with interviews is that few people conduct enough of them to really know what they're doing. Most interviewers are just asking questions they've heard others use in similar circumstances. All that really matters is that you keep cool and present a air of intelligent, affable engagement, no matter how silly the questions are.

Re: The Dumbest Interview Question

#10

Post by snorkel »

"Suppose there is a locked room with 3 light bulbs..." I hate brain teasers. I'd much rather answer the old standards than try to determine which direction Jane and Johnny should run through the tunnel to avoid being hit by the train when I just sat in traffic for hours to get to your building that has no parking. You scheduled this interview at 8:00 am, you left me sitting in your conference room alone for an hour, made me listen to your HR spiel about how awesome your company is, and now you want me to solve towers of hanoi using a truth table and I haven't had any coffee? No thanks.
Post reply on HN