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The Dumbest Interview Question
31–40 of 73 posts
Re: The Dumbest Interview Question
#32The company I work for now relies on code samples. Then the interview tests you on the sample to ensure you wrote it. The rest is purely about your personality. Seems to work well.
A couple years back, I made a great hire. He came in for the interview, and fumbled through our generic tests (program fibonacci in the language of your choice, etc). So we said "no thanks." He emailed us back and wanted another interview, said he was on a borrowed computer, bad day, etc.
So we asked him to send us a code sample. Next morning, we get a machine vision algorithm coded in impeccable C++. I read through the ~300 lines and understood it easily on the first pass. So we brought him back, asked him to explain it, and hired him immediately.
When designing interviews, you have the choice of seeing the interviewee at his best, and encouraging him to live up to it in the job, or seeing the interviewee at his worst, and knowing that you at least made a safe choice.
Re: The Dumbest Interview Question
#33You could always reply, "What's the worst thing about working here?"
That's a perfectly good question for an interviewee to ask. The interviewee needs to figure out if they're going to like working here or not and if the inherent annoyances about this particular job are going to turn the person into an asshole, then I'd like to know about it sooner rather than later.
Re: The Dumbest Interview Question
#34"What is your greatest weakness?"
"Kryptonite"
Re: The Dumbest Interview Question
#35I ask this question in interviews all the time. It helps me filter for people who are liars. I ask it, and if they say "I work too hard" or "I'm a perfectionist" then I don't hire them because they're at best delusional and at worst liars. And you know who else I don't hire? 20 somethings who proceed to say that the question is stupid. That's a tell-tale sign of young man's disease-- an ego that hasn't caught up with…
That's all well and good, but when you look at it from the interviewee's perspective he/she has to determine, based on what little knowledge they have of the interviewer, whether or not they want to hear the bullshit answer or your preferred, realistic version of the answer. Right now, it is probably a safer bet to stick to the bullshit answer until more interviewers like yourself swing the tide back over. In the meantime, however, you could be missing out on great applicants that have just been programmed to give you the bullshit answer by the sitting majority.
Re: The Dumbest Interview Question
#36I disagree with this post. If you are so personally threatened by someone asking what your weaknesses are, then I guess I understand your reaction. But personally I just view that as another question relating to your experience. For instance, my two biggest weaknesses are time estimates and unit testing (I still haven't jumped on the TDD bandwagon), so instead of being offended or threatened by that, I will explain my weaknesses and what I'm doing to correct them or my views on them.
Everyone has weaknesses, don't run from them, embrace them as an opportunity to improve.
Re: The Dumbest Interview Question
#37I ask this question in interviews all the time. It helps me filter for people who are liars. I ask it, and if they say "I work too hard" or "I'm a perfectionist" then I don't hire them because they're at best delusional and at worst liars. And you know who else I don't hire? 20 somethings who proceed to say that the question is stupid. That's a tell-tale sign of young man's disease-- an ego that hasn't caught up with…
I would like to think I'm a reasonably truthful person, and back when I was interviewing for a job, I always replied with the "work too hard" line. In part because I I sometimes do work too hard (don't we all?) but mostly because... how to say it? because the question is silly.
To be honest, I don't think this question will unmask any liar -- you may be missing on good job candidates if you keep using this as some type of polygraph test.
Oh, and I'm in my 40's by the way.
Re: The Dumbest Interview Question
#38I ask this question in interviews all the time. It helps me filter for people who are liars. I ask it, and if they say "I work too hard" or "I'm a perfectionist" then I don't hire them because they're at best delusional and at worst liars. And you know who else I don't hire? 20 somethings who proceed to say that the question is stupid. That's a tell-tale sign of young man's disease-- an ego that hasn't caught up with…
A ton of excellent developers work way to hard and are obsesive compulsive about perfection. This is so common as to warrant whole chapters about "the best is the enemy of the good" and so on.
And.. it is a weakness.. a big weakness. it is no bullshit.
Re: The Dumbest Interview Question
#39The 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 th…
I disagree with the part about religion and family. Don't give them ammo to discriminate against you.
Re: The Dumbest Interview Question
#40You could always reply, "What's the worst thing about working here?"
That's a fair question but it could be hard to pull off the follow-up question without it coming off as a gotcha. Tread lightly.