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The Dumbest Interview Question

laouini.blogspot.com

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Re: The Dumbest Interview Question

#21

Post by junklight »

sdfx wrote: post #17

This question is not as stupid as it seems. True, your answer will most likely suck if you haven't thought about it previous to the interview, but this is probably true for most of the behavioral part. The interviewer is not looking for a boilerplate answer like "I'm a perfectionist" etc. You have a good chance to demonstrate that you are self-aware and able to recognize your weaknesses and to show that you are worki…

There are also plenty of "nutters" (for want of a better word) out there who can't answer this question in a sensible way. For example I've interviewed people who claimed to be perfect in a very arrogant and, as you comment, disturbingly un self aware.

If you are a decent employee a lot of interview/employment stuff will seem formulaic but I have to say I now use more of this kind of stuff after being burnt a couple of times by taking all this boring sort of stuff as given and then the employee turning out to be unsuitable - in both cases at great cost to myself. In both cases they seemed personable and having the correct skills but the problems where much deeper and would have been turned up by probing and cross checking - which is what this kind of question is actually designed for.

Re: The Dumbest Interview Question

#24

Post by mavelikara »

gcheong wrote: post #19
sdfx wrote: post #17

This question is not as stupid as it seems. True, your answer will most likely suck if you haven't thought about it previous to the interview, but this is probably true for most of the behavioral part. The interviewer is not looking for a boilerplate answer like "I'm a perfectionist" etc. You have a good chance to demonstrate that you are self-aware and able to recognize your weaknesses and to show that you are worki…

If its a fair question then it is fair for the interviewee to ask the question back, but I get the sense that this is not accepted behavior - though I would not hesitate to do so.

I cannot up-vote this enough! The only non-jackass way to ask this question is "I am XYZ and that is my biggest weakness. What is yours?" (Same goes for the sister-question "What is your biggest failure?").

Re: The Dumbest Interview Question

#25

Post by tptacek »

It's not like this guy has the secret cheat code for getting around this question. A lazy interviewer might accept "I work too hard", but an strong one will just say "so basically you're saying you don't think there's anything you can improve about yourself?"

We don't ask the Wal-mart personality questions, but, as mentioned downthread, if it screens out the crazy people who literally can't even give the PR answer to the question, it's probably worth it.

Re: The Dumbest Interview Question

#26

Post by Sandman »

gcheong wrote: post #19
sdfx wrote: post #17

This question is not as stupid as it seems. True, your answer will most likely suck if you haven't thought about it previous to the interview, but this is probably true for most of the behavioral part. The interviewer is not looking for a boilerplate answer like "I'm a perfectionist" etc. You have a good chance to demonstrate that you are self-aware and able to recognize your weaknesses and to show that you are worki…

If its a fair question then it is fair for the interviewee to ask the question back, but I get the sense that this is not accepted behavior - though I would not hesitate to do so.

I did that once. I asked the interviewer what he thought was his company's biggest weakness. He nervously smiled and said that his company has no weaknesses. Needless to say, I didn't get the job. Back then, I used to think that the 'What is your biggest weakness' question was pretty dumb too, but I don't anymore. I now understand that I'm not great at every aspect of my job, nobody is. The point is that I know what my weaknesses are and that I want to improve on them. Nowadays, if I get that question in an interview I answer it honestly and make sure that the interviewer knows that I would love to have the opportunity to improve on my weaknesses while I work for his company.

Re: The Dumbest Interview Question

#27

Post by junklight »

Sandman wrote: post #26
gcheong wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If its a fair question then it is fair for the interviewee to ask the question back, but I get the sense that this is not accepted behavior - though I would not hesitate to do so.

I did that once. I asked the interviewer what he thought was his company's biggest weakness. He nervously smiled and said that his company has no weaknesses. Needless to say, I didn't get the job. Back then, I used to think that the 'What is your biggest weakness' question was pretty dumb too, but I don't anymore. I now understand that I'm not great at every aspect of my job, nobody is. The point is that I know what…

Feel free to ask that if I am ever interviewing you (as long as you don't do it in a sarcastic kind of way) - its a good question and way too many companies are secretive about this kind of stuff.

A company that says it has no weaknesses is just as wrong as a candidate that says that they have no weaknesses.

Re: The Dumbest Interview Question

#29

Post by spokey »

tptacek wrote: post #25

It's not like this guy has the secret cheat code for getting around this question. A lazy interviewer might accept "I work too hard", but an strong one will just say "so basically you're saying you don't think there's anything you can improve about yourself?" We don't ask the Wal-mart personality questions, but, as mentioned downthread, if it screens out the crazy people who literally can't even give the PR answer to…

This.

An interviewer that accepts the "strength-disguised-as-a-weakness" answer is missing the point (or possibly silently counting the answer against you).

A good answer to this question from the interviewer's perspective is a genuine weakness coupled with examples of specific actions the interviewee is taking to overcome this weakness.

A good answer to this question from the interviewee's perspective is a genuine weakness that is related to the job but isn't part of the core responsibilities or skills. For a trite example, for a heads down coding position one might answer "I get nervous when speaking in front a large group. I've gotten involved in Toastmasters to get more practice at public speaking, and I find it gets easier every time."

Re: The Dumbest Interview Question

#30

Post by cjoh »

I 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 one's ability to relate to people without alienating them.

Of course it is an idiotic question-- one's weaknesses change on a semi-regular basis from environment to environment. But the question has some justifiably good qualities-- namely, you can catch bullshit artists fairly well.

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