The worst question I ever got asked was: "If your friends were here, what one word would they use to describe you?" I mean, what kind of answer are you supposed to give to that?
awesome
The Dumbest Interview Question
41–49 of 49 posts
Re: The Dumbest Interview Question
#42I have always wanted to say 'my greatest weakness is Chocolate Cheesecake, can't get enough of it'. Seriously though, things I would consider weaknesses in one context are strengths in others. Integrity is generally a strength, but sometimes it can cost you a sale! I guess, as annoying as this question is, it tests your ability to recognise these things in yourself.
Re: The Dumbest Interview Question
#43This is a great interview question. The point isn't the actual answer, but the way an interviewee responds. It's a mind game to see how the person will react. Will they deny weakness? Will they confess a horrendous flaw? It reveals a lot of character. Plus it is just plain fun to ask people ridiculous questions with no correct answer.
Paraphrased from my fuzzy recollection of some random interview with a recruitment guru:
"The best question to ask is 'What would your mother say was your greatest weakness?' - it's like truth serum. People start babbling about how she thinks that they're always late, or procrastinating, or unreliable and so on."
"What would you say if someone asked you this?"
"'You never call.'"
Apologies that I don't have a better source for this - anyone recognize it?
Re: The Dumbest Interview Question
#44You see, this stupid question is designed to be rightly answered by someone who has carefully crafted an answer that turn some apparent weakness into a perceived strength. Wrong. That's precisely the kind of answer it's meant to weed out. The question is supposed to show your ability for reflection on your faults (because everybody has them), and let you explain how you are going about working on them. If you take it…
Weeding people out based on whether they give a "correct" answer to this question seems kinda ridiculous. With the exception of someone admitting to a horrendous fault (anger problem), I don't see how this answer could dictate a hire or no hire. If your interviewing someone with great credentials, great references, and then they answer this question with "sometimes I work too hard"... your not going to hire him? What…
I usually restrain myself on HN, but this time I can't..
Please, oh please oh please keep in mind that "your" is not "you are".
Having to constantly be deciphering (imploded) sentences is exhausting.
"Is he talking about possession?" "Is he comparing things or putting them in chronological order?".. and so on.
Re: The Dumbest Interview Question
#45The problem is that for a lot of people, the answer wouldn't really be about business. If they really dug down to think about what their greatest weakness was, they might find it was an issue of character. And those don't go over well in an interview.
What company or government would hire someone who said their greatest weakness was sex addiction, alcoholism, sexism or a vindictive streak? And yet, men such as Bill Clinton, Winston Churchill, Richard Feynman and Thomas Edison have done great work and great things despite those weaknesses.
Re: The Dumbest Interview Question
#46You see, this stupid question is designed to be rightly answered by someone who has carefully crafted an answer that turn some apparent weakness into a perceived strength. Wrong. That's precisely the kind of answer it's meant to weed out. The question is supposed to show your ability for reflection on your faults (because everybody has them), and let you explain how you are going about working on them. If you take it…
Weeding people out based on whether they give a "correct" answer to this question seems kinda ridiculous. With the exception of someone admitting to a horrendous fault (anger problem), I don't see how this answer could dictate a hire or no hire. If your interviewing someone with great credentials, great references, and then they answer this question with "sometimes I work too hard"... your not going to hire him? What…
Anyways.. :)
I've been asked this question a lot of times.
Usually I've worked hard to dance around the issue, and I guess I've often blown it too.
Once I even voiced my concerns about the sensibility of the question, but the interviewer said I should answer it anyway!
I think I should try something like this in the future:
- What's your greatest weakness?
- Asian women.
( Unlike some people even on HN, I don't claim to see much action though :p )
Re: The Dumbest Interview Question
#47Another nasty interview question is something like: "How well do you work under pressure?"
When you hear that, you could interpret it as: "We want you to work your ass off under unrealistic deadlines caused by our incompetent/greedy salespeople and bad management".
Re: The Dumbest Interview Question
#48Has anyone actually been asked this? When I first entered the workforce and started interviewing I remember prepping for this question (and its corresponding strengths one) and had nice prepped answers. To date no one has every asked me this - and when hiring I've never asked it.
I ask it to every candidate, because I have a form from HR with a list of questions I have to ask that's one of them. I tick the box and move swiftly on.
My own stock answer is "sometimes I have trouble delegating".
Re: The Dumbest Interview Question
#49One time I told an interviewer was my biggest weakness is my unwillingness to repair my relationship with my father. I did not get the job, but I got a good laugh. I guess making the interviewer uncomfortable is bad.