Soldato
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Questions to ask applicants during interviews...ideas?
- Thread starter SideWinder
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Soldato
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You have told us a lot about your strengths, now tell us about your weaknesses.
Candidate: Honesty.
Interviewer: I don't think honesty is a weakness.
Candidate: I don't give a **** what you think.
1) Biggest weakness is I'm too modest.
2) biggest weakness is I have no time for morons giving interviews and asking such pointless questions wasting my time. Bye.
Seriously, anyone who asking such nonsense and I will walk out. I have no desire to waste my time with such shenanigans.
You don't get anything useful out of such interview questions, it is a completely waste of everyone's time and looks very badly upon the interviewer since it is clear they have no ability to ask pertinent questions.
Soldato
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Oh really? Interesting.
I had to respond to that very same comment in an interview for a role at a leading energy company about 2 months ago. It is a standard comment they use.
I have also spoken to several other people who have been asked to respond to the same comment.
I guess the reasoning behind it is to see if a candidate can take an absolute negative and turn it into a positive when put in a difficult spot. It also shows that a candidate is aware of their limitations and weaknesses and knows how to overcome them.
When looking at it in that kind of light, it does not really seem too pointless to me. But meh, what do I know.
But it doesn't show any of those things. It just shows that the candidate has pre-prepared an answer to an incredibly obvious stereotypical question, telling you all about some "weakness" they have which is secretly a strength, or some other such nonsense.
It's a terrible question. Doesn't make it any less terrible that many companies and interviewers still use it!
Soldato
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Can you not say the same for pretty much any interview question? If a candidate has prepared properly, the questions really are a moot point as the candidate will have good answers come what may.
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Do you smoke bread?
Honest question I was asked at an interview for a Aircraft Engineering role, I got the job to find they all did bongs at lunch and dribble in the afternoon.
Honest question I was asked at an interview for a Aircraft Engineering role, I got the job to find they all did bongs at lunch and dribble in the afternoon.
If all the interviewer asked was such "competency" questions, then yes. Most roles require more detailed questions to determine the suitability of the candidate, and if the candidate has prepared good answers to questions specific to the job role, then they are probably a good candidate.
Soldato
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Or they have strong Google-Fu?
Haha, for many jobs, this would make them a strong candidate!
If I ask the candidate about an element of their experience or claimed technical expertise, their answer and the examples they use should tell me something about their level of ability, how they view their work, and the relevance of their experience to the role for which they're applying. That's useful information. I can then ask follow up questions challenging technical or business aspects that they've touched on, to find real weaknesses in their knowledge and confirm that they actually understand the topic and aren't just repeating prepared words and nothing else.
If I ask a bunch of very generic "what are your strengths/weaknesses/hobbies" type questions, I can guarantee that I'm going to get some pre-prepared guff that has nothing to do with the role in question, leaving my follow-up options limited to moving on, or wasting time asking for more examples. Even then, if I'm not challenging the candidate about some specific area of knowledge, they are just going to give me the examples they want to talk about, not the ones I'm actually interested in. What does that tell me, really?
Soldato
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Most silly question ever,and i hate it when they ask these sort of questions.
Isn't it bloody obvious why?..because i want a job..to earn money..to put food on my table and support my family...of course its the same for everyone not just me but come on,Managers get paid stupid wages and ask questions like this.
Did you get the job?
When you're asked "why are you better than a similarly-skilled candidate" (which is a perfectly valid question, giving the candidate the opportunity to relate their specific skills and approach to the role) and your answer is "I want money"... you aren't getting the job.
Soldato
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Ask a question that has no right/wrong answer.
I had an interview question where everything I said they would play devils advocate, so everything I answered they would go "yeh but say that didnt work, what else?"
or ask them to choose between doing overtime or attending your own wedding...
I had an interview question where everything I said they would play devils advocate, so everything I answered they would go "yeh but say that didnt work, what else?"
or ask them to choose between doing overtime or attending your own wedding...