Questions to ask applicants during interviews...ideas?
- Thread starter SideWinder
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that is why it is absolutely guff
you can do a weakness as a strength:
'my weakness is that sometimes I just work too hard and don't have enough time for my hobbies outside of work'
bit patronizing to the interviewer
or a weakness that isn't actually a weakness anymore - that you're working/have worked on
'I used to have trouble with x but then I addressed this issue by....'
so essentially dodging the question
or you can provide a weakness that doesn't directly impact the role you're being hired for
so basically pointless information for the interviewer
basically most people will just dodge the question and not actually provide a real honest weakness relevant to the role - and frankly why should they, they're trying to sell themselves
it is just patronizing and a bit pointless
No, because you ask unique questions that relate to the job role in question. I interview a lot for programmers, I ask them questions about programming. I don't ask them to lie and come up with a canned answer that provides me with zero information a it is a waste of time.
If you ask questions relating to domain specific knowledge then unless they have years of experience/degree in that domain then they wont be able to pick the answer out of thin air or form 2 minutes on google. If you ask them a problem solving question relating to the expected work then either they are smart enough o solve it or they aren't' that good. You can't use google to become more intelligent or get better at problem solving.
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preparing for stereotypical interview questions can be done the evening before
preparing for questions relating to specific knowledge, experience generally requires knowledge, experience - something the candidate has either built up over the years or not
"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."
That is why it is completely useless, they ask you to lie, they get a lie, and have zero information. And since you have highlighted how standard it is then everyone can prepare a canned answer straight form Google. Absolutely pointless, and fairly insulting iMO.
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.
Agreed to a certain extent but there can be a good question behind that for some jobs. Ideally you want to hire someone who will stick around a long time and not do a year and move on. If you can find genuine interest to stay with the company then it helps.
But yeah, most of the time it is a retarded question.
Associate
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Reason being is because they are dumbstruck and questioning why they would want to work for a clown.
HR staff in interviews are more of a hindrance than anything else.
It’s also a bit of an odd question along with those other HR orientated questions that have little relevance for the job at hand. It’s the interviewer’s job to decide what makes you special based on your CV and interview responses. Answering that question puts a skew on things.
How are you supposed to know what makes you more special than the 20 other potential candidates applying for the same job? The questions being asked should be relevant to the job so they can determine what’s special about you for the job compared to the other candidates.
Rather than ask what's so special about you they should ask why they should pick you. You might answer that you're punctual, flexible with hours etc and will have evidence to back this up. None of those answers make you special, they make you work focused - If that makes sense
At least that’s my experience having had many interviews as a short term contractor for 2 years in the past handling various IT projects.
Soldato
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Walk into the interview in Fancy dress of some sort this'll show you how the applicant copes with the unexpected!
To counter this the interviewer should always dress as Cardinal Ximenez.
It’s also a bit of an odd question along with those other HR orientated questions that have little relevance for the job at hand. It’s the interviewer’s job to decide what makes you special based on your CV and interview responses. Answering that question puts a skew on things.
How are you supposed to know what makes you more special than the 20 other potential candidates applying for the same job? The questions being asked should be relevant to the job so they can determine what’s special about you for the job compared to the other candidates.
Rather than ask what's so special about you they should ask why they should pick you. You might answer that you're punctual, flexible with hours etc and will have evidence to back this up. None of those answers make you special, they make you work focused - If that makes sense
At least that’s my experience having had many interviews as a short term contractor for 2 years in the past handling various IT projects.
I see where you're coming from, but I kind of disagree. If you don't have a damn good idea about why you should get the job over anyone else, then you probably shouldn't get it.
The questions was really around personality. The interviewer was looking for you to bring in something more interesting that the usual 100% business focussed BS.