Standard (read: "fluffy") interview questions

[Dinomania]

Well, I've just landed myself a job interview, which is great.

And I'm fairly confident and happy in terms of talking tech, no problems.

BUT what often flummoxes me are all those standard flowery irrelevant personality-based interview questions which are not specific to the job. Most people have been through enough interviews by now to have recorded responses to them all in their head, but I haven't and have forgotten the majority of them.

So please, throw me the best/worst ones you've been asked!


For example (to get you going):

"How would your friends describe you?"
"What would you most like to change about yourself?"
"What are your best and worst qualities?"
"Please give an example of when you have overcome a difficult situation?"

 

[Dinomania]

Exactly the type, Sic - they drive me nuts!

Plus these questions are usually asked by some HR type who has no idea what the job is going to involve anyway, nnrrrgghhh...

..I've been told I will first be interviewed by the HR manager, and then the managers of the two roles I'm being interviewed for, one after the other. I bet there'll be lots of repetition. Sigh.

 

[Dinomania]

Thanks mks - I generally know how to answer the things but a reminder doesn't hurt!

In engineering though - most of the importance lies in what you can do, and your experience thus far. Communicative abilities are usually evident through the course of the interview itself.

I won't make things up - I am fortunate that I've had some very wide experiences of a lot of things which fit these kinds of questions perfectly - like teamwork and difficult people in watches on tallships, being stuck in a factory in Malaysia at 3am surrounded by technicians asking you why things aren't working, picking up the organisation of a ball and trying to make it all run smoothly at the last minute, etc... All fun & games!

 

[Dinomania]

Cheers lads

Any more questions you've come across? As lame or as useful as you like!

"Where do you see yourself in 5 years' time?"

 

[Dinomania]

Wong attitude TBH. These are important questions.

Hee, 'wong'.

Well yes and no - I suppose they are - but they're almost always asked by someone in HR and rarely by the people who you'll actually be working with, that gets my goat. I know they're busy but you can find out so much more about someone face-to-face than you can via their answers to these questions.

The best interviews start with questions and job-specific stuff but then become a conversation, they tell you about the job and you tell them about yourself.

 

[Dinomania]

Haha! That's a bit specific, Majago! How did he answer that?