
The Dumbest Interview Question - spydez
http://lbrandy.com/blog/2008/12/the-dumbest-interview-question/
======
andreyf
_You 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 seriously, you can get quite deep and philosophical with that
question, demonstrating your ability to express yourself, and discussing the
relative merits of someone looking to fill the position.

Granted, the phrasing is very cliche, so it might be better to ask something
along the lines "in the near future, how would you like to have improved
yourself?".

~~~
copenja
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 this question does is force the candidate to make a snap decision: Is
this particular interviewer hoping I express an honest weakness or is he
seeing if a can turn a weakness into a strength?

Guess wrong and your out?

~~~
shiranaihito
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.

------
bayareaguy
I always respond to this one by saying "my greatest weakness is that I don't
know my greatest weakness".

~~~
IsaacSchlueter
The only time I was asked that question, I responded with "That's kind of a
weird question, don't you think? I mean, it's not really in my interest to
answer it honestly." The interviewer agreed, and we chatted about interviewing
technique for a little while. He admitted that he only asked to see what
people say, and that mine was probably the best answer he'd heard.

Got an offer the next day.

~~~
Hexstream
You might have had the offer almost regardless of your answer to that
question.

~~~
IsaacSchlueter
I'm pretty sure you're right.

------
xiaoma
The 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.

------
snprbob86
I once had an interviewer ask me my greatest weakness, stop me before I
started to speak, and added "don't even try to give me an strength dressed up
as a weakness because I'll keep rejecting your answer until you give me one I
like." Upon hearing my response, he asked me what I was doing to combat that
weakness. Upon hearing that response, he asked me how progress was and to
project how long it would be before it was no longer a weakness. That line of
questioning was far more effective and a whole lot more fun.

~~~
ardit33
Can you just say "can't say no to pretty girls"? So, you reveal a maybe real
weakness, but it is totally outside your work field and yet doesn't affect
your hiring.

So, I still think this question is dumb.

~~~
snprbob86
I'm pretty sure he would rejected that answer...

------
mikeryan
Has 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.

~~~
ConradHex
I've been asked it maybe half of my interviews. If you're going for an
interview, be ready for this one. I've had at least one interviewer be very
persistent about it.

There should be an equivalent question for interviewees to ask - how about
"what is your company's greatest weakness?" Or "what would be the worst part
about working here?"

~~~
nihilocrat
Being on the other end of the table sometimes, no one has asked this question,
but they really should. It is actually a much better question than asking the
interviewee "What is your greatest weakness?".

I think the sorts of questions an interviewee asks is more revealing than any
sort of digging you might do with the standard bullshit interview questions.

------
russell
I always answer that I am not very good at direct sales, that's why I became a
programmer. It's even the truth.

------
jwesley
This 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.

~~~
mattmichielsen
One of my previous coworkers and I were interviewing a guy together, and I
believe his was one of the most ridiculous questions ever:

"If you could get rid of one of the United States completely, which would it
be and why?"

~~~
gruseom
It's ridiculous, but no more so than the brain-twister puzzle type that used
to get so much attention.

Actually, it would be fun to conduct an interview consisting of nothing but
ridiculous questions like this, while acting as though the interview were
completely normal. I don't think I could pull it off with a straight face
though.

~~~
jodrellblank
I think it would end up like this Monty Python Silly Job Interview Sketch:
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zP0sqRMzkwo>

Not something I want to see when it's me/my life on the line, really. Take it
seriously and talk sense, please.

------
njharman
My greatest weakness is that I'm old, experienced and been around enough that
I'm unwilling to put up with bullshit such as clueless interviewers and
usually lack the tact to hide it. It's very liberating once you realize the
company needs you more than you need them.

------
cchooper
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?

~~~
ConradHex
Ugh.

I'm guessing "CHUG!" is frowned upon.

------
jmtame
Sorry, don't have many. Why don't you tell me about some of yours?

------
keefe
I think it's better to give an answer directly related to your skills in your
field. None of us is perfect, and we should all have some particular things we
are working on. If you get the job, your actual weaknesses will become
apparent soon enough. I could say, for example, that I tend to focus on
functionality vs readability in code, but after a few years in commercial
software development I see that maintainability of the code is of paramount
importance so I am working to better present my code so that others can use
it.

------
geebee
It's a horrible question.

I never ask it, but I've been part of interview committees where someone else
asked it. I finally realized what it's good for.

It tells you how a candidate handles a completely inappropriate question that
shouldn't have been asked, and most definitely should not be answered
honestly.

Now, whenever it comes up (which is rarely), that's how I take it: as an
invitation to show how insincere I can be without letting on.

------
ideamonk
My greatest weakness is that I have to come to you and get interviewed before
you five me this job.

[:P - haven't yet faced an interview - merry christmas]

------
ashleytowers
I 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.

------
known
An interviewer should assess a candidate for.

1\. Can Do

2\. Will Do

A good interviewer should filter a "Can Do" candidate by seeing his CV and
should interview whether the candidate "Will Do".

Otherwise the interviewer is absolutely clueless about the job you are being
interviewed.

------
cstef
One 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.

------
brentr
I am a perfectionist. I always meet deadlines, but that is because I am
willing to work many extra hours to satisfy my need to be perfect. It's good
for the company, but bad for me.

------
qqq
Can you just say, "I have plenty of weaknesses, and I'll be happy to tell you
about some, but I don't believe I have any that will prevent me from doing
this job."

------
shiranaihito
Another 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".

