
The Dumbest Interview Question - reeyuk
http://laouini.blogspot.com/2009/01/dumbest-interview-question.html
======
btilly
The question may be dumb, but dodging it is foolish when it is so easy to turn
it to your benefit.

My answer is, "I am too extroverted." And I go on to explain that I am unable
to engage in heads-down focused programming for extended periods of time
without mental breaks because of my personality. I point out that most of the
public is extroverted, but most programmers are introverted and I explain the
reasons for that. Then I say that despite this handicap I am a very productive
programmer.

My answer is sincere, honest and true. Furthermore I set proper expectations
around what I am like as a person. The fact is that I _am_ extroverted, and I
_will_ need those mental breaks. If they are unwilling to accommodate that,
then I don't want to be there. And I've found that letting people know it up
front makes it easier for me to get those breaks down the road.

So I believe that the right answer to this question for you is to bring up the
issue that you suspect you'll most need to be accommodated on if you get the
job. Are you a religious Jew who needs to leave early on Friday? Do you have
kids who get sick every so often? Are you the kind of person who works best
arriving and leaving late? Whatever your need is, when you trade off your
short-term goal of getting the job versus your long-term goal of being happy
in that job, learning up front how they will react to that request is well
worth any possible damage to your odds of getting the job.

Furthermore the mere fact that you answered the question honestly rather than
transparently dodging it usually makes the questioner happy. Which usually has
more weight with them than the flaw you revealed.

~~~
hernan7
I disagree with the part about religion and family. Don't give them ammo to
discriminate against you.

~~~
araneae
Bring up the family if you're a guy; businesses love family guys, they think
it makes them more likely to stick around, etc. But if you're a woman... DON'T
DO IT. It's the most sure way to not get hired (well, besides the obvious.)

------
cjoh
I ask this question in interviews all the time. It helps me filter for people
who are liars. I ask it, and if they say "I work too hard" or "I'm a
perfectionist" then I don't hire them because they're at best delusional and
at worst liars.

And you know who else I don't hire? 20 somethings who proceed to say that the
question is stupid. That's a tell-tale sign of young man's disease-- an ego
that hasn't caught up with one's ability to relate to people without
alienating them.

Of course it is an idiotic question-- one's weaknesses change on a semi-
regular basis from environment to environment. But the question has some
justifiably good qualities-- namely, you can catch bullshit artists fairly
well.

~~~
clueless123
A _ton_ of excellent developers work way to hard and are obsesive compulsive
about perfection. This is so common as to warrant whole chapters about "the
best is the enemy of the good" and so on.

And.. it is a weakness.. a big weakness. it is no bullshit.

~~~
pwnstigator
I agree. The problem with "I'm a perfectionist" is that:

1\. It's a common stock answer, so giving it signifies a lack of imagination.

2\. Taken at face value, it's a real weakness (good; honest), but it's one
that can cause problems for the business (bad). It's a crippling trait which
might prevent a person from meeting deadlines, and that's not something you
want to indicate during an interview.

You want to answer the "biggest weakness" question with a genuine weakness
(not "I work too hard") but one that can't, in any way, result in missed
deadlines or upset clients/co-workers. This means that most people need to
"lie" to the extent of selecting their #3 or #4 biggest weakness. The actual
biggest weakness, for most of us, won't get the job.

~~~
run4yourlives
You just stated that you want your staff to tell you what you would like to
hear, even if that's a lie.

------
snorkel
"Suppose there is a locked room with 3 light bulbs..." I hate brain teasers.
I'd much rather answer the old standards than try to determine which direction
Jane and Johnny should run through the tunnel to avoid being hit by the train
when I just sat in traffic for hours to get to your building that has no
parking. You scheduled this interview at 8:00 am, you left me sitting in your
conference room alone for an hour, made me listen to your HR spiel about how
awesome your company is, and now you want me to solve towers of hanoi using a
truth table and I haven't had any coffee? No thanks.

~~~
ErrantX
Best interview I ever had involved light bulbs (this is only a slightly
related anecdote).

My university application interview (for an electronics degree) consisted of a
professor sitting in an office and asking "ok, lets talk about light bulbs.
First tell me some interesting stuff about them".

I promptly forgot _everything_ sensible to say about light bulbs but with a
bit of prompting and some reminders we had a reasonable conversation - he even
got up and taught me stuff on a white board.

At the time I though it went really bad but in the end his recommendation was
a glowing one and I got the place.

When I revisited this memory a little while ago (when writing some questions
for an interview I was conducting) it occurred to me that actually it was one
of the best interviews I've ever been too. The subject material didnt matter
too much at all (except that it was well within the limits expected of me) but
it tested everything they wanted to know about me: subject recall, willingness
to learn, interest in the subject, ability to actually understand the material
etc.

They also got us to take a calculator apart as a group and talk about with a
professor. All simple stuff but the same principles applied (I enjoyed that
part a lot more :D)

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sdfx
This question is not as stupid as it seems. True, your answer will most likely
suck if you haven't thought about it previous to the interview, but this is
probably true for most of the behavioral part. The interviewer is not looking
for a boilerplate answer like "I'm a perfectionist" etc.

You have a good chance to demonstrate that you are self-aware and able to
recognize your weaknesses and to show that you are working on them. It's
probably not a great idea to name a huge deficit thats core to the job (e.g.
"I'm bad at programming"). Something like "I'm bad with names", followed by an
example and a list of things you do to remember them might be the way to go.

~~~
gcheong
If its a fair question then it is fair for the interviewee to ask the question
back, but I get the sense that this is not accepted behavior - though I would
not hesitate to do so.

~~~
Sandman
I did that once. I asked the interviewer what he thought was his company's
biggest weakness. He nervously smiled and said that his company has no
weaknesses. Needless to say, I didn't get the job. Back then, I used to think
that the 'What is your biggest weakness' question was pretty dumb too, but I
don't anymore. I now understand that I'm not great at every aspect of my job,
nobody is. The point is that I know what my weaknesses are and that I want to
improve on them. Nowadays, if I get that question in an interview I answer it
honestly and make sure that the interviewer knows that I would love to have
the opportunity to improve on my weaknesses while I work for his company.

~~~
junklight
Feel free to ask that if I am ever interviewing you (as long as you don't do
it in a sarcastic kind of way) - its a good question and way too many
companies are secretive about this kind of stuff.

A company that says it has no weaknesses is just as wrong as a candidate that
says that they have no weaknesses.

------
gamble
"My greatest weakness is [plausible yet trivial issue]. It was a minor problem
on [studly project X], but I took the bull by the horns and tackled it with [a
suspiciously detailed action plan]. Now my coworkers see me as [some sort of
Greek god]."

The most important thing to keep in mind with interviews is that few people
conduct enough of them to really know what they're doing. Most interviewers
are just asking questions they've heard others use in similar circumstances.
All that really matters is that you keep cool and present a air of
intelligent, affable engagement, no matter how silly the questions are.

------
Dove
You could always reply, "What's the worst thing about working here?"

~~~
dpritchett
That's a fair question but it could be hard to pull off the follow-up question
without it coming off as a gotcha. Tread lightly.

~~~
ellyagg
It _is_ a gotcha. How on earth could you deliver that as a reply to the
original question and not have it be a gotcha?

------
msluyter
I admit to an honest weakness that should be irrelevant. I usually say
something like "I'm not super outgoing. I get along well with people and
communicate well with coworkers, but I'm not that great at schmoozing at
parties and whatnot, and so you probably wouldn't want me doing sales."

This may be naive on my part, but I figure most people understand that (most)
software devs are introverted anyway, so this isn't really a serious concern.
However, it's a fairly honest answer, unlike "I care too much" or whatever.
I've considered making "My biggest weakness is that I've never come up with a
satisfying answer to this question" my answer, but that would probably come
off as too snarky.

I agree with the parent article though. All this question does is test a
minimal preparation for the interview game. Perhap's that's something, but
there are better questions.

------
j_baker
Why is it that so many people view interviewing as being about getting _them_
to like _you_? I think it's about making sure that the job is a proper fit.
Therefore, I'll answer it honestly. Worst case scenario is that I say what
they don't want to hear and don't get a job I probably wasn't cut out for
anyway.

------
joshu
"What is your greatest weakness?"

"Kryptonite"

~~~
joshu
(Seriously though - a friend was asked this, he used that answer, and the
interviewer didn't laugh. Big sign)

~~~
jpwagner
did you consider that it's not a funny answer?

~~~
joshu
no, because it is FUCKING HILARIOUS

------
tptacek
It's not like this guy has the secret cheat code for getting around this
question. A lazy interviewer might accept "I work too hard", but an strong one
will just say "so basically you're saying you don't think there's anything you
can improve about yourself?"

We don't ask the Wal-mart personality questions, but, as mentioned downthread,
if it screens out the crazy people who literally can't even give the PR answer
to the question, it's probably worth it.

~~~
spokey
This.

An interviewer that accepts the "strength-disguised-as-a-weakness" answer is
missing the point (or possibly silently counting the answer against you).

A good answer to this question from the interviewer's perspective is a genuine
weakness coupled with examples of specific actions the interviewee is taking
to overcome this weakness.

A good answer to this question from the interviewee's perspective is a genuine
weakness that is related to the job but isn't part of the core
responsibilities or skills. For a trite example, for a heads down coding
position one might answer "I get nervous when speaking in front a large group.
I've gotten involved in Toastmasters to get more practice at public speaking,
and I find it gets easier every time."

------
tialys
I don't understand why he has the source as [unknown]. 5 seconds and google
brought me to: <http://lbrandy.com/blog/page/10/> \-- the original post I
believe.

------
keefe
What percent of people that answer this question are able to accurately
identify a weakness and discuss how they are working to resolve it or could
compensate for it? Most people with high skill levels are in the middle of a
series of incremental improvements and also have numerous actual weakness. I
think if you give some canned response, you've failed the question. For
example, I could easily say my greatest programming weakness is windows
programming but I know .NET is similar enough to Java I could learn relatively
quickly. I really think most people know bullshit when they hear it and who
would you rather hire, a bullshitter or a straight shooter?

------
efsavage
I've been asked this a few times, and my response is "what is your goal in
asking that question". I wouldn't say it's stupid or inane, there's no point
being rude. People who ask such a bad and cliched question obviously are not
very interested (or experienced) in the job search/interview process, so I try
to engage them and get them interested.

I've gotten a couple decent answers, and a couple bad ones. The good answers
on their part have earned an honest answer on my part, and usually a much-
improved interview. The bad ones, I usually clam up and try to end the
interview as politely as possible.

------
chewbranca
I disagree with this post. If you are so personally threatened by someone
asking what your weaknesses are, then I guess I understand your reaction. But
personally I just view that as another question relating to your experience.
For instance, my two biggest weaknesses are time estimates and unit testing (I
still haven't jumped on the TDD bandwagon), so instead of being offended or
threatened by that, I will explain my weaknesses and what I'm doing to correct
them or my views on them.

Everyone has weaknesses, don't run from them, embrace them as an opportunity
to improve.

------
huangm
I'm not sure I see a difference between preparing answers to 'What is your
greatest weakness', and preparing answers to any other interview question.

 _Any_ interview question loses its information value once enough people know
about it / blog about it / etc. And I certainly think the spirit of the
question is useful... Maybe the interviewer can ask a differently worded
question in the same spirit, but this question definitely doesn't deserve such
contempt.

------
araneae
My biggest weakness is that I have no respect for authority. I work hard when
I want to please someone, but the threat of punishment is the best way to get
even worse work out of me.

This means that many of my employers and teachers really adored me, and went
out of their way to help me. When I was writing my honor's thesis in college,
a postdoc invited me _to her apartment_ to stay overnight and help me finish
it in time. I got glowing recs for grad school, etc.

It also means that there are some people who for whatever reason pissed me
off, and now I make their lives a living hell. There's nothing more satisfying
then having someone pull out all their stops to try and get to you, and having
them fail miserably.

Yeah. If I got this question I would lie.

~~~
jpwagner
you are so cool.

~~~
araneae
I'll take that at face value, because I'm autistic.

------
marltod
Honesty is NOT an asset in a lot of corporate jobs. Someone who answers
honestly in a way that makes them look bad, is more likely to be honest when
around customers than those who avoid really answering the question.

------
fburnaby
I hope you don't mind my running this by you all. If I'm asked this question,
I will respond that my biggest weakness is that I'm coming from academia.

I believe that many hiring managers will consider this a problem, or at least
a potential problem. I believe it may be a good answer anyways because 1) it
doesn't actually tell them anything "bad" that they didn't already know, and
2) it signals that I am aware that working in their company won't be the same
as academia and that my being aware of this makes me more likely to be able to
adapt.

Any thoughts or criticisms?

~~~
pwnstigator
Most people in the working world have a negative opinion of "academia". On the
other hand, this anti-intellectualism is more pronounced in crappy jobs, so it
might be a good filtering mechanism.

If your goal is to get any job, though, it's not the best answer. Most people
will see that as a real weakness.

------
codemonkey
I always ask that question and twice have received answers along the lines of
"well...I'm not really that good at programming." These people should have
been screened out by the hiring managers, but weren't. Their honest answer
allowed me to send them home politely, cancel the remaining interviews for
this candidate by my coworkers, and avoid wasting any more of the companies
time on them.

------
ErrantX
I think it's dumb only if asked in a stupid way.

As a "stocking filler" question it's clearly idiotic. But we do include it in
our interviews in the form: "what area would you consider your biggest
weakness and why?"

(assuming they get that we mean in the context of the interview and arent
going to lament their inability to settle down with a girl/boy - yep someone
we work with DID get that answer once....)

------
aero142
Has anyone ever gotten a job after giving the answer of "My biggest weakness
is that I hate answering inane questions."?

------
johnrob
"What is your greatest weakness?"

Here's a good answer:

"That I'm not independently wealthy. It also happens to be the reason you're
interviewing me."

------
billybob
I think it's a fair question. It's also fair to ask them about the company's
weak points, why people have left, etc.

Interviewing is a two-sided process. Maybe my arrogance will be a problem for
them. Maybe their widely fluctuating revenue will be a problem for me. We both
have a right to ask.

------
gcheong
Another one I was asked: "Give me 5 words that describe yourself".

------
meowzero
It's not a dumb question. I just be honest and tell them I suck at Java
because I haven't done much stuff in Java and other similar answers.

~~~
gcheong
I wouldn't consider that a weakness.

------
antidaily
It's "What is your greatest weakness?"

I also hate "Are you willing to relocate?"

------
eswat
"If you were a fruit or vegetable, what would you be?"

~~~
araneae
I got "if you were a dessert, what would you be" on a college interview.

I answered "a frozen honeydew ant" and left it at that. (It's really a dessert
in some parts of the world, I swear.) I got waitlisted.

------
clistctrl
The company I work for now relies on code samples. Then the interview tests
you on the sample to ensure you wrote it. The rest is purely about your
personality. Seems to work well.

~~~
fizx
A couple years back, I made a great hire. He came in for the interview, and
fumbled through our generic tests (program fibonacci in the language of your
choice, etc). So we said "no thanks." He emailed us back and wanted another
interview, said he was on a borrowed computer, bad day, etc.

So we asked him to send us a code sample. Next morning, we get a machine
vision algorithm coded in _impeccable_ C++. I read through the ~300 lines and
understood it easily on the first pass. So we brought him back, asked him to
explain it, and hired him immediately.

When designing interviews, you have the choice of seeing the interviewee at
his best, and encouraging him to live up to it in the job, or seeing the
interviewee at his worst, and knowing that you at least made a safe choice.

~~~
run4yourlives
The problem is that most of us only have the time to make safe choices.

Selling yourself as a <whatever> is part of your job, as discomforting as that
is.

------
pwnstigator
It's not such a terrible question if the answer is run through a translator.

"I work too hard" => ass-kisser. "I'm a perfectionist" => not aware of what
"perfectionist" means. It's a crippling trait. "Chocolate cake" => self-
indulgent. "Women" => sexual harassment lawsuit magnet.

------
fnid
Does this blogger actually think his post among the thousands on the web
complaining about this question has anything novel or insightful to offer?
What a waste of time.

~~~
jlees
Worst, it isn't even _his_ post. It's a direct copy and paste of someone
else's without even the decency to google to credit the original source.

