interview pet peeves

[strongbad]

questions like "what was a time where you had to make a tough decision" or whatever are fucking stupid
what if i am a great decision maker but i didn't have a defining moment in my life where i made a crazy important decision
this question really just proves improvisational skills

jesus wtf

[ME##]

'where do you see yourself in x time'

[strongbad]

"what is your biggest weakness"
aka
"what is something that you aren't very good at that you can somehow make sound like a positive quality for the position"

why the fuck

[ncba93ivyase]

i was given about 30 lines of broken code with completely undefined behavior that varied by platform

this asked me what the expected output would be

i was like "uh well i can take a guess but everything here is completely wrong"

this guy was then like "well do it anyways" and when i messed up he was like "well clearly you're not as good at programming as you thought you were"

[snoorkel]

Never been interviewed I only interview

[Daddy]

Generic, cliched questions such as "What is your biggest weakness?" like SB mentioned
"Why do you want to work here?"

"How would you describe your work ethic?"

etc

Because they think it's acceptable to ask such bland questions that everyone asks but it's universally viewed as an interview killer to give a generic answer.

[Boogus Epirus Aurelius]

I dunno.
I think the real reason behind a lot of those more vague/mundane questions is just to get a rough understanding of what your personality is like, more than anything.

They're a better gauge than you'd think.

I was talking to a recruiter a few weeks ago at a career fair and she said that there was one question she would ask every time which would determine whether or not the candidate was a good fit; "Describe your relationship with one of your former managers/bosses". She couldn't believe how many people used that as an excuse to bitch incessantly about one of their old bosses.

[Hippopo]

I dunno.
I think the real reason behind a lot of those more vague/mundane questions is just to get a rough understanding of what your personality is like, more than anything.

They're a better gauge than you'd think.

I was talking to a recruiter a few weeks ago at a career fair and she said that there was one question she would ask every time which would determine whether or not the candidate was a good fit; "Describe your relationship with one of your former managers/bosses". She couldn't believe how many people used that as an excuse to bitch incessantly about one of their old bosses.

I view my boss as my second mother.  Almost called her "mom" on a few occasions........

[ncba93ivyase]

I dunno.
I think the real reason behind a lot of those more vague/mundane questions is just to get a rough understanding of what your personality is like, more than anything.

i think that might be the intention for some interviewers, but i'm sure most people who ask these questions are idiots following a script

e.g. at the end of an interview i had i was asked why i thought i'm the best for the job and how i felt about the interview. i said i love the line of work and i'm eager to learn and improve, but after the interview, i realized i still have a lot to learn and there are many people smarter than me.

they told me "flattery will get you nowhere" and they wanted a better answer

i was like because those were my honest thoughts

i then got invited to an office party/game night and i was like yeah no you're all dicks

[Boogus Epirus Aurelius]

i think that might be the intention for some interviewers, but i'm sure most people who ask these questions are idiots following a script

e.g. at the end of an interview i had i was asked why i thought i'm the best for the job and how i felt about the interview. i said i love the line of work and i'm eager to learn and improve, but after the interview, i realized i still have a lot to learn and there are many people smarter than me.

they told me "flattery will get you nowhere" and they wanted a better answer

i was like because those were my honest thoughts

i then got invited to an office party/game night and i was like yeah no you're all dicks

Damn, you just must be striking out. I really haven't ever encountered anyone who's that big of a shithead and I've had my fair fair share of interviews. What a douche.

[Feynman]

shit man i've only ever been interviewed in the context of academia and those are mostly about making sure you're not a dunce or a loser

People really ask these stupid questions? These questions are so trite and passed around so much you'd think everyone rehearsed their "unique" answers to them by now.

Then again the questions are so bland that it feels like one can only give a bland answer.

[The Hand That Fisted Everyone]

shit man i've only ever been interviewed in the context of academia and those are mostly about making sure you're not a dunce or a loser

People really ask these stupid questions? These questions are so trite and passed around so much you'd think everyone rehearsed their "unique" answers to them by now.

Then again the questions are so bland that it feels like one can only give a bland answer.

more often than not people do rehearse these answers.

i had a conversation with a group of friends when i first moved back to asheville talking about job searching and interviewing. I asked them "man what do you guys say when they ask about your weakest quality or whatever" and three of them said "Sometimes I get too invested at work" or something along those lines. Basically saying that they worked "too hard"

[strongbad]

^which is bullshit lol

[ncba93ivyase]

^which is bullshit lol

depends on the job

Some people really do so they never have to go home to their shithead family

[Feynman]

depends on the job

Some people really do so they never have to go home to their shithead family

I'd say a good amount of Americans work "too hard".

But "too hard" is a stupid thing to say because in many instances, they need to provide for their starving family (or if they're wealthy, their spoiled family).