How would you answer this job interview question?

This was the question I was asked at a recent job interview. It was for an IT position.

"Assume that we hire you. A few months from now you're back sitting in this office and I'm telling you that you're not working out. Why would that be?"

Am I wrong in thinking that this is a bad interview question? It's almost like he's asking me to tell him why he shouldn't hire me! I know the answer I think it deserves: "Because you overheard me complaining to someone about one of your dumb-ass interview questions." Of course, I would never say that, but what is a good answer to a question like this?

It would be because all my hard work is making you look bad.

Is that from the "Highlights of Job Interview Torture" DVD, released by the same people who did "Faces of Death" or something? Good grief. That's a horrible question.

I'm not sure that I understand your response. Are you saying that I should have replied "What's a tortoise"?

It's from a movie called Blade Runner - we're big on it around here - the movie begins with a psychological test, and has a question about what the guy being interviewed thinks he'd do if he saw a tortoise on its back in the desert sun - the interview kinda goes downhill from that point.

Don't ever use it as a response ;-)

I just wasn't sure if you were joking or getting all zen-like or something.

mu

but changed my mind :shrug:

the job was at a beef slaughterhouse (in the office area). So maybe mooing would have been appropriate. :rofl:

But it might be considered a smart ass answer too. I think it was that movie "Office Space" or one like it, where the hard working new employee was told to slow down because it made the rest of the workers look bad, and they'd be given more work to do.

Geeeeeeeeeeeeeeez.

Probably true, though.

If this is the guy you'll be working for, don't take the job. He sounds like he has a mean streak. That is not an aboveboard question.

however, I've been laid off and I have no intention of sitting around till my unemployment runs out. That said, this didn't strike me as an especially desirable job. The requirement of a 45 hour work week for salaried employees is not exactly enticing.

...and the interviewer who asked you that is a lazy, unscrupulous fuck.

I don't know how appealing the job is, but now that you've experienced the company's hiring methods, you need to seriously consider how much working there means to you.

It IS common to ask people to outline their strengths...it's a psychological game. As soon as you respond to that, they move in with the "what are some of your weaknesses," no matter how well they cloak the question.

If you read the career advice on sites like Career Builder and Monster, you NEVER should reply with "My weaknesses are..."

Rather, you say that you are a work in progress and you are learning new skills and improving yourself daily, and then shift the focus back to what you do for them.

It's a lot more complicated than that...I just gave you the short version...but yeah, that was an unfair and unprofessional question.

What I've always done is stated weaknesses that sound like strengths to an employer.

"Sometimes I take my job too seriously. I'm a bit of a perfectionist. I may be a bit too organized."

It's always worked for me.

"Sometimes I take my job too seriously. I'm a bit of a perfectionist. I may be a bit too organized."...

That's a play right out of the Career Builder and Monster playbook, and it DOES work.

Two fundamental things an employer is looking for:

1). The value of what you will PRODUCE will exceed the value of what they PAY you.

2). You'll get along and play nice with the other kids in the sandbox.

So the person who understands that in advance is the person who will ace the job interview. H.R. people...and hiring managers...are often LAZY, and work from a script.

:toast:

That's exactly what you're supposed to do.

"I'm a workoholic.....and I need to learn to slow down and smell the roses"

that it would be because you got his girlfriend/wife/sister/mother pregnant.

"What have been your biggest mistakes in life".

I was just shocked at this one. My answer after a few seconds was "Whatever mistakes I have made in life, they have never been professional. I think my previous employers would say that. I have been through many things, but throughout all of that, my work ethic and record has been unwavering"

I totally blew it I think, but I don't think that should be asked. There have been many, but I am not going to start talking about my private reltionships and problems.

They also did not ask for references, which sort of makes me nervous as well. I hate the "We have several more canditates coming in tomorrow we will call you next week, so please let us know if you need anything". Yeah, Mr. Weber...I need A JOB! I am not doing this for fun:eyes:

You feel threatened and want to excise me because of it. You may also want to fire me if I stand up to you (in private) if I feel that you are treating others poorly, however I would probably quit before then if that's how things worked out.

he would never have the opportunity to pose that question to me because I wouldn't want to work for the kind of company that would ask it. Then I'd have wished the person good luck in finding someone more suitable, gotten up, and left.

I interview with Sprint 10 years ago after a lifetime as a professional sales woman. In the interview he asked me to 'sell the stapler'. I got up, extended my hand and thanked him the interview. It was obvious he was looking for a neophyte, a seasoned professional (It's fun to have the last word)

The answer you could have given is, "I don't expect to be called in here for that".

They plan to fire you before they even hire you?

My answer would probably be the truth: "I don't know". I suppose its possible that they want you to answer that this would never happen because you are such a superior employee.

If I was offered a job elsewhere I'd take it if I were you. Alternatively, with a question like that from the interviewer, if I didn't already have another job and was offered this job, I would accept and keep sending out my resume.

What the fuck kind of question is that....

I would probably sit quietly for a minute appearing to contemplate the question and then get up and politely thank the interviewer for his time and deliberately begin to leave.

The purpose is to terminate a useless interview without further wasting anyone's time and avoiding an inappropriate scene.

Alternately, if the interviewer asks why you are leaving, s/he has opened the door to a discussion of the purpose and appropriateness of the question without you having to respond negatively or indignantly or evasively. You are now responding to the interviewer's question and getting control of this situation.

Now, the interviewer may ultimately not like the reaction and the direction of the discussion, but you will have at least learned quite a bit about his/her tactics and temperament and perhaps gained some respect if handled properly.

I'm going to file that technique for later reference.

:)

accounting. And I think you're right, he's gotta go!"

Then I'd thank them for asking me in, get up, and leave.

Hey, I know jobs are hard to find right now, but to have to deal with some form of "Would you suck my cock to get this job?" is just TOO damn much.

We're not Serfs YET!

I'll bet the interviewer thought it was real smart. Just shows you what management has come to.

"Was it because late one night, when nobody was around, I tried to have sex with my telephone and it was caught on surveilance cameras and broadcast over the internet, only it wasn't my face, but your face, superimposed via PHotoshop? Or becasue I stole floppy disks?"

Just run with it. Improv is a wonderful thing.

to management needs a job.

"Because your nepotistic asshole boss has a totally useless spoiled-brat nephew he has to hire or else his wife will stop fucking him"

is as you say it is, then I believe that won't occur.

Turn it right back on him without him realizing it

The question that is asked more commonly ("what is your biggest weakness as an employee?") has a slightly different "right" answer - - something along the lines of "I'm too much of a perfectionist."

"It would be because I hadn't properly understood the job requirements when I was hired, maybe because of some kind of communication failure".

Which are actually very helpful when you're interviewing a candidate.

The one that's easiest for people to spot is:

"What is your greatest weakness as an employee?"

But the best one is:

"What was (or is) the greatest weakness in your last (or current) boss?"

or it's variant

"What was (or is) the worst part of your last (or current) job?"

You're either going to get a constructed, disingenuous answer or irrelevant, negative information from an honest person.

Or a deflection if it's me:

"It's not my place to judge and evaluate my boss, that's the right and responsibility of his superior.

It's only my place to evaluate my relationship with my boss and the organization and repair it where possible or seek other opportunities if it isn't"

I know those questions I had to deflect back in the 60's where about marrying and getting pregnant are illegal now.

'Because you completely lied about the position you're hiring for.'

I've never applied for a job I wasn't qualified for and capable of, so it would only be that I had got hired for something very different than what they'd advertised for.

because if you and the company are that incompetent, I don't want to be here. I'll see myself out. Thanks for wasting my time.