These Are The Worst Answers To The Most Common Job
Interview Questions
There’s no way around it–job interviews
are nerve-racking. Hiring managers know this, and are generally forgiving of a
fumble or two. But sometimes, they get answers that go beyond a mere slip of
the tongue. Whether it’s repeating clichés, or being too honest and giving off
the impression that they have a me, me, and me! mentality, there are some
answers that candidates should never ever utter when
they’re in a job interview.
Fast Company reached out to recruiters and hiring
managers for the worst answers they’ve ever gotten to common interview
questions. Next time you interview for a role, do yourself a favor and
make sure you don’t repeat any of these answers.
HOW NOT TO ANSWER: “TELL ME
ABOUT YOURSELF”
This is a classic question that most
interviews kick off with, and for the most part, is a signal for the
candidate to give their elevator pitch. What it’s not, however, is permission
to narrate your life story.
Chandler Bolt, founder and CEO of online training
company Self-Publishing
School, told Fast Company that the
worst offenders tend to let this question “take up the entire
interview.” Michelle Mavi, director of content development, internal
recruiting, and training for the hiring agency Atrium Staffing agreed. In a previous article for Fast Company, she said, “As it’s a very broad and open question,
candidates are prone to ramble, talking about their professional selves in very
generic and general terms, and basically rehashing their resume.”
Of course, broad questions come with broad
answers. Kathleen Steffey, CEO of Naviga
Recruiting & Executive Search once had a candidate tell
her, “I am trying to find out what I really want to do and your position caught
my attention.” Ed Mitzen, Founder of Fingerpaint Marketing,
witnessed a candidate point out a red flag straight away. Their answer? “‘I’m
not a very punctual person, so if you are looking for someone who will be here
exactly at 8:30 a.m. every day, I’m probably not the right person.”
HOW NOT TO ANSWER: “WHY DO
YOU WANT THIS POSITION?”
Cringe-worthy answers to this question
include candidates admitting that they’ve been unable to get a job so far and
they were desperate, to saying that they didn’t know much about what the job
description involved. Annie Boneta, head of talent at AutoGravity,
interviewed a candidate who answered, “After I graduated, I decided to backpack
around Europe for a couple of months. I was into month five when my parents
called me up and told me I needed to get a job, so that is why I decided to
call you.”
HOW NOT TO ANSWER: “WHY DO
YOU WANT TO WORK FOR THIS COMPANY?”
Many candidates bombed this question by
admitting that they didn’t know much about the company. Candidates trying
to “flip the question” by saying something along the lines of “I don’t know,
you tell me why I should work for this company” were also common offenders,
according to Sung Hae Kim, VP of people operations at Wizeline. Several hiring
managers also told Fast Company that they often see
candidates mentioning money, perks, and media prestige as their main
motivation, and not much else. One candidate told RETS
Associates principal Kent Elliott that their
main reason for wanting to work at the company was because it had a ping-pong
table.
Tom Gimbel, founder and CEO of staffing
firm LaSalle Network, said that a candidate once said: “I’m not sure I’m
interested because I can’t bring my dog to work.”
HOW NOT TO ANSWER: “WHERE
DO YOU SEE YOURSELF IN FIVE YEARS?”
Hiring managers differed in opinions
on what constitutes a terrible answer. Tawanda Johnson, president and
CEO of HR consulting firm RKL Resources told Fast Company that the worst
answer she’d ever heard was, “I haven’t really thought that far.”
Katie Sanders, head of content and
communications at Jopwell said that a candidate once answered they’d hope
to “run this company or one like it,” an answer that Mitzen and Gimbel have
also heard from interviewees. Gimbel stressed that he doesn’t think there’s
really a bad answer to this question, but he does admit that when a
candidate says their ultimate goal is to run their own company, it raises
eyebrows. “It makes me think, are they going to leave after four years, two
years?”
HOW NOT TO ANSWER: “WHAT’S
YOUR BIGGEST WEAKNESS?”
Johnson and Boneta both experienced
candidates telling them that they’d had anger and temper issues, a clear red
flag to many employers. But the answers that truly irritated hiring
managers were candidates cloaking their weaknesses as strengths, such as “I’m a
perfectionist” or “I work too hard.”
A candidate Boneta interviewed once answered,
“my biggest weakness is that I have too many strengths.” Bolt, whose company
conducts interviews over Skype, said that a hiring manager at his company
once had an applicant stare blankly at the screen for 30 seconds, only to say
“you know, I don’t actually have any weaknesses.”
HOW NOT TO ANSWER: “DO YOU
HAVE ANY QUESTIONS FOR ME?”
The answer to this question was
unanimous–hiring managers and recruiters believe that one of the biggest job
interview sins is not having any questions at the end of the interview.
Johnson said “every person should have at
least two to three questions for the person they’re interviewing with.” The consensus
among hiring managers is that lack of questions translates to a lack of
interest, which can translate to lack of commitment in the role that
they’re applying for.
BY ANISA PURBASARI HORTON
https://www.fastcompany.com/40442242/hiring-managers-reveal-the-worst-answers-to-the-most-common-job-interview-questions?utm_source=postup&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Fast%20Company%20Daily&position=1&partner=newsletter&campaign_date=07262017
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