BellaOnline Forums Career Unemployment What Was Your Trickiest Job Interview Question?

My all time least favorite job interview question is, "Why are you leaving your current job?" There may be many reasons why we may leave a job, but to impress a prospective employer, it is important to give a positive answer that reflects more on improving yourself, accepting an opportunity for promotion, professional growth, or other benign answer. Find more tips on answering tricky interview questions -BellaOnline ALERT: Raw URLs are not allowed in these forums for security reasons. Please use UBB code. If you don't know how to do UBB code just post here for help - we will help out!

I've always hated that one about, "What are your strengths and weaknesses?" The interview guidebooks used to recommend naming a "weakness" that sounded admirable such as a "I'm a bit of a perfectionist," or "I work WAY too hard!"

I know someone in a high-tech corporation where they ask interviewees (all of whom have backgrounds in computer science, not civil engineering), "Why are manholes round?" It's a design question and also intended to see if they can think on their feet.

Corlia.

I am amazed at the number of people that leave that information off of the applications even though it clearly asks for the why they left their last job. I don't know if they think we won't ask, or we'll forget. The more interesting candidates are the ones who will then get defensive when you ask!

I agree completely about the "greatest weakness" question, Karm. It really doesn't tap into the sort of person you are or have any bearing on the type of co-worker you will be. The manhole question, on the other hand, would make you think on your toes and show how you respond to an unusual challenge.

From a recruiter perspective, it seems some of the toughest ones also include:

Tell me about a time when you were part of a team. Was the team successful and what was your role?
We get people telling us that everyone taking turns answering the phone was part of a team. They always leave off the part about their role on the team.

Tell us about a time you had to conform to a policy that you did not agree with. What was the policy and how did you handle it?
Telling us you can't think of a policy and that you agree with absolutely everything will automatically raise a red flag. Sometimes it's not about the policy, it's about how you handle these situations.

Tell me why we should hire you.
I would say 90% of the applicants tell me that they are a "people person" and a "hard worker" and "learn quickly". People that apply to the library tell me that "they like to read". I would actually rather you tell me about your skills as they relate to the job.

I have always felt uncomfortable when I am asked how long I plan on being with a company. Yikes, that is hard to tell and I know deep down they want to make sure you will be sticking around for awhile.

I doubt if a candidate would be 100% truthful if asked how long they would stick around. Once hired, I tell my staff while I don't expect them to be with me forever...LOL...I would expect that they would give 100% and use the opportunity to learn everything they can about Human Resources - it will help them out in the long run as they continue on in their career.

I agree, Diane. I think people close to retirement age often worry about how to answer that question. My suggestion would be to emphasize the importance of having an experienced person who can hit the ground running as opposed to having a younger, less-experienced worker. What do you think?