Comments on: 5 Stupid Interview Questions (And How To Answer Them)

By: Mitch

Mitch — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 20:01:34 +0000

You know, I’ve had ALL of those questions in the course of a single interview. Not only that, but since it was a multi-interview session, I was treated to the same questions more than once. I’ve thought a lot about my answers to those questions and how I would respond if asked again.
I don’t know if my answers will be any more effective next time, but I hope that they will at least be more creative and better expressed.

By: jim

jim — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 21:11:10 +0000

if you desperately need the job, which of course is what the interviewer thinks, they can be smug and ask all sorts of these (typically asinine, often invasive, irrelevant) questions. This is one of the reasons why I spent so many years studying computer science. I wanted to basically be able to pick a nice company, and ignore these a**holes. Of course it’s easier said than done, but it’s better to work for sh*t pay, than for a**holes, my opinion anyway.

By: Mike

Mike — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 22:55:35 +0000

most simple answer I am a workoholic

By: Mike

Mike — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 22:54:35 +0000

My personal fav. was when i was asked “why is a tennis ball fuzzy?” Really? I mean so far from revelant how ever the fuzz is designed to cause “grab” from the racket and asert spin. Or causeing a smaller airwake which allows for a better trajectory.

By: Laurie Holman

Laurie Holman — Sun, 22 May 2011 22:21:18 +0000

I actually saw a suggestion by a job search consultant, who shall remain nameless, that a candidate answer the question “What are your weaknesses?” with the response, “What are YOUR weaknesses?” Yikes! The consultant wasn’t kidding, either.

The rationale for this was to bring the interview on a more equal footing. While I’m all for a mutual-benefit mindset, I still find this advice pretty appalling. When I tactfully suggested why this wouldn’t be a good idea, in a way that made it obvious that it wasn’t very good advice, the consultant didn’t post my response.

By: Laurie

Laurie — Thu, 05 May 2011 23:19:18 +0000

I got every one of those idiotic questions at an interview yesterday. What they really needed to ask before the interview was “how old are?” and then when told 42 they could have saved me the time and gas to get to the interview. They obviously were only interested in young inexperienced people.

By: Engulfed in your career or job search? Unplug. (Guest post from Grace Boyle)

Engulfed in your career or job search? Unplug. (Guest post from Grace Boyle) — Mon, 28 Feb 2011 06:44:16 +0000

[...] Y job and career resource blogs that I know. Rich covers it all: creative hiring tactics, interview tips, career advice and his own spin on the [...]

By: M.A.

M.A. — Sat, 27 Nov 2010 03:56:58 +0000

Elisa, sometimes you may want to consider the “punk” candidate. The questions that are posed in interviews seem to make any company less than desirable to work for anymore. . . .. Can’t you all come up with something bettera? Maybe your candidates will be able to do the same.

By: Rich DeMatteo

Rich DeMatteo — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 15:35:26 +0000

Hey Mr. Cloud – thanks for your comment, appreciate your thoughts here.

Unfortunately, you’ve dealt with HR programs that don’t “get it”. HR can be very strategic, and I disagree with you here, but I understand why we disagree. Some of those bogus questions are asked by the hiring manager, and not HR. HR is the group that is learning to NOT ask those questions.

In most cases, these questions are a means of pre-screening, and not on the actual interview. HR usually handles a pre-screen interview and then passes onto the hiring manager for a more technical interview, although I don’t believe in HR pre-screens. I believe that managers should be trained on how to pre-screen to create an easier facilitated process.

By: mrcloud

mrcloud — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 15:30:36 +0000

I believe that all hiring power for companies should given back to the managers like it used to be.HR has no idea of what a good canidate is for most of their departments.The local manager/dept is where the rubber meets the road.Do you really think that all these bogus questions really guage any real qualities of say a programer,eletronics tech,or mechanic.20 years ago I was hired on with a fortune 500 company.I was interviewed over the phone by a manager (that new the trade and knows what it takes to do the job) from 1500 miles away and was hired.Today this would rarely happen because HR has to meet with you and ask all these stupid illrelevent questions.