"What is your greatest weakness?"

[nancylebov]

A substantial discussion of one of the more annoying interview questions. It ranges from suggestions like "kryptonite" to whether giving the standard "strength as weakness" answer at least shows that the interviewee has done enough research to show that they qualify for a low-level job.

I'm guessing on this, (I hire people now and then, but I don't really interview) but I think you could probably find out a lot of what you want to know by asking people what they were doing at their past job or three and their areas of qualification.

What are the most sensible interview questions you've been asked?

Comments

[firecat]

I'm an editor, and I recall an interview where I was asked to describe what I did when an author refused to accept my edits. Every time I answered, they responded "And then what did you do?" I finally explained that there was only so much you could do because the author has final authority over some things. They seemed to be looking for that answer, and/or to be looking at whether I felt very upset by the situation (which I didn't).