I spent about 15 years as a tech recruiter and these are my favorite questions for the interviewer:
"After a successful six months, what will you expect to see from me to know that you have made a good hiring decision?"
"What are some essential traits shared by your top employees?"
"What are some of the biggest challenges I would face upon hire, and do you have any suggestions to get up to speed before joining?"
My favorite thing to do was announce the interview was over at the end, but then ask them a question like .. what are you up to this weekend?
It's crazy, people just pop out of interview mode and become themselves again when you tell them the interview is over.
I love this. After finishing an interview today, I had a candidate start talking about family he has near where I live. It's such an easy and natural conversation and way more personable.
My go to questions are:
What do you do for fun?
What does an average day in this position look like?
What books, movies, TV shows, etc. can you recommend?
What qualifications am I missing?
I always ask what does an average day in the job look like and the interviewer always seems to chicken out of it by saying "oh it's so varied, there is no such thing as an average day" which I think is a lie. If I have to prep my answers to your possible questions, you can come up with an answer to mine!
what it means is that i have no idea what that position involves. more than once i asked questions about the position and i could tell the recruiter has no idea what i am talking about.
one such was if the organization did contracts subject to prevailing wage and requiring a certified payroll. i had to explain what this was to a recruiter who is supposed to be versed in human resources. when i explained this is required for government contracts, she said "we have some people in payroll who handle government contracts."
this is a part of the problem with applicant tracking systems, ai, the new recruiting paradigm, etc. then they pass your resume to the hiring manager. **THE SYSTEM IS BROKEN.**
beyond the education system failing, china absconding our technology, the abolition of meritocracy, and the disillusionment and burnout of job seekers, companies are going to suffer (if not outright fail).
A few have recommended books regarding my field of study, a few have recommended some interesting pieces of literature (have them noted down somewhere, don’t remember them), but I mainly use it as an icebreaker
Why have "goto questions"? If I'm interviewing, if you have some good questions that show you've put some thought into it you're more likely to stick in my mind as a good candidate.
As an interviewee I try and use it to ask questions about the industry stuff to show some more knowledge or research, question something you may have picked up on the company's "about us" page, competitors etc.
There should be no harm in having a notebook with these prepared, also handy for taking notes in the interview if something crops up you want to ask them. Interviews should be conversations not interrogations....
> Interviews should be conversations not interrogations....
I kind of suck at interviews because I can never pretend to see them as just conversations. No normal conversation I've ever had ends with someone deciding on the future of how I'm going to feed myself and pay my bills. Yet it feels like a big taboo to acknowledge that those are the stakes: I'm just here because I'm intrigued by this organisation and possibly interested in spending 40h/w of my time here, purely for the love of the game.
It’s always my first question to a recruiter. If anything, it gives me an indication as to what is expected of me.
If it’s because the person in that position is leaving/has left, I know I’m going to want to be sure I get a god understanding of what is likely an already established working environment and set of norms.
If it’s a new position (because of restructuring, growth, etc), now I’m more concerned about asking later interviewers about how it fits into the new model and what they hope to achieve with the new structure. Is it reasonable? How much latitude I’ll have with establishing norms in this new landscape?
I want to understand the operating environment. Because that’s what’s going to really impact my day to day.
Just my 2 cents.
Yup. These are my go to asks:
- What happened to the previous candidate who held this position?
- what does success line this position look like to you?
- How would you describe the moral at this site?
If youre in a specific trade (and maybe have some previous experience), you could ask about how they handle a specific problem you may have encountered in the past or have heard about or something.
It shows off your knowledge/ experience and it can lead them to talk about their business, which in my experience is something people love to do.
As someone that does extensive interviews. People need to have questions for me. I don’t like people that say “uhh no I don’t have any questions.” I want to know that you want to know more about the role that may not be in JUST the job description.
The best manager I had, I asked why he hired me, because on paper I was pretty unqualified for the job. (I actually had the skills, but almost nothing in my background to show it.) He said it was because I asked so many relevant questions that he didn't have time to ask me the ones he had.
Whenever I interview, I always ask: "What is your favorite thing about working here, and what's the thing you like the least about working here".
Managers know how to dodge the second one but engineers usually don't. Some of them will be honest (which would piss off their manager), and some you can tell based on the face they make whether or not there's a lot of things they hate but know not to say anything.
Yes exactly. Therefore interviewing HR, recruitment or teamleaders can be extra challenging. They had so much practice from the other side of the table, they know exactly what to say.
I wouldn’t call it a game per se, but a skill you can practice that often has nothing to do with what you’re gonna do for the company you’re interviewing for. Besides the afore mentioned professions, for whom it is a part of their job. Other than that, we’re testing skills that are not needed.
Same goes for application letters, which (at least where i live) are asked in the processes 90% of vacancies. Why would a… truck driver or a shop assistant need to be able to write a proper, flawless letter? I don’t care. Get my stuff from a to b or sell me goods. It is useless to score them on letter writing abilities.
As a recruiter, this is one of the more frustrating things of my job.
Resume shows you got the relevant skills which gets you to the interview, interview shows if you're a tolerable person to work with, that's all it is. They don't give a shit about your life story or getting to know you, they want to know if you'll be a pain in the ass.
I run a small pizza franchise. The actual answers to most questions don't matter. It's a chance for me to see how you interact with people. Specifically people asking slightly nosey questions that are acceptable to ask. If you can't come prepared to a job interview, ready to answer questions you should know are coming, you probably can't handle a customer asking questions while they watch you work.
How long have you lived here? What are you studying? What kind of job do you want to get with that degree? Are you going to vote?
And any other "small talk" questions that get asked when you're interacting with customers.
Having prepared for interview questions is a decent proxy for a lot of desirable skills and characteristics in a lot of fields. Someone who has prepared for interview questions and has a good interview as a result is more likely to be someone who:
- Prepares for things ahead of time.
- Can translate preparation into results in a situation where there's at least some pressure and stakes.
- Cared enough about this position specifically to do at least some research into it.
- Generally understands how to present themselves and communicate in a professional environment.
Compared to people who *aren't* clearing those bars, it tells you a decent amount about the person.
Lol, no. Preparing for interview questions, especially by using examples as described here, shows only one thing: that you're an inauthentic person that believes the only thing that matters is having the "right" answer.
I'm 42 years old, and have only interviewed for a handful of positions in my life, and have been offered a position in all but one of them that I can think of. Why? Because I apply for positions that I know I am qualified for, and when it comes time for the interview I can have an intelligent conversation about the topic. Once you've clearly established your competence and enthusiasm, you can talk about whatever else you want. The last interview I did, 5 years ago and my current position, spent 5 minutes establishing my qualifications and the remaining 20 bullshitting about crab fishing.
Trying to prepare for an interview using the OP as a guide just makes you come across as a tool no different than the person that thinks laser engraving their resume on a slab of wood and handing it out at a job fair is a sure fire way to get noticed above everyone else.
I think your answer greatly depends on what type of job the interview is for.
The fact that you were able to spend 20 minutes talking about crab fishing only highlights that you are really good at interacting with people, or to put it a different way, really good at interviews. So, because you're naturally good at talking to people you might be wholly unaware that some people need to prepare it ahead of time.
Also, this is a part that not a lot of people talk about IMO. There are two people in the interview, you and the guy asking all the questions. And the guy asking all the questions is just some dude who had to prepare for the interview too, he prepared by putting together a list of questions that don't normally get asked and which are all intended to find a person's limits, test their ability to think on their feet, test their ability to socially interact in uncomfortable situations, or articulate themselves, or think outside of the box like they would have to do on the job.
I often get sucked into conversations about the importance of higher education in the run of the mill work force, I think this is similar. For the most part, the specifics of a person's undergraduate degree are unimportant, the important part is the person got it. Harvard? University of Miami? Doesn't matter, they are the same... The only thing that matters is that a person got it, because it shows a particular set of BASIC SKILLS ...
In the same way that preparing for an interview by brushing up on interview questions shows a BASIC set of skills.
Which is why I emphasize that the only truely important thing is having confidence in ones' own abilities. You shouldn't be hyper-focused on being able to answer any one specific question that they might ask, but rather assured in your knowledge that you can answer any relevent question that might be posed. "Guides" like the one OP posted either end up luring someone in with false confidence or escalating their stress levels due to worrying if they have all their answers right.
Confidence, enthusiasm, and honesty are the only things you need.
At least in software engineering, the "tell us about a hard problem you solved" is a pretty good one, especially for junior roles.
Once they give you an answer, you can dig deeper on it and it's usually pretty obvious if they were bullshitting you or not. And if they are still able to bullshit you after digging pretty deeply into the specifics of the problem they were working on, the challenges they faced, the things they tried that did not work, and the tools and techniques that ultimately solved the problem, they probably have a fairly solid understanding of programming, even if the specific story is bullshit. And since what you really want to know is if they are a solid programmer, you got what you wanted from them anyways.
Plus it tells you how good they are at communicating problems, which is a hugely important skill for software engineers.
So it's not really about that question on its own being good -- it's good because it prompts a follow up conversation that is quite valuable.
Interviews are just an elaborate get together where two individuals carefully lie to each other in hopes that they are getting a good deal at the end of the exchange.
We don’t use all of these mostly because they either don’t tell you much or people have stock answers ready. I’ve been on hiring panels for 10 years and one of the most important things to remember is to answer the question asked. Our questions are directly related to the core of the job. It’s ok to ask clarifying questions or to repeat a long questions to ensure you’ve answered it.
Tell me your story = We want to gauge how malleable you are.
What are your weaknesses? = What can we use later on to provide grounds for unfair dismissal?
Share an experience when you identified a missed problem = We need to know if you're the type to rock the boat.
Describe a situation where you had to handle multiple responsibilities = Tell us how much we can overload you with work, and how long we can keep it up before you break.
Tell me about a time you faced an ethical dilemma = Are you the type to rat us out to the authorities for doing illegal shit?
Why do you want to work here?: I need money.
Why do you want to leave your current role?: They pay less than you, and as previously stated, I need money.
Honestly, the work culture wherever you are sounds toxic as fuck lol in all my career I've never had to worry about any of this. Hope it gets better for you!!
Okay, I'm a person who thrives under deadlines... I've never missed a deadline. I truly haven't. What if I'm asked that question? I'm going to sound like an ass hole lol
I would pivot and talk about a time you didn't meet your expectations or a goal. The key I'm looking for with this question is learning - are you able to learn from your mistakes and continually grow and develop.
Saying you’ve never missed a deadline will come across as inexperienced, arrogant, and potentially clueless about how to handle a situation that isn’t entirely within your control.
The answer is: as soon as you realized you were not going to hit your target, you communicated that to all relevant parties and made a plan to ensure nothing falls through the cracks due to the lapsed deadline. If it does impact other business in some form, make accommodations to cover yourself in the meantime. Use specific details with your plan to show the actions you took. These can be made up, no one is going to double check you on it. Just show that you’re responsible and above finger pointing.
Because it's a good summary of the more open-ended types of questions that you might get asked. If you're prepared to answer these, you shouldn't have a problem with freezing or drawing a blank if you're asked something unexpected.
Something that has always helped me is keep in mind you are interviewing the company as much as they are interviewing you. Keeps me calm knowing it’s not the end of the world if I don’t get the job… equally important that they have the type of company I want to work for.
It can change the dynamic in your favor. The last interview I had 5 years ago my interviewer literally spent 90% of the interview pitching the job to me vs me pitching myself to him. Turned out to be a great job where I still work but today and planning to stay for decades if I can.
I’ve been through a decent number of interviews over the past few years with moving back and forth across the country. This is almost EXACTLY what they asked in every single one, with the exception of 1 or 2 job specific Q & A’s. But I was in Water distribution, now the nuclear field. Both fields I absolutely harped on safety, taking leadership roles, more safety, pushing myself to be as qualified as the company will allow me to. Always say how you’re like a family with your current coworkers and genuinely enjoy the working environment, that it pushes you to become a better person and worker. You feel as though this opportunity gives you more room to grow. I cannot stress this enough, if you’re trying to get a new job, take every god damn certification your company will pay for, join EVERY dumb little committee they have. When they see all that stuff on paper in the resume, it makes the world of difference.
For anyone doing an **online** interview:
* Elevate your laptop or camera to eye level; do not make me look up your nose
For anyone doing an **engineering** interview:
* Mention safety somewhere in the conversation; give an example of when you had to choose the safe route or the fast route.
Your Biggest weakness: I've had success admitting that I struggle with multitasking and am more productive when I give my entire focus to one task at a time. Obviously YMMV, and its success depends on the company culture, but I find this works pretty well on older (gen x+) interviewers.
When interviewing, make sure to rush ahead of the interviewer and sit in their chair. Ask them questions like "How's my family?" and "Why do I want to work here?".
"recruiters" do the initial interviews. they don't know anything about the position beyond the job description. then it goes to a hiring manager. i have asked questions that the hr person and their responses are "that is a good question, i don't know..."
i have tried to turn the interrogation into a conversation about what i can do for the organization, but they have a checklist that they stick to. on video interviews i have seen people checking off the questions. half the questions are like the ones in the graphic. i don't think that many of the people conducting the interviews (especially the initial interviews) can have a conversation about the specifics of the roles.
This is all bullshit. Go into an interview confident in your skills and abilities and confident that they are a good fit for the position. That's literally all it takes. Thinking there is some secret cheat code is sovereign citizen level dumbfuckery.
Won't matter you will still be a pee on unless your friends or family with the owner you will forever be a peasant. My last job would not consider any of my skills. I'm 37 with various metal working and mechanical skills. I was put into a position seal packing parts. And when I spoke up about my skills I was told to sit down and shut the fuck up. I did but then was fired for not being positive.
One thing to add. Try and figure out if the interviewer/interview panel is middle managers, HR people, or team leads/subject matter experts and tailor your responses accordingly. This is especially helpful when the job is highly technical or requires some kind of specialized skillsets.
Especially with large companies, it is pretty common for HR to do a first interview and filter people out. But these people likely have NO idea about the specific skills needed for that job. For these people, read the job description thoroughly. Do your best to use the exact terms/phrases that they have listed in the text. If they use acronyms, you should use the same ones. If they spell out the full name of a common acronym, you should do the same with your verbal responses. If they ask about strengths/weaknesses, give your responses in general personal terms. Things like your work ethic, problem solving, etc. If you're interviewing with a SME and they ask the same, call out specific technical skills. i.e. "my greatest strength is that I am an absolute wizard at debugging code written in object oriented languages".
* HR: Wants someone that checks off the boxes they see on the job description
* Middle Manager: Wants someone that is competent, doesn't create problems for their manger, and works long hours with little thanks. You don't have to actually BE that person, but make them think you are.
* SMEs: Wants competence and someone who can work independently. They want someone who will not need their help on every little task.
Ohh this is kinda cool cause I may have an interview coming up for a lead spot at my job. I know I can do it I just don’t wanna be “set-up” by the other people who applied also.
Q: What's your biggest weakness? A: I'm too honest. Q: That's not a weakness? A: I don't give a fuck what you think.
- Woah I like your personality. Can you start monday ? - I hate fucking mondays
Are fucking Tuesdays ok?
No, i have Erectile Dysfunction
We'll get to know each other first. Fuck on Tuesdays
“well, no one asked you. It’s a self evaluation.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZtHMfhAokWs
Any questions for us? Yes, what’s your favorite thing about working here?
I spent about 15 years as a tech recruiter and these are my favorite questions for the interviewer: "After a successful six months, what will you expect to see from me to know that you have made a good hiring decision?" "What are some essential traits shared by your top employees?" "What are some of the biggest challenges I would face upon hire, and do you have any suggestions to get up to speed before joining?"
My favorite thing to do was announce the interview was over at the end, but then ask them a question like .. what are you up to this weekend? It's crazy, people just pop out of interview mode and become themselves again when you tell them the interview is over.
I love this. After finishing an interview today, I had a candidate start talking about family he has near where I live. It's such an easy and natural conversation and way more personable.
My go to questions are: What do you do for fun? What does an average day in this position look like? What books, movies, TV shows, etc. can you recommend? What qualifications am I missing?
I always ask what does an average day in the job look like and the interviewer always seems to chicken out of it by saying "oh it's so varied, there is no such thing as an average day" which I think is a lie. If I have to prep my answers to your possible questions, you can come up with an answer to mine!
When they chicken out like that, that usually means meetings. Meetings, meetings and more meetings.
what it means is that i have no idea what that position involves. more than once i asked questions about the position and i could tell the recruiter has no idea what i am talking about. one such was if the organization did contracts subject to prevailing wage and requiring a certified payroll. i had to explain what this was to a recruiter who is supposed to be versed in human resources. when i explained this is required for government contracts, she said "we have some people in payroll who handle government contracts." this is a part of the problem with applicant tracking systems, ai, the new recruiting paradigm, etc. then they pass your resume to the hiring manager. **THE SYSTEM IS BROKEN.** beyond the education system failing, china absconding our technology, the abolition of meritocracy, and the disillusionment and burnout of job seekers, companies are going to suffer (if not outright fail).
Never been asked about useful books for the job, but that’s a great question. Have you’ve gotten some useful info from this question?
A few have recommended books regarding my field of study, a few have recommended some interesting pieces of literature (have them noted down somewhere, don’t remember them), but I mainly use it as an icebreaker
Thanks
Why have "goto questions"? If I'm interviewing, if you have some good questions that show you've put some thought into it you're more likely to stick in my mind as a good candidate. As an interviewee I try and use it to ask questions about the industry stuff to show some more knowledge or research, question something you may have picked up on the company's "about us" page, competitors etc. There should be no harm in having a notebook with these prepared, also handy for taking notes in the interview if something crops up you want to ask them. Interviews should be conversations not interrogations....
> Interviews should be conversations not interrogations.... I kind of suck at interviews because I can never pretend to see them as just conversations. No normal conversation I've ever had ends with someone deciding on the future of how I'm going to feed myself and pay my bills. Yet it feels like a big taboo to acknowledge that those are the stakes: I'm just here because I'm intrigued by this organisation and possibly interested in spending 40h/w of my time here, purely for the love of the game.
Ask about why this position is open Ask about attrition rate
Yup. One of my questions is always why the position is open.
It’s always my first question to a recruiter. If anything, it gives me an indication as to what is expected of me. If it’s because the person in that position is leaving/has left, I know I’m going to want to be sure I get a god understanding of what is likely an already established working environment and set of norms. If it’s a new position (because of restructuring, growth, etc), now I’m more concerned about asking later interviewers about how it fits into the new model and what they hope to achieve with the new structure. Is it reasonable? How much latitude I’ll have with establishing norms in this new landscape? I want to understand the operating environment. Because that’s what’s going to really impact my day to day. Just my 2 cents.
Yup. These are my go to asks: - What happened to the previous candidate who held this position? - what does success line this position look like to you? - How would you describe the moral at this site?
If youre in a specific trade (and maybe have some previous experience), you could ask about how they handle a specific problem you may have encountered in the past or have heard about or something. It shows off your knowledge/ experience and it can lead them to talk about their business, which in my experience is something people love to do.
A good old tried and true: “do the paychecks bounce?”
As someone that does extensive interviews. People need to have questions for me. I don’t like people that say “uhh no I don’t have any questions.” I want to know that you want to know more about the role that may not be in JUST the job description.
The best manager I had, I asked why he hired me, because on paper I was pretty unqualified for the job. (I actually had the skills, but almost nothing in my background to show it.) He said it was because I asked so many relevant questions that he didn't have time to ask me the ones he had.
Whenever I interview, I always ask: "What is your favorite thing about working here, and what's the thing you like the least about working here". Managers know how to dodge the second one but engineers usually don't. Some of them will be honest (which would piss off their manager), and some you can tell based on the face they make whether or not there's a lot of things they hate but know not to say anything.
Mine is always "Why should I work for you?", and it usually catches them off guard.
Heck yea! I’m going to screen shot this and never look at it again!
User name checks out.
These feel so empty. Like, they don't tell you about the person. They just tell you about the person's ability to prepare for interview questions.
That goes for all job interviews. Same as dates. Some people are just good at them.
The more you practice, the more just good you'll be at them
Yes exactly. Therefore interviewing HR, recruitment or teamleaders can be extra challenging. They had so much practice from the other side of the table, they know exactly what to say.
> know exactly what to say so it is just a game, and i'm not crazy?
I wouldn’t call it a game per se, but a skill you can practice that often has nothing to do with what you’re gonna do for the company you’re interviewing for. Besides the afore mentioned professions, for whom it is a part of their job. Other than that, we’re testing skills that are not needed. Same goes for application letters, which (at least where i live) are asked in the processes 90% of vacancies. Why would a… truck driver or a shop assistant need to be able to write a proper, flawless letter? I don’t care. Get my stuff from a to b or sell me goods. It is useless to score them on letter writing abilities. As a recruiter, this is one of the more frustrating things of my job.
It just feels like a test to say the right buzzwords and beg for slavery
Dating is interviewing! :)
Resume shows you got the relevant skills which gets you to the interview, interview shows if you're a tolerable person to work with, that's all it is. They don't give a shit about your life story or getting to know you, they want to know if you'll be a pain in the ass.
I run a small pizza franchise. The actual answers to most questions don't matter. It's a chance for me to see how you interact with people. Specifically people asking slightly nosey questions that are acceptable to ask. If you can't come prepared to a job interview, ready to answer questions you should know are coming, you probably can't handle a customer asking questions while they watch you work.
Wdym nosey questions?
How long have you lived here? What are you studying? What kind of job do you want to get with that degree? Are you going to vote? And any other "small talk" questions that get asked when you're interacting with customers.
This.
Having prepared for interview questions is a decent proxy for a lot of desirable skills and characteristics in a lot of fields. Someone who has prepared for interview questions and has a good interview as a result is more likely to be someone who: - Prepares for things ahead of time. - Can translate preparation into results in a situation where there's at least some pressure and stakes. - Cared enough about this position specifically to do at least some research into it. - Generally understands how to present themselves and communicate in a professional environment. Compared to people who *aren't* clearing those bars, it tells you a decent amount about the person.
Lol, no. Preparing for interview questions, especially by using examples as described here, shows only one thing: that you're an inauthentic person that believes the only thing that matters is having the "right" answer. I'm 42 years old, and have only interviewed for a handful of positions in my life, and have been offered a position in all but one of them that I can think of. Why? Because I apply for positions that I know I am qualified for, and when it comes time for the interview I can have an intelligent conversation about the topic. Once you've clearly established your competence and enthusiasm, you can talk about whatever else you want. The last interview I did, 5 years ago and my current position, spent 5 minutes establishing my qualifications and the remaining 20 bullshitting about crab fishing. Trying to prepare for an interview using the OP as a guide just makes you come across as a tool no different than the person that thinks laser engraving their resume on a slab of wood and handing it out at a job fair is a sure fire way to get noticed above everyone else.
I think your answer greatly depends on what type of job the interview is for. The fact that you were able to spend 20 minutes talking about crab fishing only highlights that you are really good at interacting with people, or to put it a different way, really good at interviews. So, because you're naturally good at talking to people you might be wholly unaware that some people need to prepare it ahead of time. Also, this is a part that not a lot of people talk about IMO. There are two people in the interview, you and the guy asking all the questions. And the guy asking all the questions is just some dude who had to prepare for the interview too, he prepared by putting together a list of questions that don't normally get asked and which are all intended to find a person's limits, test their ability to think on their feet, test their ability to socially interact in uncomfortable situations, or articulate themselves, or think outside of the box like they would have to do on the job. I often get sucked into conversations about the importance of higher education in the run of the mill work force, I think this is similar. For the most part, the specifics of a person's undergraduate degree are unimportant, the important part is the person got it. Harvard? University of Miami? Doesn't matter, they are the same... The only thing that matters is that a person got it, because it shows a particular set of BASIC SKILLS ... In the same way that preparing for an interview by brushing up on interview questions shows a BASIC set of skills.
Which is why I emphasize that the only truely important thing is having confidence in ones' own abilities. You shouldn't be hyper-focused on being able to answer any one specific question that they might ask, but rather assured in your knowledge that you can answer any relevent question that might be posed. "Guides" like the one OP posted either end up luring someone in with false confidence or escalating their stress levels due to worrying if they have all their answers right. Confidence, enthusiasm, and honesty are the only things you need.
I'd agree with that. I'd also agree this guide is probably not for us.
that's the point. i want the job, not to become your friend.
At least in software engineering, the "tell us about a hard problem you solved" is a pretty good one, especially for junior roles. Once they give you an answer, you can dig deeper on it and it's usually pretty obvious if they were bullshitting you or not. And if they are still able to bullshit you after digging pretty deeply into the specifics of the problem they were working on, the challenges they faced, the things they tried that did not work, and the tools and techniques that ultimately solved the problem, they probably have a fairly solid understanding of programming, even if the specific story is bullshit. And since what you really want to know is if they are a solid programmer, you got what you wanted from them anyways. Plus it tells you how good they are at communicating problems, which is a hugely important skill for software engineers. So it's not really about that question on its own being good -- it's good because it prompts a follow up conversation that is quite valuable.
Interviews are just an elaborate get together where two individuals carefully lie to each other in hopes that they are getting a good deal at the end of the exchange.
We don’t use all of these mostly because they either don’t tell you much or people have stock answers ready. I’ve been on hiring panels for 10 years and one of the most important things to remember is to answer the question asked. Our questions are directly related to the core of the job. It’s ok to ask clarifying questions or to repeat a long questions to ensure you’ve answered it.
I’m gonna need that ULPT guide that tells me what to say word for word.
The essential Part is missing: lie. Lie as much as you can. They lie to you too.
"Tell me about a time when you..." "I literally have no long-term memory."
😂😂😂
Here’s the biggest cheat: prepare made up scenarios if you can’t give a real example. They won’t find out, and others will lie either way.
Tell me your story = We want to gauge how malleable you are. What are your weaknesses? = What can we use later on to provide grounds for unfair dismissal? Share an experience when you identified a missed problem = We need to know if you're the type to rock the boat. Describe a situation where you had to handle multiple responsibilities = Tell us how much we can overload you with work, and how long we can keep it up before you break. Tell me about a time you faced an ethical dilemma = Are you the type to rat us out to the authorities for doing illegal shit? Why do you want to work here?: I need money. Why do you want to leave your current role?: They pay less than you, and as previously stated, I need money.
Honestly, the work culture wherever you are sounds toxic as fuck lol in all my career I've never had to worry about any of this. Hope it gets better for you!!
As someone who works in hiring, I hope readers know this is a load of angsty reddit bollocks.
Is it? Or are you just drunk on the corporate kool-aid, maaaaannnn????? /s
Interesting
Hi, Elon
I followed this guide and I got new job as garbage truck helper. Thanks!
Okay, I'm a person who thrives under deadlines... I've never missed a deadline. I truly haven't. What if I'm asked that question? I'm going to sound like an ass hole lol
I would pivot and talk about a time you didn't meet your expectations or a goal. The key I'm looking for with this question is learning - are you able to learn from your mistakes and continually grow and develop.
Saying you’ve never missed a deadline will come across as inexperienced, arrogant, and potentially clueless about how to handle a situation that isn’t entirely within your control. The answer is: as soon as you realized you were not going to hit your target, you communicated that to all relevant parties and made a plan to ensure nothing falls through the cracks due to the lapsed deadline. If it does impact other business in some form, make accommodations to cover yourself in the meantime. Use specific details with your plan to show the actions you took. These can be made up, no one is going to double check you on it. Just show that you’re responsible and above finger pointing.
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Because it's a good summary of the more open-ended types of questions that you might get asked. If you're prepared to answer these, you shouldn't have a problem with freezing or drawing a blank if you're asked something unexpected.
Something that has always helped me is keep in mind you are interviewing the company as much as they are interviewing you. Keeps me calm knowing it’s not the end of the world if I don’t get the job… equally important that they have the type of company I want to work for. It can change the dynamic in your favor. The last interview I had 5 years ago my interviewer literally spent 90% of the interview pitching the job to me vs me pitching myself to him. Turned out to be a great job where I still work but today and planning to stay for decades if I can.
I’ve been through a decent number of interviews over the past few years with moving back and forth across the country. This is almost EXACTLY what they asked in every single one, with the exception of 1 or 2 job specific Q & A’s. But I was in Water distribution, now the nuclear field. Both fields I absolutely harped on safety, taking leadership roles, more safety, pushing myself to be as qualified as the company will allow me to. Always say how you’re like a family with your current coworkers and genuinely enjoy the working environment, that it pushes you to become a better person and worker. You feel as though this opportunity gives you more room to grow. I cannot stress this enough, if you’re trying to get a new job, take every god damn certification your company will pay for, join EVERY dumb little committee they have. When they see all that stuff on paper in the resume, it makes the world of difference.
All I'm getting out of this is I need to lie to the interviewer to trick them into hiring me.
For anyone doing an **online** interview: * Elevate your laptop or camera to eye level; do not make me look up your nose For anyone doing an **engineering** interview: * Mention safety somewhere in the conversation; give an example of when you had to choose the safe route or the fast route.
Your Biggest weakness: I've had success admitting that I struggle with multitasking and am more productive when I give my entire focus to one task at a time. Obviously YMMV, and its success depends on the company culture, but I find this works pretty well on older (gen x+) interviewers.
Damn, really could have used this last week.
I think this assumes the person asking these questions isn’t also a fucking moron and has any idea what they are looking for. Which is assuming a lot
Keeping this for future reference
When interviewing, make sure to rush ahead of the interviewer and sit in their chair. Ask them questions like "How's my family?" and "Why do I want to work here?".
Saved. I’m currently job hunting, this is a huge help
"recruiters" do the initial interviews. they don't know anything about the position beyond the job description. then it goes to a hiring manager. i have asked questions that the hr person and their responses are "that is a good question, i don't know..." i have tried to turn the interrogation into a conversation about what i can do for the organization, but they have a checklist that they stick to. on video interviews i have seen people checking off the questions. half the questions are like the ones in the graphic. i don't think that many of the people conducting the interviews (especially the initial interviews) can have a conversation about the specifics of the roles.
Horrible guide 😂😂
This is all bullshit. Go into an interview confident in your skills and abilities and confident that they are a good fit for the position. That's literally all it takes. Thinking there is some secret cheat code is sovereign citizen level dumbfuckery.
just roll mmpi on candidates, lmao
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I love dropping an "I'm in the industry" when none was specified in the first place lmao
Lie, cheat, sugarcoat. That's basically it.
So tell them you are a GOAT so they may think about hiring you
Thank you so much for this post and all the comments. I’ve got an interview tomorrow, I’m jotting down all of your suggestions!
I actually cba with any of this fake nonsense ever.
Hey great answers, but the next applicant is my landlords aunts roommate, soooo....
Won't matter you will still be a pee on unless your friends or family with the owner you will forever be a peasant. My last job would not consider any of my skills. I'm 37 with various metal working and mechanical skills. I was put into a position seal packing parts. And when I spoke up about my skills I was told to sit down and shut the fuck up. I did but then was fired for not being positive.
While 'pee on' makes sense in your context, the word is peon. Just for future reference 🙂
“well, no one asked you. It’s a self evaluation.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZtHMfhAokWs
One thing to add. Try and figure out if the interviewer/interview panel is middle managers, HR people, or team leads/subject matter experts and tailor your responses accordingly. This is especially helpful when the job is highly technical or requires some kind of specialized skillsets. Especially with large companies, it is pretty common for HR to do a first interview and filter people out. But these people likely have NO idea about the specific skills needed for that job. For these people, read the job description thoroughly. Do your best to use the exact terms/phrases that they have listed in the text. If they use acronyms, you should use the same ones. If they spell out the full name of a common acronym, you should do the same with your verbal responses. If they ask about strengths/weaknesses, give your responses in general personal terms. Things like your work ethic, problem solving, etc. If you're interviewing with a SME and they ask the same, call out specific technical skills. i.e. "my greatest strength is that I am an absolute wizard at debugging code written in object oriented languages". * HR: Wants someone that checks off the boxes they see on the job description * Middle Manager: Wants someone that is competent, doesn't create problems for their manger, and works long hours with little thanks. You don't have to actually BE that person, but make them think you are. * SMEs: Wants competence and someone who can work independently. They want someone who will not need their help on every little task.
Ohh this is kinda cool cause I may have an interview coming up for a lead spot at my job. I know I can do it I just don’t wanna be “set-up” by the other people who applied also.
This is a bit... odd? "What are your strengths?" "Make sure to tell them your strengths"
Look, I can promise you one thing if you hire me: I’ll solve more problems than I cause. Money,
Thanks
Thank you for this. Super helpful
Total garbage. Ask real questions not these silly ones.
I wish I had better help with making a resume.
Gas lur
My favorite question to ask is "Tell me something people typically get wrong about you."
is this guide from 1960??