Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > General Forums > Work and Employment > Job Search
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 03-28-2014, 09:52 AM
 
17 posts, read 24,923 times
Reputation: 18

Advertisements

Well I have done enough interviews at this point to know most of the standard questions but I was completing an application online and haven't even gotten to the interview stage yet and these were some of the questions that were asked:

Name your 3 greatest strengths (ok, not too hard)
Name your 3 greatest weaknesses (3 - really???)
Describe a time where you did the right thing by being honest and fair.

So is this a trend now, conducting part of the interview during the application?
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 03-28-2014, 10:02 AM
 
Location: Colorado
4,306 posts, read 13,427,456 times
Reputation: 4476
Yes
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 03-28-2014, 10:04 AM
 
Location: Big skies....woohoo
12,420 posts, read 3,220,689 times
Reputation: 2203
What is a good answer for weaknesses?
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 03-28-2014, 10:10 AM
 
Location: RI, MA, VT, WI, IL, CA, IN (that one sucked), KY
41,938 posts, read 36,728,963 times
Reputation: 40634
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mainer61 View Post
What is a good answer for weaknesses?

Depends on the person.

Don't use "perfectionist" for either strength or weakness though.

None of these are ridiculous questions to me, but I've only encountered them in interviews.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 03-28-2014, 10:46 AM
 
Location: Louisiana
806 posts, read 869,602 times
Reputation: 1248
I just interviewed for a position at work and it was mostly behavior based questions like that . It's the latest thing that some consultant sold them I'm sure .
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 03-28-2014, 10:49 AM
 
757 posts, read 1,089,433 times
Reputation: 990
Buy the book "Knock 'em Dead". Lots of good answers to these questions. When answering weaknesses questions, I use that I don't like clock-watchers are people who are not as dedicated to solving problems as I am. Or I will use answers that everyone can relate to. In my case, coming from a health insurance background, I say that keeping up with all of the Health Care Reform changes as been a challenge. Everyone in my industry understands this and laughs.

Other times, I say that my Microsoft Excel skills could be better but I always give the interviewer my plan to improve such as I'm taking an on-line class or have been watching YouTube tutorials to improve my skills. This shows that you are a fixer and are taking steps on your own to improve.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 03-28-2014, 10:51 AM
 
757 posts, read 1,089,433 times
Reputation: 990
The most lame questions I have been asked include "sell me this pen" and "tell me a story".
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 03-28-2014, 10:57 AM
 
Location: Seattle, Washington
2,533 posts, read 4,587,174 times
Reputation: 2820
Quote:
Originally Posted by jobseekerkat5 View Post
Well I have done enough interviews at this point to know most of the standard questions but I was completing an application online and haven't even gotten to the interview stage yet and these were some of the questions that were asked:

Name your 3 greatest strengths (ok, not too hard)
Name your 3 greatest weaknesses (3 - really???)
Describe a time where you did the right thing by being honest and fair.

So is this a trend now, conducting part of the interview during the application?
I encountered stupid questions like that in a phone interview about 2 months ago...

The job offer I ended up getting a couple weeks later consisted of a 5 min tour followed by a "When can you start?"

Then about 2 weeks into the new job I got a call from the other asking if I wanted to come in for a face to face...

Nope... Already working.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 03-28-2014, 11:14 AM
 
Location: Frisco, TX
986 posts, read 1,658,688 times
Reputation: 1739
Quote:
Originally Posted by jobseekerkat5 View Post
Name your 3 greatest weaknesses (3 - really???)
Coming from the other side of the table - I asked this question because you'd be amazed at what some people say. I would ask "what's your greatest weakness" - this is NOT the time to tell the interviewer that you're habitually late/call in sick frequently/drink too much on the weekends/have an anger management problem. (Yes, all real answers. ) And please don't answer with "I don't have any weaknesses" - this shows a lack of accountability and that everything you do incorrectly is always someone else's fault.

Good/acceptable answers:
  • I feel that I'm weak in {insert technical skill here} and would love to learn more about it.
  • I get a little annoyed when people don't pull their weight on a project - and I've learned proper ways to deal with this, such as escalating to my boss if I've tried to engage that person and they still don't seem interested.
  • Sometimes, I take on too much responsibility - but I've learned how to ask others for help when I'm feeling overwhelmed.

Basically - state a weakness, and what you're doing to improve it.

Neutral answer:
  • I'm a perfectionist. Too cliche, too "Interview Book"ish. I'm not thrilled about this answer, but I'll take it.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 03-28-2014, 11:38 AM
 
4,749 posts, read 4,301,699 times
Reputation: 4965
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mainer61 View Post
What is a good answer for weaknesses?
I usually say that I have trouble saying no. Which is true... I overwhelm myself.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:


Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > General Forums > Work and Employment > Job Search

All times are GMT -6.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top