the dumbest question asked on a interview (tips, employers, jobs)

[Dd714]

I don't think I can tolerate interviews anymore, I would come across the desk at a few of the questions I've been asked. Mostly by idiots that aren't qualified to shine my shoes.

"What are you're good traits and bad traits" is one common question that just irks me. So many times I've been tempted...
"Oh bad traits, well I shoot up smack and sometimes beat up the wife and kids...."

All the questions they ask of this nature only invite a well rehearsed answer, stop asking them. It's like - ask me about my qualifications and stop wasting my time.

[Ron.]

Check out my thread about feeling like a "fake person".

We are on the same page....


good luck


cr

Originally Posted by Dd714

I don't think I can tolerate interviews anymore, I would come across the desk at a few of the questions I've been asked. Mostly by idiots that aren't qualified to shine my shoes.

"What are you're good traits and bad traits" is one common question that just irks me. So many times I've been tempted...
"Oh bad traits, well I shoot up smack and sometimes beat up the wife and kids...."

All the questions they ask of this nature only invite a well rehearsed answer, stop asking them. It's like - ask me about my qualifications and stop wasting my time.

[PG77]

Another thing in these interviews, they look down at you like you're a piece of doo doo on a stick and if you don't answer their question the way they think you should you can see it in their faces. Then you get the silence. I used to start talking when they got quiet, but stopped doing that. You don't like my answer, tough nookies.

[Brooklyn_QueenBee]

When I was interviewing to work as and Executive Assistant for top people, this questioned surfaced plenty of times. Do you have a thick skin? Heck no, I don't have a thick skin, if he thinks he could yell at me and I'll take it--the job is not for me. Of course, I answered quite differently, but always turned down the job when offered--no matter the money. Note: thick skin have multiple meanings, please ask them to describe what they mean before reacting.

[azoria]

My husband is with a new company and a big chief from out of town came around. He had personally developed a set of questions he asked employees.

He asked my husband "Would you rather do things right or do the right thing?" When husband told me this I just looked at him and said "Huh?"

What kind of question is that? What the hell does that mean? Are doing the right thing or doing things right mutually exclusive? What kind of conclusion can you expect to draw asking people goofy stuff like that?

Amateur psychology from the big boss.

[gold dust]

Originally Posted by arussell

When I was interviewing to work as and Executive Assistant for top people, this questioned surfaced plenty of times. Do you have a thick skin? Heck no, I don't have a thick skin, if he thinks he could yell at me and I'll take it--the job is not for me. Of course, I answered quite differently, but always turned down the job when offered--no matter the money. Note: thick skin have multiple meanings, please ask them to describe what they mean before reacting.

Interviewers should get a clue. We are judging them based on their stupid questions just as much as they are judigng us.

Good for you for turning down that job. I hope they know why, it would serve them right and hopefully get them to clean up their act!

[Ron.]

I have actually told HR people, "even if you made me a job offer it does not mean I'll accept, because I'm gaging you just as much as you are gaging me". You should see the look on their faces after I say that!

Originally Posted by gold dust

Interviewers should get a clue. We are judging them based on their stupid questions just as much as they are judigng us.

Good for you for turning down that job. I hope they know why, it would serve them right and hopefully get them to clean up their act!

[gold dust]

Originally Posted by ChicagoRon

I have actually told HR people, "even if you made me a job offer it does not mean I'll accept, because I'm gaging you just as much as you are gaging me". You should see the look on their faces after I say that!

You are my hero!!!! Did you get any job offers after you said that?

[Ron.]

Actually, I only say that when I don't give a damn whether they offer or not!(Which is about 75% of the time).

If get the feeling, half way through the interview, that it's not a good "fit", I'll say it also.

It throws them off totaly.

I had one job interview that lasted 30 seconds. I sat down, I asked them how much it paid, they told me, I said no thanks and walked out. The two "interviewers" looked at eachother in amazement.

Life is too damn short to play around anyomre. I am 34 years old, my days of playing with these companies are over!! I won't waste my time!!

When it's a job that I really want. I play it cool and "play the game" as best I can. Although "playing the game" is becoming harder for me too do.

I am at the point to where I give my best effort but if noone offers I don't give a damn. I'll just keep sending out resumes and interviewing and eventually I'll get something that's worth my time, or I'll eventually own my own small business, which is my ultimate goal. To hell with working for someone.

Originally Posted by gold dust

You are my hero!!!! Did you get any job offers after you said that?

[Dolly]

I think the one that threw me the most was when I was interviewing for a development director/pr person for a religious related children's home. The director who seemed really full of himself anyway looked at me and said, "what do you know about me?" uhhhh . . . okay, if you were Donald Trump or the head of a major corporation featured in Fortunes magazine, I might know something about you or feel the need to know something about you, but you are a little peon in a little agency in a little town.
No, I didn't say all that but I sure thought it. I just smiled after I recovered from thinking what a pompous a$$ that he was and told him I didn't know anthing about him. No, I didn't get the job but after thinking about it, I am glad I didn't because I think he would have been really hard to work for with his sense of self importance.
The other really awful question I got was a number of years ago when I interviewed for a director position of a senior citizen center. It was obviously a social services type program for which I had a degree in and experience so I thought I knew what to do with this one as well. So they asked me two questions that threw me. The first was "if your child was sick would you stay home with them or come in to work." I couldn't believe this group of senior citizens, people who supposedly were raised to value home and family, would ask me something like this. The second was that they had heard my husband and I were separated and they wanted to know if that was a permanent situation. Again, my jaw dropped open on that one. I nearly got up and walked out of that interview but decided to smile and get through it. Of course, I didn't get that one either but the letter I got from them stated that they were re-advertising the position as they didn't select any of the candidates they had interviewed. I am not sure God would have been good enough for them.
My husband interviewed for a job a few months back and was asked if he planned to retire anytime in the near future. He is 55 and silver haired and is having a really hard time finding full time work after losing his job 9 months ago. To me that reeked of age discrimination but how do you prove that. So, he went and had his hair dyed a couple of weeks ago and shaved off his beard in hopes that would make him look a little less retirement age but it hasn't helped so far. There are just too many people looking for jobs right now and employers have too large of a pool to choose from and apparently feel they can cross the boundries of what is a good interview question to what is downright illegal to ask.