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I just had a job interview for an engineer/researcher position. I talked to 7 interviewers and at least half of the questions were like "tell me about a time... " Is it really necessary/useful? How can you tell the difference between a person who is good at making up stories and a person who really knows the math and techniques?
Especially, only one of the interviewers is American, and all the others are Indians and Eastern Europeans. Why do they still emphasize the cultural match?
How are they supposed to know about your ability to problem solve or deal with conflict or handle tight deadlines or whatever all else they are asking you about if they don't...you know...ask you about it? Are you saying they shouldn't bother asking because a candidate could lie? People can lie about anything! It may be an imperfect method, but short of being a mind-reader of playing back comprehensive video footage of the applicant's entire career, asking is all they've got to work with.
How are they supposed to know about your ability to problem solve or deal with conflict or handle tight deadlines or whatever all else they are asking you about if they don't...you know...ask you about it? Are you saying they shouldn't bother asking because a candidate could lie? People can lie about anything! It may be an imperfect method, but short of being a mind-reader of playing back comprehensive video footage of the applicant's entire career, asking is all they've got to work with.
I am not saying they should not ask behavioral questions at all. I am saying that is too much.
I have my degrees, publications, and jobs, which pretty much proves I can solve problems and meet deadlines.
I am not saying they should not ask behavioral questions at all. I am saying that is too much.
I have my degrees, publications, and jobs, which pretty much proves I can solve problems and meet deadlines.
I see it as the opposite, the degrees/titles only show you can do the technical work, behavioral questions get to see if you would "fit" with the current workers, no point bringing in someone who may know what they're doing but causes disarray with everyone else can hurts productivity. 10 moderately productive people is better than 9 low productive + 1 highly productive person when building a good team.
I see it as the opposite, the degrees/titles only show you can do the technical work, behavioral questions get to see if you would "fit" with the current workers, no point bringing in someone who may know what they're doing but causes disarray with everyone else can hurts productivity. 10 moderately productive people is better than 9 low productive + 1 highly productive person when building a good team.
And you think asking 20 questions like "tell me about a time..." can solve your problem?
I would rather ask "do you know your mother's birthday"? "do you like animals, why?"
America has an "election" culture so people like good talkers. As long as they make up good stories, they gain trust.\
While in Japan/China, good talkers are judged negatively so their interview questions may be much more technical.
We have companies that give technical questions too, IE given problem X, how would you approach it to get to Y. Or programming tests (sorry no examples, not my field).
You don't have to "talk" well but you have to be able to know how to relate/work as a team. Your birthday/animal question is only focused on yourself and not the rest of your coworkers. Why "would" they care about your mother's birthday or if you like animals? They "care" that if there is a problem, how do you go about to solve it and how do you work with your coworkers to do it. IE do you just let them drown and watch in the background, or do you step up and offer a helping hand where you can? If you don't know how to do something, do you seek advice/help from a coworker or do you leave it and blame company on not training you?
We have companies that give technical questions too, IE given problem X, how would you approach it to get to Y. Or programming tests (sorry no examples, not my field).
You don't have to "talk" well but you have to be able to know how to relate/work as a team. Your birthday/animal question is only focused on yourself and not the rest of your coworkers. Why "would" they care about your mother's birthday or if you like animals? They "care" that if there is a problem, how do you go about to solve it and how do you work with your coworkers to do it. IE do you just let them drown and watch in the background, or do you step up and offer a helping hand where you can? If you don't know how to do something, do you seek advice/help from a coworker or do you leave it and blame company on not training you?
If a guy does not even know his mother's birthday, I won't hire him (except for special conditions). Just that simple.
All engineers who have work experience know how to help teammates, and gain help from them. Otherwise he can't survive. You can ask how he handles certain issues in his current company. For example, "in your company, if a colleague cannot finish his task on time and you know you may be able to help him, what would you do"? Definitely not questions like "Tell me the greatest achievement you've made."
If a guy does not even know his mother's birthday, I won't hire him (except for special conditions). Just that simple.
so what does that tell you about the guy? That he cares for his family? Or that he knows how to make up a date? Why not ask if he knows his anniversary instead? What does it tell you about his productivity/teamwork?
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