RE: Advice for Job Seekers

["S. R. Begnoche" <begnoche -at- mindspring -dot- com>]

At 05:16 PM 4/4/00 -0400, Lydia Wong wrote:
><snip> One of our favorite questions to ask interviewees is "what are the
>three best and the three worst traits of your former managers?" </snip>
>
>Mark Baker and Melanie Shook took issue with the interview question,
>writing:
>
>Mark Baker: <snip> I am disturbed by question of this sort being used in
>interviews. </snip>
>
>Melanie Shook: <snip> I agree! If anyone ever asks me one of those questions
>again, I'll just walk out.  . . . Ask me to DO something, how would I
>document such and such, what would be the questions I would ask, etc. Not
>some silly question out of a silly book meant to put me on the spot.</snip>

I agree with Lydia that this particular question on traits of former
managers is a very good question.  It isn't meant to put you on the spot,
it's meant to give the interviewer some insight on how *you* interact with
other members of an organization. 

If you can frame your answer in such a way that it shows that you've
learned from these bad/good traits of your previous managers, and that
you've integrated what you've learned into your own teamwork, you can give
the interviewer a positive perception of your own leadership skills and
team player-ness (sorry, it's the end of a long day, so I'm going to resort
to making up a word ;) ). 

----------------------------
Suzanne Begnoche
Training Developer
IBM PC Institute
Research Triangle Park, NC
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