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Subject:Re: Interview question From:Chris Hamilton <chamilton -at- GR -dot- COM> Date:Sat, 22 Feb 1997 09:20:18 -0600
Eric Haddock, QP wrote:
>
> > an
> > interviewee should always answer such questions with a "false positive,"
>
> I disagree with your mom's idea of misleading the interviewer. If I were asked
> the weakness question in an interview, I would answer as honestly as I could for
> two reasons: I respect honesty and am honest myself, and I would respect the
> interviewer enough to give an honest answer--especially if this person would be
> my boss later on. I also, in my eternally optimistic self, would hope that
> the interviewer would respect me for being so honest.
>
> If I were asking the question, I wouldn't want to know anything personal, just
> what professional weakness the person has. _Every_one has _something_ weighing
> them down. If we didn't, then we'd all be robots. I'd want to know what the
> person's weakness is so I would know where to put her if hired.
I think you can answer honestly and spin the answer without any
contradiction. My main weaknesses are that I take my work personally and
that I'm impatient with bad situations tha should have been avoided. But
because of these characteristics, I'm put a lot of pride and effort into
my work and I work like hell to try to avoid mistakes that were made in
the past. My goal is to keep to positive aspects of those two
weaknesses, while minimizing the negatives. Some might take that as BS,
but it is my honest approach.
--
Chris Hamilton, Technical Writer
Greenbrier & Russel
847.330.4146
"Try? Try not. Do. Or do not. There is no try." -- Yoda
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