Re: Interview questions (Was re: Tech Writing 101 - How to tie a shoe)

["John R. Sullivan" <John_Sullivan -at- STRATUS -dot- COM>]

Penny wrote:

        As an interviewee, I have found questions like this to be a really
good
        opportunity. You can mention what you're good at, and what steps
you've
        taken to compensate for areas where you may have trouble.

I'd have to disagree on that one. The interviewer, in my view, is not asking
"What's your biggest weakness" in
order to give me an opportunity to make myself look good. He/she is asking
in an attempt to trip me up, or
perhaps as a way of gauging how I will react to ridiculous situations.

Not enjoying one or more parts of the job (such as proofreading) is not a
weakness.

I am certainly not "weakness free." However, in an interview I'd prefer to
handle serious, intelligent questions, not play psychological mind games. I
was interviewed once by a manager whose questions consisted almost
exclusively of such nonsense ("Where do you want to be in five years? Tell
me about the biggest challenge you've ever had to face.") -- he had probably
just read a book on interviewing and thought he was being slick. At the end
of the interview, he asked me if I had any questions. "Yes," I responded,
"what's YOUR biggest weakness?"

Needless to say, I didn't get the job (and was quite happy with that
result).

John Sullivan


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