[Novalug] Job interview "stuff"

Mark Witczak witczak@acm.org
Tue Dec 8 13:29:34 EST 2009


On Mon, Dec 7, 2009 at 5:56 PM, Nick Danger <nick@hackermonkey.com> wrote:
>> God how I hate those questions. "Tell me about a time you disagreed
>> with your boss." Just shoot me now. There have been times where I have
>> been tempted just to get up and walk out of an interview because
>> really, these questions mean almost nothing. The interviewer wasn't
>> there. Even if they were to call my boss for a reference they aren't
>> going to say "tell me about that time you did that thing that pissed
>> candidate X off so badly", so they will have no idea if I made the
>> entire story up or not.
>>      

The situational interview is very valuable to the hiring process. What 
is really stupid is being asked "If you were any animal in the world, 
what would it be and why?" This is a clear sign that you shouldn't work 
there. Remember an interview is for your benefit also. It's your chance 
to see if these are the people you want to invest the next 12-24 months 
with and valuable space on your resume in the future. Keep a keen eye 
out for clues during that 1 hour interview that would cast some doubt on 
whether your new manager would be worthwhile working with.

BTW, if I'm ever asked that question again in an interview, I know 
exactly what my answer will be--Unicorn!

Mark




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