"Tell me about yourself."
This is often the first question asked in an interview.
Some recruiters explain that it allows them to see if the candidate knows how to structure their answer.
Others say it’s primarily to see whether the person is talkative or not.
What's the problem with this question?
If the goal is to assess the person’s ability to synthesize information, why not just say so?
Instead, say: “Can you tell me a little about yourself?” “Please note, I’ll be paying particular attention to your ability to synthesize information.” This question is asked in every interview—does that mean all positions require the ability to synthesize information?
What are your weaknesses?
With this question, we’re assessing the transparency and self-awareness of the person in front of us. Some recruiters say it helps determine whether candidates downplay or own up to their weaknesses—with the idea that we’re looking for people who can rise above their own shortcomings.
What's the problem with this question?
The paradoxical request: on the one hand, people are asked to put themselves forward, and on the other, they're asked to reveal their flaws…
What do you know about us?
Sometimes we expect candidates to answer this without explicitly asking the question, just to see if they’ve at least visited our website before.
If the candidate says they took the time to look at the website, we can’t fault them for a lack of preparation. The problem is that they didn’t understand…
What's the problem with this question?
If we really want to assess motivation, why resort to subterfuge?
First, we need to understand what we mean by motivation
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