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Argh! Job interview question..
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Post by
311965
This post was from a user who has deleted their account.
Post by
Haxzor
then answer it genuinely
Post by
HiVolt
So... why do you want to work that particular job?
Post by
311965
This post was from a user who has deleted their account.
Post by
Heckler
Answering genuinely in an interview doesn't get you anywhere. You have to BS 60% of the time. 40% being the stuff the interviewer can look up.
-_-
Unless you're especially skilled at BS, it's not hard to tell you're BSing. There's definitely some employers who actively seek good BSers though (like a cop who pulls you over for going the speed limit because you didn't slam on the brakes when you saw him -- some people are just looking for expected responses), so I guess it's a crapshoot.
Post by
MischievousLoki
You love sitting at a desk typing and you love the company you're going to be doing it for (This is where you BS if the company is really boring).
Post by
375923
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Post by
GoGoGodzilla
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Post by
607995
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Post by
MyTie
Just be honest.
I was asked an ethical question during an interview before a board of 5 people. The question was one of those "would you do the
right thing
, or the
common sense thing
even though it might not be right. Would you put your family at risk to do the right thing?". I answered that I would not put my family at risk for anything, that I would choose to be slightly in the wrong, but to keep my family safe. I got the job.
Post by
Heckler
Just to toss this out there, as an elaboration on my previous post, to see this from a (seriously warped) viewpoint:
If the job is not a typical "career" job, but something less 'serious' (two jobs I've had that would qualify by this label, which isn't meant to be demeaning, would be an 'inventory checker guy' and a server in a restaurant -- let's just say, anything that doesn't require a degree of some sort, that you might expect a few 18-24 aged people in) -- there's a good chance that the person doing your interview is a cookie cutter 'manager' who got hired on
as
a manager, in order to be a manager; and likely has some sort of certifcation (possibly a degree) in management skills which got him that job (in reality, this may apply to more career-type jobs too, I just have no experience in that market).
These people aren't always bad managers, and they're not always good ones (just as a manager who is promoted through the ranks, because he was good at the job he now manages others doing, isn't always good, or bad either). But if you get a bad one, you'll know it immediately... every time someone complains about how much of an idiot their boss is, it's usually because he falls into this 'bad' category. They operate on buzzwords, and they seem to show no knowledge or interest in the actual inner-workings of those below them. Usually they are more concerned with how much people like them, or how good they look to their superiors than with actually 'managing' anything.
When these people interview, they aren't looking for the best employee... they're looking for the person who answers the Standard Form interview questions most in accordance with the Standard Form Answer Sheet they have in front of them. In addition, they probably want you to BS them, because obviously this shows that you're serious about doing the job properly (or rather, putting forward the
appearance
that you're doing the job properly), even if that means lying through your teeth. Probably the reason you said you 'have to' BS 60% of the interview is because you've only had, or heard about people having, interviewers like the one I'm describing (they seem to be everywhere in customer-service jobs).
This is why I called it a crapshoot, maybe honesty will get you hired, maybe it will specifically
not
get you hired. The silver-lining here is that if you don't get the job because you didn't lie well enough -- you probably wouldn't have wanted that job anyways. If MyTie's interviewer had told him "We're sorry MyTie, we're looking for someone who is willing to put their family at risk" -- I'm sure he wouldn't have been too broken up about not getting hired.
The only people who can be BS'd are those who
wish
to be BS'd. Those who wish to be BS'd make horrible managers. Staying honest will therefore naturally filter out horrible managers, and ultimately lead to a better job, even if it means a few 'bad' interviews with 'bad' managers along the way. (If this is a more serious career-type job, then I think my reasoning would still apply. Having a bad career is far worse than having a bad summer job).
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