Job interview behavioral questions

[Spacealien2]

What are your favorites? And how would you respond to them?

I'm getting an interview soon, I've got everything else covered other than behavioral types of questions. Help me out!

 

[Mr Bret]

I hate when they ask what your weaknesses are.
I tell them that I can often be a perfectionist and I realize that that reduces efficiency, so I have to work on knowing when to relax the level of my demands.
I also have to expect high quality from my employees, but be realistic in that they may not all be perfectionists like I am.

 

[diehard]

"My weakness is that I give sarcastic answers to dumb questions like this. Next question please."

My weaknesses = TERB and duos

 

[Questor]

"My weakness is that I give sarcastic answers to dumb questions like this. Next question please."

Very good answer. Next candidate please. LOL

 

[red]

"My weakness is that I give sarcastic answers to dumb questions like this. Next question please."

so the question is mute?

 

[Eddie401]

Same answer every time. "My weakness is that I beat the crap out of the last 3 people that asked me about my weakness."

Oddly, still unemployed. People have no sense of humour.

 

[Spacealien2]

haha nice responses guys.

How do I turn the answer into a strength?

 

[Cypher]

The answer I would love to give is, "If everyone answered your corporate wank questions truthfully, no one would ever get hired. Who writes this bs?"

 

[FailsW0rth]

eg...my weakness is I get nervous during presentations - but that does not affect the quality of my work.
you can also follow up with...you are taking courses/speech classes to help with this

 

[FatOne]

Your weakness.

Point out how the question is a no win.
You say you have none which shows you to be deluded or a liar.
or
You give some sort of non answer like "I work too hard" or some other non weakness which shows an inability to understand the concept of weakness or that you think the interviewer is a complete moron
or
You give some sort of mild weakness real or imagined with a list of ways you dealt with it in which case it is no longer an actual weakness and simply scams the question
or
You tell the truth in which case you might as well tell the interviewer that his mother is a whore and slap in the face because you ain't getting that job.

I am not saying it would work, but at least spelling it out like that shows a bit of thought and is different from the usual piles of bullshit people lay on. I know I'd appreciate it.

 

[Anynym]

Do you understand what it is that you do well? Do you relate well with your colleagues? Or do you tend to keep to yourself? Are you quick to learn? Or do you take your time to ensure you've absorbed the material? Etc

If you understand what you do well, then you understand other things that you don't do as well. So, in the interview, you refer to those things as your weaknesses. But you follow up quickly by saying how that works well for the company; how you overcome that weakness - e.g. you learn at your own pace, but you overcome that weakness by spending extra time at home focusing on the topic until you're confident that you've mastered it.

I agree that the questions suck, and are manipulated by those who focus on "giving the right answer" instead of knowing what it takes to actually do the job, but such is the state of Human Resources today.

 

[Questor]

Your weakness.

Point out how the question is a no win.
You say you have none which shows you to be deluded or a liar.
or
You give some sort of non answer like "I work too hard" or some other non weakness which shows an inability to understand the concept of weakness or that you think the interviewer is a complete moron
or
You give some sort of mild weakness real or imagined with a list of ways you dealt with it in which case it is no longer an actual weakness and simply scams the question
or
You tell the truth in which case you might as well tell the interviewer that his mother is a whore and slap in the face because you ain't getting that job.

I am not saying it would work, but at least spelling it out like that shows a bit of thought and is different from the usual piles of bullshit people lay on. I know I'd appreciate it.

Good answer. Now add to that that coworkers sometimes take offence at your direct approach rather than beating around the bush or avoiding an issue, and you have answered the question in a way that can reflect well on you.

 

[legmann]

What are your favorites? And how would you respond to them?
I've got everything else covered other than behavioral types of questions. Help me out!

Those 'behavioural' type questions are the bulk of the interview today, and there are far too many to list here.
Prepare well, know yourself, and have 'stories' that you can apply to a number of different questions/scenarios.

 

[benstt]

haha nice responses guys.

How do I turn the answer into a strength?

I would have some skill in mind, like presentation skills, and phrase it back as not weakness, but something you are working on. Say that is very good to be self-aware about your skills, and you take time occasionally to seek out the opinions of others for areas you can improve, and you work on them.

 

[Jun]

My weaknesses are pretty women, I turn that into strength by pooning them :eyebrows: