Hacker News Reader

Comment by braythwayt | Hacker News Reader

I agree.

This kind of question ("Tell me about your weaknesses," "Tell me one thing you think your (current|ex) manager could do better to manage you," &c.) often test for one of two behaviours:

1. Diplomacy and tact, and/or; 2. Ability to regurgitate a template answer you can find in any rudimentary book on handling behavioural interviews.

It takes extreme skill to get a candid answer out of everyone, so it is easy to get gamed by the tactful people at the expense of people who don't read a book about how to ace the interview.

But people who don't read books about interviews can be very competent at their actual jobs.

View on HN

> Tell me about your weaknesses

Whenever that question comes up - which happens more often than it should - I always concentrate on my inability to swim and my current plans (and barriers) for rectifying the situation.

> Tell me one thing you think your (current|ex) manager could do better to manage you

This sort of question is, for me, a good opportunity to start talking about task delegation - particularly as a learning opportunity - and how difficult it can be to get it right. Making sure, of course, not to give the impression that the previous manager was a complete failure at it (circumstances derailed the plan, etc)

I work for small companies mostly, except for one stint where I was officially the “dev lead”, I mostly am on paper a “Senior Software Engineer”. But, I’ve often been put in front of client, contractors, investors. and CxOs. Having tact in those situations is important.

But, I’m also all about getting things done, I’m blunt with my direct managers after I have established a relationship with them. Yes I do soft skills interview prep and I’ve done so for the last 20+ years. My success rate at interviewing is close to 100%.

maybe it tests for how important the job is to you - is the job important enough that you will do this demeaning exercise in order to get hired?

If that job starts with a demeaning exercise, how many more of them are ahead?

If you use these questions in your interviews, you are selecting for skilled liars.

Won’t that select for desperate candidates that don’t have many options? Wouldn’t a company prefer candidates that are so desired they don’t feel the need to do do the limbo?

On the face, maybe, but if they qualify and they're desperate, they'll agree to a lower salary and be less likely to seek out a competitor to work at.

In contrast, someone who doesn't feel pressured to take this job or else will seek a more competitive pay, and maybe leave for another job if they're dissatisfied.

The desperate candidate that you underpay will lose the desperation after getting the job, realize they are getting ripped off, and leave much quicker than someone compensated at the market rate.

Testing for desperation is an abuser behavior. They're looking for ability to control, ability to get away with things. I strongly encourage people to stay far away from companies that hire like that.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com