Who thought this would be a good interview question? For that matter doesn’t everyone respond with the nearly the same corny answer.
“I’ve been known to work too hard on assignments”
There are at least 2 problems with this response.
A) What the hell does that even mean? Are you passing out from exhaustion? Maybe your some quack-job who snaps at anything interfering with them and their deadline.
B) This sounds like an same archaic BS response that career councilors have been feeding to the masses for more years then I’ve been alive.
I’ve interviewed with many companies and I can honestly say that creative answers and a stress-free demeanor are far more important than sweaty foreheads and textbook replies. This wasn’t an overnight epiphany either.
One of the first full-time positions I interviewed for was with a woman who looked only four years older than me. Needless to say I was nervous like a presidential candidate hooked to a lie-detector test. At the end of the interview she asked if I had any questions for her and in my stress-addled state I decided to tell her how young I thought she was…as for the result, her face said it all.
The point I’m trying to make is simple. Having a “nothing-to-lose” attitude going into an interview will give you a calm state of mind. When your at this point you can get a lot more creative with your responses to those BS questions. Get personable, interviewers eat it up. I’m talking real “bleeding-heart” kind of answers. Let them know with PASSION about how you pacified that irate customer at Quiznos.
Hint: Exaggeration can be a useful tool as long as it sounds believable or cannot be disproved.
As for me, “Well, I would say that my biggest weakness is identifying personal weaknesses when I could be applying this solid work ethic and determination to blowing the pants off of your expectations.”
