Job Discussion Forums

[Glenski]

Hang on a second. I was interrupted when I responded to this question...

[basiltherat]

interesting reply. clearly i cannot change the traditional questions (curved or otherwise) that interviewers ask and the way they are put across. however, i stand by what i say ie the first question was/is very poorly phrased ( i would have asked it in a way similar to what i proposed, in fact ,would recommend it) and, in the second, that less technical words/jargon was required. Why make language complicated wen it could be made so easy. I find it disconcerting that professional people, such as interviewers cannot manage to do this. in my view, companies whose interview questions run along, what I believe to be amateurish lines, such as the one I faced (albeit very briefly), are not those that i would consider working for anyway.
anyway, i appreciate and do see your views on this. good day see you on another discussion, perhaps. thanks again for your views.
rgrds
basil

ps the line about age and name should have read : I would not, for example , answer with my age if someone asked me what my name was. would you ?

[biffinbridge]

When asked a tricky question always reply with a trickier one.As the great Steve Wright once responded..."'If you're travelling in a car at the speed of light and you turn the lights on...(pause)....does anything happen?"

[shmooj]

basil, I'm intrigued. Who was it you were being interviewed by when you slammed the phone down? It wasn't recently was it?

[basiltherat]

shmooj
not long ago at all. a school in northern poland, near gdansk.
english unlimited it was called.
rgds
basil

[shmooj]

aaaahhh.... you know, for a minute I thought it might have been that British Council job I had to turn down in Aleppo! Wishful thinking I guess...

[Deborann]

Weirdest interview question I was asked was:
Are you an oak or a willow?

I answered that I was a gum tree.

Got the job too

[naturegirl321]

I hate the strength/weakness quiestion. But get it a lot. I ask my friends and family. And then type out a cheat sheet and study before the interview.

[basiltherat]

@shmooj
oh ? what happened to bc offer ?? im surprised u turned it down. any particlar reasons.
just""intriqued"".
rgrds
basil

[Chris]

As has been pointed out, the strengths/weaknesses questions are pretty much standard. I've had them at probably 75% of all the interviews I've been to. But can't say that I like them!

The job that I'm about to start asked my references the strengths/weaknesses question about me. I guess that is pretty approprate as they are more objective than we are. Thank God I told my reference what to say (she happens to be a good friend, but was my legitimate boss). She said she would have had no clue what to say.

Anyway, for a telephone customer service job that I had way back before I got into teaching, I had questions that were more situational than factual. I can't recall any actual questions, but I do remember they were quite bizarre. Got the offer, but didn't accept.

Thank God I won't be interviewing again for another minimum 2 years! *knock on wood*

[shmooj]