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Interview Questions You Need to Stop Asking Job Candidates

While perhaps thought provoking, the interview questions you need to stop asking job candidates seem ready to set them up to fail.

By Jake PinePublished 6 years ago 5 min read
Top Story - October 2017
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Job interviews can be stressful for all parties, and more often than you might think the interviewer, not the job candidate, derails the interview. This is usually done through poor, unrelated, or impossible to answer questions. The best interviews should turn into somewhat of a conversation, and this is never accomplished by an interviewer asking a trivial or dead-end question.

Who is to say you even want the gig yet — this interviewer should be doing more than interrogating you, especially if they have any hope of landing a talented candidate. If they are making you beg for the job, just imagine the unrelenting hell the day-to-day of that job will likely be.

Sometimes, bad interview questions are how bad employees get good jobs. So, what are the interview questions you need to stop asking job candidates? Read some of the worst here.

Why should we hire you?

"Why should we hire you?" This is one of the biggest interview questions you need to stop asking job candidates. First of all, the question is ridiculous and giving an answer is almost always going to make the candidate look like an asshole. There is no good answer, and it puts the candidate in an awkward beg/brag position — an extremely small needle to thread.

You don't even know if you want the job yet, you are just doing some further investigation in the form of a simple first job interview. If the interviewer ever asks you this, counter and ask them why you should work there. And if they have a good answer, hell, maybe you should work there.

What is your greatest weakness?

This is one of the top interview questions you need to stop asking job candidates, as it's extremely unhelpful and borderline intrusive. Not only is it none of their business, but who in their right mind would even answer this question honestly? What do you expect the candidate to say? This seems more like a patient/therapist question, and personal details you shouldn't share in a job interview.

It also comes off as a bit of a power play, and who wants to get involved with any of that? There are many other more effective ways to gauge the type of person the potential job candidate is.

What would your last boss say about you?

What do you even know about this person's last boss anyway? It's irrelevant to the position you're applying for — assuming you didn't get canned for socking your last boss in the face. Why is this boss the ultimate authority? He could be a recently imprisoned pedophile for all you know. Their opinion isn't all that important is the main point.

Now, if your last boss didn't like you or thought you sucked as an employee, there are probably ways they can find that information out, but let them do that leg work. They shouldn't be making you incriminate yourself.

What was your last pay rate?

If they are already looking to nickel and dime you during a job interview, you should get up out of the chair and never look back. What do they need this information for? So they can knock your pay rate down, or offer you less at a later point? The pay should be told to you in advance, and then it is what it is.

It's absolutely one of the interview questions you need to stop asking job candidates right now, and it's a sure sign of a sinking ship. It's the hallmark of a low-rent, amateur operation, and it's not the type of place anybody with options would handcuff themselves to.

Tell me about yourself.

While this is widely used, it's also among the interview questions you need to stop asking job candidates. This can come off as pretty lazy, like you failed to even skim their resume. While the reasoning behind this question is fine, it's assumed that you're trying to get a bit more of the candidate's background, or see if it's a cultural fit.

However, there are much better ways to phrase this type of question. Ask them about their most recent position, or role related to the job they're applying for. Get them talking about the job in question, and see if they have any knowledge of it firsthand.

Where do you see yourself in five years?

Where do you see yourself in five years?" Not here, not after that question. Today's world is all about mobility, and while you don't want a high employee turnover rate, it is a reality in many lower level first jobs. If a better opportunity came along, you'd have to be a dope not to jump at it.

There are other ways to finesse this question, and avoid asking one of the dumber interview questions you need to stop asking job candidates. Ask them a little bit more about the field of the job, and you can see the level of interest they have — giving you a better idea of how long they might stick around.

What makes you better than the other candidates?

How the hell should I know? You tell me, I've never even met any of the other candidates. Undoubtably, the candidate will launch into a spiel of how dedicated and hardworking they are, how married they would be to the job, etc. This is nonsense, and it doesn't mean anything. Only somebody who is in love with the sound of their own voice would enjoy tackling this question.

This is one of the interview questions you need to stop asking job candidates. A better way for an interviewer to ask this is to simply ask themselves — THEY are doing the job interviewing. It's pretty simple to figure out, and comes across as a dumb, sing-for-your-supper question. Did you tape the previous candidates interview, and if so, can I watch it? Otherwise I got no clue, and I am uncomfortable making decisions based on no information.

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About the Creator

Jake Pine

A former Division-1 QB and alt-country enthusiast

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