VERY helpful. I recommend saying your answers out loud, and preferrably with a friend or sig other, until you feel comfortable articulating them verbally. (Have them watch for body language and “ums…”) Not to become a rote parrot, but to feel more fluid in your speech. Lastly, if you get a question you are not clear on – or if you want to gain more time for one – DO pause, think, and then repeat it back to them (paraphrase), asking if you have it correct. I respect someone who rephrases, queries, or delves further into what we are looking for, than pat answers spouted off quickly.

I believe this is a bit of misunderstanding here.
“Have you done anything in the last year to learn new things/improve yourself in relation to the requirements of this job?”

It’s *this* job we’re talking about, the one you apply for. Not *that* job (i.e flipping burgers) that you had last year.
And the purpose is imho to find out if your skills you think you have a match for the new job are not acquired many years ago and therefore rusty.
My 2 cents…

Great questions. Great advice!

Perhaps you should consider a getting a small loan to pay for an implant or a bridge. Since your appearance is very important regarding your job prospects, it is a reasonable investment.

In the meantime, you could still try to get a job as a night auditor. While you probably wouldn’t get hired in the better hotels, you could probably find a position in a budget hotel. As a night auditor, you have less to do with the general public than the regular front desk clerks, so the missing tooth would be less of a factor. I suspect that the weight problem would be a non-issue in most places, unless you are actually morbidly obese. This would allow you to work part time during the day, and you could save-up money for the implant, if you were unable to get the loan. You would also be getting valuable experience for your resume for when you’re ready to approach the better hotels.

About Nº 23, in my last interview the guy asked me that and I honestly told him about my plans of starting my own business…guess who got the job? ;) Sure it’s a risky bet to answer like that but maybe you’re better off not working for these kind of organizations.

A killer question to ask your interviewer (that I use in the same interview) is: What were the defining traits of this organization that make you choose it?

Prepare, be yourself (as cheesy as it sounds) and smile! Good luck!

I am overweight and missing a front tooth; I know perfectly well that I won’t get hired for a front desk position no matter how qualified I might be.

Also, since I have many years of menial job experience without anything that could be considered career-related, I also recognize that my resume is virtually worthless. There is a major disconnect between my skills and my job experience, and I don’t know how to make any advantage of that.

By the way, quite a while back I suggested that you try applying as a front desk clerk/night auditor for a hotel, and you didn’t respond to the thread. I’d like to know if you ever considered it. The pay isn’t bad, and due to a lot of turnover (it is a tough job) you can usually find a position. There are also lots of promotion opportunities available in the hospitality industry, once you have experience.

When I apply for a job, I believe I am an excellent candidate for the position. What’s wrong with that attitude?

As another interviewer, for the job seekers reading I would echo Rose – don’t freak out if you can’t answer something, and would also add that no question is really a dealbreaker, it’s the responses as a whole.

Number 25 is certainly the most important; interviewers sometimes forget that they are being interviewed by the job seeker too – I have used that opportunity to the fullest, including such things as asking to see the office floor and location I’d be working at.

cheers,
Praveen.

However, quite a few are just plain intrusive and with no justification other than the baseless and self-deluding “how they answer gives the interviewer important information, really it does!” Sadly enough, Trent actually points out this sort of question, but doesn’t seem to realise how many of his questions still fall into this category (or worse).

The intrusive (most of which are also useless) list includes 5 to 11, 13, 14, 15, definitely 17, 19, 20, 21, very definitely 19, 20 and 21.

I would make some allowances for 5, 7, 8 and 11 (yes they’re intrusive, but justifiable in most cases) – though I’d recommend rephrasing the last three to be less extreme. By which I mean – it doesn’t need to be the *biggest* success, the *biggest* failure, the *most* difficult project – just *a* success/failure, *a* difficult project. They’re really just ways to open up lines of discussion, there’s no need to be overly dramatic. I actually quite enjoy answering 7, 8 and 11 in interviews.

22, however, is in a different category. It’s just abusive and bordering on sadistic (as well as unprofessional). There’s no way such a question should ever be asked if it’s not salary negotiation. And if the interviewer doesn’t have any control over the final salary, there’s just no situation where it’s appropriate to discuss the topic. Even if the interviewee brings it up, all the interviewer should do is say something like “I don’t have any control over that, you can discuss it with $PERSON later on.”

23 and 24 are the same type of question – both are intrusive and probably shouldn’t be asked as a general rule, though I wouldn’t put them in quite the same category as the offensively invasive ones like 17, 19, 20 and 21. Much as with 5, 7, 8 and 11; there *may* be some value in them, but don’t expect any.

25 is fine, but you really shouldn’t put too much weight on it (depending again very much on the type of job it is) – but I find it amusing when people pontificate stuff like “not having questions is a sign that you aren’t really interested.” Yeah, that sounds like it’s based on a *really* reliable kind of anecdotal evidence. :-)

But seriously, what interviewee (who actually *wants* the job in question) will outright refuse to answer one of the questions an interviewer might ask? (aside from stubborn bastards like me, I mean :))

Some of the most popular intrusive questions of yesteryear may now be illegal, but none of these questions are (well, number 20 could be somewhat dicey). But even when asked an illegal question, there’s little practical chance of recourse – if you protest, you *may* be able to get the interviewer/employer punished – but the only thing you can be absolutely sure of is that you won’t get the job. Much the same applies for the legal-but-inappropriate questions – well, at least the no-chance-of-getting-the-job part.

Interviewers, don’t abuse your position. Ask what really needs to be asked. Don’t ask questions that won’t give you *real* information in making a decision. And don’t ask uselessly invasive questions just because you can.

I am a regular reader of your blog, and a regular cross-poster at my place too.

First of all, a brilliant collection. I do use quite a few of these. These are really good for personality analysis of the candidate. A person may be the greatest coder on the earth, but if he does not have a vision, or if he is not honest, I would not want to hire him. Kudos !

OT: brilliant image – where do you get your images from?

GCM

- Don’t freak if you can’t answer all the questions, especially in technical interviews. It does not mean the interview was a bust. I had to interview people for a very intense team so needed a way to filter out those who can’t handle a little stress. One or two questions wasn’t about the perfect answer it was about how they handled not having a perfect answer.

- Give all questions equal respect, even if they seem dumb or simple. I’ve heard of people interviewing as a software architect not get a job because they were asked a basic 1st year computer science question, stumbled on it and instead of correcting replied, “That question is beneath me!”

- Stop and think when asked a questions like “Are you sure of your answer?” This is also mainly for technical. This is either the interviewers way of letting you catch a simple mistake or a way of them checking to see how you are checking your work. Never just immediately say yes. Go over what you did and say the self checks you are doing out loud. Even if you still miss the mistake the interviewer may right it off to nerves if you show good self check skills.

I disagree vehemently with #24. If you asked this question in 1993 (15 years ago) how many people would have said *anything* having to do with the Internet? Point being – aside from some high level platitude like ‘own my own company’ or ‘get a phd’ – any serious attempt at answering this question is a little naive towards the reality of how rapidly things evolve in this day and age.

When I apply for a job, I am confident I can do an excellent job. My grades and test scores were in the top 5 percent, so I know I have above-average intelligence for most jobs. (Rocket scientist is out.)

But I have no confidence that I couldf actually get hired, so my skills and abilities are irrelevant.

I did an interview where I got what I thought was a great question, though it probably applies mainly to technical people. He asked me, “If we hired you, and told you to just go and work on whatever you want, create your own project with no input from us at all, what would it be?”

It’s like your #12 on steroids. I nailed it, too.