RE: Advice for Job Seekers

["Lydia Wong" <lydiaw -at- fpoint -dot- com>]

I wrote in a previous post:

<snip> One of our favorite questions to ask interviewees is "what are the
three best and the three worst traits of your former managers?" </snip>

Mark Baker and Melanie Shook took issue with the interview question,
writing:

Mark Baker: <snip> I am disturbed by question of this sort being used in
interviews. </snip>

Melanie Shook: <snip> I agree! If anyone ever asks me one of those questions
again, I'll just walk out.  . . . Ask me to DO something, how would I
document such and such, what would be the questions I would ask, etc. Not
some silly question out of a silly book meant to put me on the spot.</snip>

My response:

Just to set the record straight here, this wasn't a question "out of a silly
book." My husband was asked it in an interview once, and he said he really
enjoyed the discussion that followed with his interviewer. (Yes, he got the
job.) Maybe that person got it from a book, but I didn't.

In our experience asking this question, the only time I remember getting an
odd response was from the person I mentioned in my first post. Otherwise,
most people have had very thoughtful, interesting responses, and we have
often spent part of the interview then discussing things like corporate
culture, management styles, and expectations.

I'm surprised that Melanie thought this is a silly question, and that Mark
found it disturbing. But I guess we're all different.

Lydia
-------------------
Lydia Wong
Technical Writer
FarPoint Technologies, Inc.
www.fpoint.com <http://www.fpoint.com>