My least favourite interview question
Tell me a bit about yourself. What are your hobbies? What interests you?
Sounds friendly enough, doesn't it? But for a candidate, this can be one of the most challenging questions in their interview.
Why? Because almost any answer runs the risk of triggering an interviewer's prejudice! Also I'm ashamed to say that my own answer has usually been 'mostly I work', accompanied by a nice smile. Sad but true!
My advice to candidates in this particular area has always been to steer clear of anything remotely controversial – which can, of course, mean that people aren't really showing their true selves.
Some candidates don't agree – in fact some have said that if the interviewer didn't show any interest in them
as a person they wouldn't want to join the company. Fair enough, of course – but my point is that questions of this kind really shouldn't be part of a formal set piece interview. In that context they create all kinds of pressure to perform
– and a wrong
answer (from the interviewer's personal and sometimes prejudiced point of view) can be very damaging to the candidate.
But it does raise another interesting thought. What are the chances that you'll really get to know
someone in the hour or so that you spend with them during the recruitment process? Especially when those hours will often be split between several people?
Look at it this way. The biggest purchasing decision you'll ever make is your house – and most people make that decision in twenty minutes. Scary (for me) but accurate.
And an interview comes a pretty close second. You make a decision about inviting someone to join your team or company over a relatively short period of time (and they you). But if it's done properly, then even that short timeframe is long enough.
