Smart Answers to Dumb Job Interview Questions

Reinforcing the perspective that there is no such thing as a bad/dumb interview question, here are some comments I’ve received to my recent article “Dumb Answers to Bad Interview Questions.”

The most commonly cited “dumb” question was “if you were a plant, what kind of plant would you be?” Variants of this question included animal, flower, food and kitchen utensil. I was convinced that these collectively represented the dumbest interview question of all time. Until I received this message:

“…I was asked the ‘If you were a plant…’ interview question once. I said I would be a cactus, because I survive the harshest environments and in the workplace I ‘bloom’ even with minimal ‘water’ (meaning support, resources, etc.). A week later I got the job. They told me there were several strong candidates but my answer to this question was the tipping point for them. So I don’t hate that question anymore…”

So it seems that it is possible for really inane interview questions to provide job candidates with an opportunity, if they have a truly great answer. I’m reminded of the baseball coach who told his players that being good enough to beat the other team wasn’t enough. They had to be good enough to beat the bad umpires. in other words, you have to be so much better that you can’t be held back by someone else’s errors or actions.

So for job interviews, you have to be good enough to beat the other candidates AND overcome the interviewers bad questions.

More tips for current job seekers – visit my “Win the Job War” blog.

Another example. We all hate the “what is your greatest weakness” question, but this answer really knocked it out of the ballpark:

“…If you had asked me that question three years ago I would have told you that financial acumen was my weak area. But I attended classes and online training programs, and worked on several projects to gain more knowledge in that area. And the development area I’m focused on now is leading and motivating cross-cultural and multi-generational teams, because this is an area I know many businesses are struggling with…”

Wow. If I had that answer ready to go, I would be itching for the interviewer to ask me about my greatest weaknesses, rather than feel frustrated by a supposedly “dumb” question.

So in the end, the viability and efficacy of virtually any interview question appears to be in the hands of the interviewee. I am fully persuaded that there ARE no bad interview questions – only bad/incomplete/unfocused answers.