Realize that an interview is more like a date, and the question is merely a means to a conversation. i.e. the interviewer depends as much on the interviewER, a

Realize that an interview is more like a date, and the question is merely a means to a conversation. i.e. the interviewer depends as much on the interviewER, as it does on the interviewEE. i.e. The questions you ask do matter, but what matters far more, is how the interviewer judges the interviewee on those questions. I've worked with Nicholas Zakas before. He is a sharp and thoughtful person. Plus, he has probably given this question hundreds of times, to have a strong BS detector. And there will be several followup questions, to separate the wheat from the chaff. I bet he is going to get what he wants, from this question. Is this the only question that can identify great candidates? No. Is this one good one, that fits his evaluation style and his values? Yes, and that's what he is sharing with us. [About me: I run http://InterviewKickstart.com http://InterviewKickstart.com in the valley. We prepare candidates for technical interviews, and deal with a variety of these situations every day]