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FAANG hiring managers share how to answer behavioral interview questions

104 points by sjunlee 7y ago

allovernow 7y ago
>Please don’t take the Michael Scott approach and turn this into a backhanded compliment (‘My biggest weakness is that I care too much’). I’d highly recommend giving an honest answer, and one that is as specific as possible and not handwavy. This shows that you’re self-aware and are able to independently identify areas for personal growth I disagree. People should be aware of the downsides to their strengths when they exist. One can be very creative but with the cost of a very scattered focus. One can drill down extremely deeply on problems but have trouble knowing when to move on. Then again I think this whole exercise in telling people what managers want to hear in an interview is pointless, subjective ego masturbation. What if your greatest weakness comes off as a false red flag? What if you know there's a high likelihood that they'll take it as such even though you're an above average fit for the position? Of course the manager wants an honest answer - this is the ideal answer from the manager's perspective, but piss poor advice for a candidate. Personally, I can't imagine putting an interviewee on the spot like that for such a poor, noisy signal.
- Polylactic_acid 7y ago
  What is the point in even asking this question? What kind of answer do they expect?
  - jpgvm 7y ago
    To be honest I basically feel the same for all of these behavioural questions. Bar the ones that ask specifically what you have contributed in previous roles. Stuff like "Why are you leaving your previous company" has no good answers. The linked article says as much by saying "stay positive and avoid the negative" if there are no negatives or direct benefits you seek to achieve by moving then you wouldn't be interviewing, so they are basically advising you lie as it's the only "correct" answer. When I have done hiring in the past I have generally just thrown out all of this nonsense and avoided sourcers/recruiters because everyone currently in hiring uses filters I don't agree with (education, resume etc) and don't sufficiently understand filters I DO care about (open source contributions, specific projects/teams within previous companies). Then when it comes time to actually interview I am only interested in how well they can do 2 things. a) build stuff b) work with my team. b) is still fuzzy but atleast I have a more solid idea of what that might entail and can get a good feel by talking to the person and a) is pretty objective. Don't need any coding tests just need to talk to them about what they have built, how it works in sufficient detail and their opinions and thoughts on some sufficiently deep technical topics. This mightn't scale as well but it sure beats all the nonsense and waste of money sources/recruiters/HR incur in the hiring pipeline. After I find someone I want then and only then do I take their resume/etc to HR. Never let them act as a filter as they drop great people all the time and give me a stream of "good on paper but completely useless" people that have zero culture fit. I couldn't care less IF or WHERE you went to university. If you learnt to build stuff at university, great, basement of your parents place, great, on a bench in the park while you were homeless trying to get this job, also great. Don't care how you learnt it only that you can. Just like I don't give a rats ass if your resume doesn't have a single buzzword or anything in it. If it looks like you have worked on relevant stuff or at relevant places that is good enough. This approach is all that has worked for me for getting genuinely good people, it takes time and effort but your team is worth it.
  - tra3 7y ago
    “In 1921, tired of hiring college graduates that didn’t know as much as he did, Thomas Edison made up a giant trivia questionnaire to administer to inbound applicants. According to Mental Floss, questions included “Who invented logarithms?” and “Why is cast iron called Pig Iron?” ... “To summarize, almost 100 years ago, an aging, eccentric, and incredibly brilliant inventor decided one day that he didn’t like hiring kids that weren’t his equals in knowledge. He devised a scheme off the cuff to indulge his preference and we’re still doing that exact thing about a century later.” Excerpt From Developer Hegemony Erik Dietrich To answe your question, the “soft skills” questions are no different then riddles. They are an arbitrary set of questions that instead of being defined by technical folks are instead created by HR people. It’s an arbitrary barrier to entry that allows HR to rank candidates.
- happytoexplain 7y ago
  Exactly. Telling interviewees that what interviewers want to hear is "honest answers" sounds like the advice of somebody so deep in manager land they've become out of touch with the fundamentals of human interaction. The beginning of a business relationship is no different from the beginning of any relationship: You can be perfectly honest without being so frank about your flaws that you create a bad impression. The question is pointless bullshit that does nothing but arbitrarily pare down your candidate list for lack of anything more germane to distinguish them by. And it sounds poignant, so it's easy to convince yourself of its genius.
  - chris11 7y ago
    I'm not a manager, or even a senior engineer. But I've also noticed personally that I'm comfortable judging an interviewee's answer to my open-ended questions. I really like concise answers that make it easy for me to dig into specific details. I can have objective standards for answers about specific details. Giving a handwavy answer to an open-ended question may be better than giving a detailed answer that leads to an objectively bad answer. But it leaves me feeling less excited about the candidate. Giving "honest answers" is dangerous. Even if it's diplomatic, the interviewer could decide it's the wrong answer. But you are also interviewing company, so if your answer is something you really care about a wrong answer probably indicates a bad company fit. For instance I remember I was interviewing at a startup, and I was concerned that their core business depended on a project where the deadlines and deliverables were not adjustable, so I asked them about WLB and long-term crunchtime. I was told that they disagreed with the premise of my question, they viewed the work as a marathon, not a sprint. Culturally it was very important to them that the workload and hours in the office were sustainable. I was really impressed with that answer. I also had a phone screen with an early stage startup where long hours were mentioned. And when I commented about it, the interviewer said he had no problem with it because he was really excited about the work and really liked his coworkers as friends. Both things are great to have at your job, but I thought that was a bad answer to a question about long work hours. Those were two completely different cultures, and I'd be fine knowing that the same "honest answer" cost me a job offer from one of those companies.
    - 7y ago
- fg6hr 7y ago
  This question sends a message "I'm a boss, you're a rank-and-file employee. Now, when we've made it clear, do a little self shaming." Imagine addressing this question to a senior lawyer that you need to sort out some complicated situation. I guess, the lawyer would be first stunned for a second and then insulted that he's being treated like a kid.
  - deleted 7y ago
    [deleted]
  - joshuamorton 7y ago
    Would they? Lots of law firms advertise when not to use them, and will often refer you to other, better options.
    - 6gvONxR4sf7o 7y ago
      But you don't go to a lawyer and ask what they don't do. You ask whether they can solve your specific problem.
      - joshuamorton 7y ago
        And you don't (often) hire full-time employees to solve a specific problem. They may work in a domain, but you don't hire someone to solve a specific problem.
- freepor 7y ago
  The question is really testing whether you can tell someone what they want to hear while making it seem like you’re being honest, which is a very useful skill both for internal politics and customer interactions.
  - mewpmewp2 7y ago
    Yeah I think so too. I wonder if they themselves also believe that. The ones who are asking you to be honest. It could be just likely that this is a bullshit media answer demonstrating the exact same dishonest way to answer questions. It is a terrible irony and joke, really. I do not know a much better solution for it though.
fg6hr 7y ago
Rather than studying how to be a good doormat (oh, I meant, how to master the behavioral interviews), it's a much better use of time to read the G. Morgan's "Images of Organization".
- mewpmewp2 7y ago
  Could you elaborate further about the book and why it is good. Will it help me earn more money?
shaggyfrog 7y ago
Hearing “What’s your biggest weakness?” from an interviewer should be a strong red flag for a candidate that they don’t know what they’re doing. Not only is it a manipulative question, the response is basically meaningless if the candidate knows the game, because you’ll get back a scripted answer. Those who don’t know the game and answer honestly will only hurt their chances at getting the job. The only question I think it worse is “what would your former manager say about you?”
- tigen 7y ago
  What's funny is apparently these managers know and want a scripted ("rehearsed") answer. It's a mating dance.
  - keyboardbarista 7y ago
    In my experience they don't. They want to know if you're a reasonable, self-aware person who can communicate effectively. Let's say you name a reasonable weakness that can easily be improved upon and that doesn't spell disaster for your ability to do your job. And let's say they reject you. Either they're a terrible company to work for, or they have a huge mistake in their interview process. In the former case you don't want to work for a terrible company, so great, they just saved you years of pain. In the latter case, hey, mistakes happen. That's out of your control. Life is random sometimes. Besides, it's highly unlikely to be significant enough to tank your entire interview.
    - detaro 7y ago
      > Let's say you name a reasonable weakness that can easily be improved upon and that doesn't spell disaster for your ability to do your job. To the recipient, that is equally likely the rehearsed answer, because from high school on your told to think of one to reply to that question that fits into what your interviewer probably thinks is reasonable. And there's the entire thing where some people answering truthfully would tell the interviewer things the interviewer isn't legally allowed to ask about, which is always a lovely strategy for running an interview.
mewpmewp2 7y ago
As someone who has social anxiety and depression I don't think I can be honest with a lot of these questions. My real weakness would be inability to connect with people and constant fear of doing something wrong or being terrible at what I do. I usually think up some random weaknesses that I consider irrelevant and speak about those just to prove that I can be self aware. Also I think very big portion what I am saying is bullshit because I don't even particularly remember a lot of the details of the stories that would match those questions. So I have to come up with new stories or think up details for the stories I don't quite remember. I passed Amazon interview process and all the other behavioral interviews I have ever attended so I must be doing something right despite my constant feeling of terror and anxiety. I do think that I want to find a completely remote job now, I hate being in the office around people and I feel so much better when I can work from home. However I am afraid this might worsen the issue since I am not putting myself out there. But it doesn't seem to me as if putting myself out there has also helped my anxiety.
- barry-cotter 7y ago
  > As someone who has social anxiety and depression I don't think I can be honest with a lot of these questions. You’re not supposed to be honest. No one expects you to be honest. Everyone knows everyone knows it’s a game. It’s like the algorithm and data structure interview; it shows preparation and intelligence to be able to answer the questions well, whether your answers are based on a real event or pure fiction. If you can pretend to be a fantastic hire with lots of preparation there’s a reasonable chance you can actually show decent judgment if hired.
  - 6gvONxR4sf7o 7y ago
    >No one expects you to be honest. From OP: >What’s your weakness? >“Please don’t take the Michael Scott approach and turn this into a backhanded compliment (‘My biggest weakness is that I care too much’). I’d highly recommend giving an honest answer, and one that is as specific as possible and not handwavy. Some people believe in this B.S.
    - 7y ago
asdfq1234 7y ago
break up these rancid companies
pikklemonster 7y ago
Mostly these aren't really behavioral interview questions. Behavioral interview questions typically sound something like "tell me about a time when you..." There's lots of value in a real, well crafted behavioral interview question, but most of these examples are just run-of-the-mill low-value interview questions.
- mewpmewp2 7y ago
  Tell me about the time questions still make me think up bullshit answers as I have to adapt my existing stories to the question etc. I also don't have the best memory so I have to think up some details and sometimes I just say something plain wrong by mistake and I have to keep going with it in order to save face. I do feel like a Michael Scott actually.
wwweston 7y ago
"What's your biggest weakness?" "Well, I tend to think about things that may be interesting and even have implications for work at hand for a given organization, but may turn out to be impolitic. For example: to what degree do behavioral interview questions either resemble on the job activity, or correlate with performance? If that degree is small, what's the real function of behavioral interview questions? Now, I'm sure you'll agree, that's an interesting question, maybe even one that could be used to generate productive insights for the right company. But on the other hand, it may not be very well directed to my immediate interests and goals -- there may be a much more productive answer that's more likely to result in concrete positives, like a job offer. So, you know, probably something for me to work on." (This supersedes my previous nose-thumbing answer, which was "Fire.")
- eschneider 7y ago
  I dunno, I’d probably hire on the “fire” answer.
- Supermancho 7y ago
  I appreciate the thought you have put into this. I'm open and honest, which means it took me a long time to get into a very senior position, where it's looked on as a strength while rank-and-file are punished to this day.
- will_pseudonym 7y ago
  Since the article references The Office, I must mention that this response: Q: "What's your biggest weakness?" A: "Fire" ...seems like _such_ a Dwight Schrute saying (but he would be saying it unironically).
deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
gsich 7y ago
GMAFIA not FAANG. Why is Netflix in that list?
- barry-cotter 7y ago
  Because working for IBM is just as cool and respected as working for Accenture.
- ab_io 7y ago
  Because of their stock growth
- punchclockhero 7y ago
  Makes the acronym less offensive.
  - gsich 7y ago
    Well it's not offensive in the first place.
keyboardbarista 7y ago
There's so much cynicism from a subset of the HN crowd every time something interview-related like this is posted. Some of that cynicism is warranted, sure, but not in this case. I'll keep it real: These aren't trick questions. They're simple, fair, and easy questions, and as such they're a good way to filter out people who have atrocious communication skills, or who possess mediocre theory of mind abilities, i.e. you can't put yourself in someone else's shoes and empathize with what they're looking for. If you find these questions particularly difficult, consider the strong possibility that you're lacking here. "What's your biggest weakness?" This one is so simple it hurts: sincerely and honestly state a reasonable weakness. For example, "I've spent lots of time working solo, so while I've learned how to wear many hats, I don't have much experience working as part of a team." If you have terrible weaknesses that can't be overcome and would seriously impair your ability to do the job, you probably shouldn't be hired anyway. If you're completely unable to list any of your own shortcomings, then you lack self awareness. The desire to lie and talk about a fake shortcoming often comes from a scarcity mindset: "I need this job so badly that I'll say anything they want to hear. I need to be perfect!" No, in most cases you don't. And if your interviewer is so unreasonable as to expect you to be flawless, is that someone you really want to work for? There are other jobs in the sea, keep looking. "Tell me about a project you worked on." I couldn't agree more with what the person in the article said. Talk about YOUR contributions. The company is trying to hire YOU. What did YOU do? How did you do it, and why did it matter? Again, this is about communication. If you have a halfway decent theory of mind, it should be obvious what an employer would want to hear from you when you answer this question. Demonstrate your technical depth. Show that you're aware of and care about the impact your role has on the company's higher-level goals. That you can take initiative, drive things to completion, lead, execute quickly, handle complexity, learn over time, and make good decisions. "Why do you want to leave your company?" People leave jobs. It's a fact of life. If you can't explain why you left, you seem clueless or even dodgy. Obviously if the job was still amazing for you, you'd still be there, so I can't agree with the article's advice to never mention anything negative. Just tell the truth, communicate it effectively, and address potential concerns. For example, if there were interpersonal issues, don't just dwell on those -- compare to other jobs you've had in the past where you've been able to work well with others together, and stress how important it is to you to work in an environment where people can communicate well, have good intentions, and support each other. These questions just aren't that hard, and unless you have a seriously flawed track record, you don't have to be dishonest to give great answers. More importantly, those answers should be a reflection of YOURSELF. If a company doesn't like you, chances are you wouldn't like them. It's like dating. The goal is not to be a match with 100% of people. Just be your best self. Corollary: If there's a test that you find particularly hard to pass in life, your knee-jerk reaction will always be to criticize the test. But it's important to consider your own potential shortcomings and ask, "Why is this test so hard for me?" That way lies self improvement.
pugworthy 7y ago
I would roll my eyes if I heard some of these answers
yibg 7y ago
I've done my share of interviews at FAANG companies, on both sides of the table, and I haven't encountered most of these questions except "Tell me about a project you worked on". At least not with enough frequency for them to stick out. Some times recruiters will ask about why I'm leaving my current company but that's about it. They usually don't show up in the loops.
throwawayrj 7y ago
I wish somebody also tells the Giant eCommerce retailer's leadership principles interview. That one is the weirdest interviews I have ever attended to this date and I am confident nothing else can top that. The HR emphasised a lot on preparing those 12 leadership principles and how it is really important for succeeding there. I walked into a room where a person on the other end of video conferencing started pounding me "tell me about a time" questions and whenever I started answering something genuine, he stopped me and said "No, No, No, you are supposed to answer from one of the 12 points that our dear lord CEO likes". It honestly felt like a cult.

104 points by sjunlee 7y ago

>Please don’t take the Michael Scott approach and turn this into a backhanded compliment (‘My biggest weakness is that I care too much’). I’d highly recommend giving an honest answer, and one that is as specific as possible and not handwavy. This shows that you’re self-aware and are able to independently identify areas for personal growth I disagree. People should be aware of the downsides to their strengths when they exist. One can be very creative but with the cost of a very scattered focus. One can drill down extremely deeply on problems but have trouble knowing when to move on. Then again I think this whole exercise in telling people what managers want to hear in an interview is pointless, subjective ego masturbation. What if your greatest weakness comes off as a false red flag? What if you know there's a high likelihood that they'll take it as such even though you're an above average fit for the position? Of course the manager wants an honest answer - this is the ideal answer from the manager's perspective, but piss poor advice for a candidate. Personally, I can't imagine putting an interviewee on the spot like that for such a poor, noisy signal.

Polylactic_acid 7y ago
What is the point in even asking this question? What kind of answer do they expect?
- jpgvm 7y ago
  To be honest I basically feel the same for all of these behavioural questions. Bar the ones that ask specifically what you have contributed in previous roles. Stuff like "Why are you leaving your previous company" has no good answers. The linked article says as much by saying "stay positive and avoid the negative" if there are no negatives or direct benefits you seek to achieve by moving then you wouldn't be interviewing, so they are basically advising you lie as it's the only "correct" answer. When I have done hiring in the past I have generally just thrown out all of this nonsense and avoided sourcers/recruiters because everyone currently in hiring uses filters I don't agree with (education, resume etc) and don't sufficiently understand filters I DO care about (open source contributions, specific projects/teams within previous companies). Then when it comes time to actually interview I am only interested in how well they can do 2 things. a) build stuff b) work with my team. b) is still fuzzy but atleast I have a more solid idea of what that might entail and can get a good feel by talking to the person and a) is pretty objective. Don't need any coding tests just need to talk to them about what they have built, how it works in sufficient detail and their opinions and thoughts on some sufficiently deep technical topics. This mightn't scale as well but it sure beats all the nonsense and waste of money sources/recruiters/HR incur in the hiring pipeline. After I find someone I want then and only then do I take their resume/etc to HR. Never let them act as a filter as they drop great people all the time and give me a stream of "good on paper but completely useless" people that have zero culture fit. I couldn't care less IF or WHERE you went to university. If you learnt to build stuff at university, great, basement of your parents place, great, on a bench in the park while you were homeless trying to get this job, also great. Don't care how you learnt it only that you can. Just like I don't give a rats ass if your resume doesn't have a single buzzword or anything in it. If it looks like you have worked on relevant stuff or at relevant places that is good enough. This approach is all that has worked for me for getting genuinely good people, it takes time and effort but your team is worth it.
- tra3 7y ago
  “In 1921, tired of hiring college graduates that didn’t know as much as he did, Thomas Edison made up a giant trivia questionnaire to administer to inbound applicants. According to Mental Floss, questions included “Who invented logarithms?” and “Why is cast iron called Pig Iron?” ... “To summarize, almost 100 years ago, an aging, eccentric, and incredibly brilliant inventor decided one day that he didn’t like hiring kids that weren’t his equals in knowledge. He devised a scheme off the cuff to indulge his preference and we’re still doing that exact thing about a century later.” Excerpt From Developer Hegemony Erik Dietrich To answe your question, the “soft skills” questions are no different then riddles. They are an arbitrary set of questions that instead of being defined by technical folks are instead created by HR people. It’s an arbitrary barrier to entry that allows HR to rank candidates.
happytoexplain 7y ago
Exactly. Telling interviewees that what interviewers want to hear is "honest answers" sounds like the advice of somebody so deep in manager land they've become out of touch with the fundamentals of human interaction. The beginning of a business relationship is no different from the beginning of any relationship: You can be perfectly honest without being so frank about your flaws that you create a bad impression. The question is pointless bullshit that does nothing but arbitrarily pare down your candidate list for lack of anything more germane to distinguish them by. And it sounds poignant, so it's easy to convince yourself of its genius.
- chris11 7y ago
  I'm not a manager, or even a senior engineer. But I've also noticed personally that I'm comfortable judging an interviewee's answer to my open-ended questions. I really like concise answers that make it easy for me to dig into specific details. I can have objective standards for answers about specific details. Giving a handwavy answer to an open-ended question may be better than giving a detailed answer that leads to an objectively bad answer. But it leaves me feeling less excited about the candidate. Giving "honest answers" is dangerous. Even if it's diplomatic, the interviewer could decide it's the wrong answer. But you are also interviewing company, so if your answer is something you really care about a wrong answer probably indicates a bad company fit. For instance I remember I was interviewing at a startup, and I was concerned that their core business depended on a project where the deadlines and deliverables were not adjustable, so I asked them about WLB and long-term crunchtime. I was told that they disagreed with the premise of my question, they viewed the work as a marathon, not a sprint. Culturally it was very important to them that the workload and hours in the office were sustainable. I was really impressed with that answer. I also had a phone screen with an early stage startup where long hours were mentioned. And when I commented about it, the interviewer said he had no problem with it because he was really excited about the work and really liked his coworkers as friends. Both things are great to have at your job, but I thought that was a bad answer to a question about long work hours. Those were two completely different cultures, and I'd be fine knowing that the same "honest answer" cost me a job offer from one of those companies.
  - 7y ago
fg6hr 7y ago
This question sends a message "I'm a boss, you're a rank-and-file employee. Now, when we've made it clear, do a little self shaming." Imagine addressing this question to a senior lawyer that you need to sort out some complicated situation. I guess, the lawyer would be first stunned for a second and then insulted that he's being treated like a kid.
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
- joshuamorton 7y ago
  Would they? Lots of law firms advertise when not to use them, and will often refer you to other, better options.
  - 6gvONxR4sf7o 7y ago
    But you don't go to a lawyer and ask what they don't do. You ask whether they can solve your specific problem.
    - joshuamorton 7y ago
      And you don't (often) hire full-time employees to solve a specific problem. They may work in a domain, but you don't hire someone to solve a specific problem.
freepor 7y ago
The question is really testing whether you can tell someone what they want to hear while making it seem like you’re being honest, which is a very useful skill both for internal politics and customer interactions.
- mewpmewp2 7y ago
  Yeah I think so too. I wonder if they themselves also believe that. The ones who are asking you to be honest. It could be just likely that this is a bullshit media answer demonstrating the exact same dishonest way to answer questions. It is a terrible irony and joke, really. I do not know a much better solution for it though.

fg6hr 7y ago

Rather than studying how to be a good doormat (oh, I meant, how to master the behavioral interviews), it's a much better use of time to read the G. Morgan's "Images of Organization".

mewpmewp2 7y ago
Could you elaborate further about the book and why it is good. Will it help me earn more money?

shaggyfrog 7y ago

Hearing “What’s your biggest weakness?” from an interviewer should be a strong red flag for a candidate that they don’t know what they’re doing. Not only is it a manipulative question, the response is basically meaningless if the candidate knows the game, because you’ll get back a scripted answer. Those who don’t know the game and answer honestly will only hurt their chances at getting the job. The only question I think it worse is “what would your former manager say about you?”

tigen 7y ago
What's funny is apparently these managers know and want a scripted ("rehearsed") answer. It's a mating dance.
- keyboardbarista 7y ago
  In my experience they don't. They want to know if you're a reasonable, self-aware person who can communicate effectively. Let's say you name a reasonable weakness that can easily be improved upon and that doesn't spell disaster for your ability to do your job. And let's say they reject you. Either they're a terrible company to work for, or they have a huge mistake in their interview process. In the former case you don't want to work for a terrible company, so great, they just saved you years of pain. In the latter case, hey, mistakes happen. That's out of your control. Life is random sometimes. Besides, it's highly unlikely to be significant enough to tank your entire interview.
  - detaro 7y ago
    > Let's say you name a reasonable weakness that can easily be improved upon and that doesn't spell disaster for your ability to do your job. To the recipient, that is equally likely the rehearsed answer, because from high school on your told to think of one to reply to that question that fits into what your interviewer probably thinks is reasonable. And there's the entire thing where some people answering truthfully would tell the interviewer things the interviewer isn't legally allowed to ask about, which is always a lovely strategy for running an interview.

mewpmewp2 7y ago

As someone who has social anxiety and depression I don't think I can be honest with a lot of these questions. My real weakness would be inability to connect with people and constant fear of doing something wrong or being terrible at what I do. I usually think up some random weaknesses that I consider irrelevant and speak about those just to prove that I can be self aware. Also I think very big portion what I am saying is bullshit because I don't even particularly remember a lot of the details of the stories that would match those questions. So I have to come up with new stories or think up details for the stories I don't quite remember. I passed Amazon interview process and all the other behavioral interviews I have ever attended so I must be doing something right despite my constant feeling of terror and anxiety. I do think that I want to find a completely remote job now, I hate being in the office around people and I feel so much better when I can work from home. However I am afraid this might worsen the issue since I am not putting myself out there. But it doesn't seem to me as if putting myself out there has also helped my anxiety.

barry-cotter 7y ago
> As someone who has social anxiety and depression I don't think I can be honest with a lot of these questions. You’re not supposed to be honest. No one expects you to be honest. Everyone knows everyone knows it’s a game. It’s like the algorithm and data structure interview; it shows preparation and intelligence to be able to answer the questions well, whether your answers are based on a real event or pure fiction. If you can pretend to be a fantastic hire with lots of preparation there’s a reasonable chance you can actually show decent judgment if hired.
- 6gvONxR4sf7o 7y ago
  >No one expects you to be honest. From OP: >What’s your weakness? >“Please don’t take the Michael Scott approach and turn this into a backhanded compliment (‘My biggest weakness is that I care too much’). I’d highly recommend giving an honest answer, and one that is as specific as possible and not handwavy. Some people believe in this B.S.
  - 7y ago

asdfq1234 7y ago

break up these rancid companies

pikklemonster 7y ago

Mostly these aren't really behavioral interview questions. Behavioral interview questions typically sound something like "tell me about a time when you..." There's lots of value in a real, well crafted behavioral interview question, but most of these examples are just run-of-the-mill low-value interview questions.

mewpmewp2 7y ago
Tell me about the time questions still make me think up bullshit answers as I have to adapt my existing stories to the question etc. I also don't have the best memory so I have to think up some details and sometimes I just say something plain wrong by mistake and I have to keep going with it in order to save face. I do feel like a Michael Scott actually.

wwweston 7y ago

"What's your biggest weakness?" "Well, I tend to think about things that may be interesting and even have implications for work at hand for a given organization, but may turn out to be impolitic. For example: to what degree do behavioral interview questions either resemble on the job activity, or correlate with performance? If that degree is small, what's the real function of behavioral interview questions? Now, I'm sure you'll agree, that's an interesting question, maybe even one that could be used to generate productive insights for the right company. But on the other hand, it may not be very well directed to my immediate interests and goals -- there may be a much more productive answer that's more likely to result in concrete positives, like a job offer. So, you know, probably something for me to work on." (This supersedes my previous nose-thumbing answer, which was "Fire.")

eschneider 7y ago
I dunno, I’d probably hire on the “fire” answer.
Supermancho 7y ago
I appreciate the thought you have put into this. I'm open and honest, which means it took me a long time to get into a very senior position, where it's looked on as a strength while rank-and-file are punished to this day.
will_pseudonym 7y ago
Since the article references The Office, I must mention that this response: Q: "What's your biggest weakness?" A: "Fire" ...seems like _such_ a Dwight Schrute saying (but he would be saying it unironically).

deleted 7y ago

[deleted]

gsich 7y ago

GMAFIA not FAANG. Why is Netflix in that list?

barry-cotter 7y ago
Because working for IBM is just as cool and respected as working for Accenture.
ab_io 7y ago
Because of their stock growth
punchclockhero 7y ago
Makes the acronym less offensive.
- gsich 7y ago
  Well it's not offensive in the first place.

keyboardbarista 7y ago

There's so much cynicism from a subset of the HN crowd every time something interview-related like this is posted. Some of that cynicism is warranted, sure, but not in this case. I'll keep it real: These aren't trick questions. They're simple, fair, and easy questions, and as such they're a good way to filter out people who have atrocious communication skills, or who possess mediocre theory of mind abilities, i.e. you can't put yourself in someone else's shoes and empathize with what they're looking for. If you find these questions particularly difficult, consider the strong possibility that you're lacking here. "What's your biggest weakness?" This one is so simple it hurts: sincerely and honestly state a reasonable weakness. For example, "I've spent lots of time working solo, so while I've learned how to wear many hats, I don't have much experience working as part of a team." If you have terrible weaknesses that can't be overcome and would seriously impair your ability to do the job, you probably shouldn't be hired anyway. If you're completely unable to list any of your own shortcomings, then you lack self awareness. The desire to lie and talk about a fake shortcoming often comes from a scarcity mindset: "I need this job so badly that I'll say anything they want to hear. I need to be perfect!" No, in most cases you don't. And if your interviewer is so unreasonable as to expect you to be flawless, is that someone you really want to work for? There are other jobs in the sea, keep looking. "Tell me about a project you worked on." I couldn't agree more with what the person in the article said. Talk about YOUR contributions. The company is trying to hire YOU. What did YOU do? How did you do it, and why did it matter? Again, this is about communication. If you have a halfway decent theory of mind, it should be obvious what an employer would want to hear from you when you answer this question. Demonstrate your technical depth. Show that you're aware of and care about the impact your role has on the company's higher-level goals. That you can take initiative, drive things to completion, lead, execute quickly, handle complexity, learn over time, and make good decisions. "Why do you want to leave your company?" People leave jobs. It's a fact of life. If you can't explain why you left, you seem clueless or even dodgy. Obviously if the job was still amazing for you, you'd still be there, so I can't agree with the article's advice to never mention anything negative. Just tell the truth, communicate it effectively, and address potential concerns. For example, if there were interpersonal issues, don't just dwell on those -- compare to other jobs you've had in the past where you've been able to work well with others together, and stress how important it is to you to work in an environment where people can communicate well, have good intentions, and support each other. These questions just aren't that hard, and unless you have a seriously flawed track record, you don't have to be dishonest to give great answers. More importantly, those answers should be a reflection of YOURSELF. If a company doesn't like you, chances are you wouldn't like them. It's like dating. The goal is not to be a match with 100% of people. Just be your best self. Corollary: If there's a test that you find particularly hard to pass in life, your knee-jerk reaction will always be to criticize the test. But it's important to consider your own potential shortcomings and ask, "Why is this test so hard for me?" That way lies self improvement.

pugworthy 7y ago

I would roll my eyes if I heard some of these answers

yibg 7y ago

I've done my share of interviews at FAANG companies, on both sides of the table, and I haven't encountered most of these questions except "Tell me about a project you worked on". At least not with enough frequency for them to stick out. Some times recruiters will ask about why I'm leaving my current company but that's about it. They usually don't show up in the loops.

throwawayrj 7y ago

I wish somebody also tells the Giant eCommerce retailer's leadership principles interview. That one is the weirdest interviews I have ever attended to this date and I am confident nothing else can top that. The HR emphasised a lot on preparing those 12 leadership principles and how it is really important for succeeding there. I walked into a room where a person on the other end of video conferencing started pounding me "tell me about a time" questions and whenever I started answering something genuine, he stopped me and said "No, No, No, you are supposed to answer from one of the 12 points that our dear lord CEO likes". It honestly felt like a cult.