The hypocrisy of Job Interviews

[fnord_too]

The only thing I test when I interview is knowledge/understanding. I note things like how a candidate presents themselves, but I never ask this sort of question and I don't think I have ever been asked one of these before (though I have worked somewhere a drug test was required, and you get asked this sort of thing time qualified if you apply for a security clearance, but that data is not supposed to go to your employer, and I don't think it has a big impact on getting a clearance unless you are a habitual user.)

On a related note, there is a classic article called On the Folly of Rewarding A, While Hoping for B you would probably like. The situation you are describing is systemic to humanity in many forms, and is just one of the many ways we are flawed.

[RivaLiva]

If I was asked this question during a job interview, I would dodge it and say to drug test me to find out.

[fnord_too]

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If I was asked this question during a job interview, I would dodge it and say to drug test me to find out.

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If you were asked, that is probably an answer that would get you not hired in any case. Either they are looking for a "no" or they are looking for honesty and candor, and your answer is neither.

[dustyn]

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The problem isn't really what you mention. The problem is that the best and worst give the same answer.

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Often when hiring people, you'd rather hire a truly terrible candidate than one that's merely sub-par. This is because the total clowns are (relatively) easy to get rid of, while the simply sub-par guys tend to hang around for a long time.

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Interesting I was going to say something almost the opposite, which is depending on the job, there may not be some great skill set necessary to succeed. So it maybe beneficial to hire a bunch of mediocre employees while passing up on great guys, but reducing your chance of a false positive

The other stupid one which bothers me is when they ask questions like if but in scenario X would you do Y.
Never, rarely, occasionally, usually, always.
Since I'm a giant nit and I am honest. It pains me to say never or always because I know there are situations where I wouldn't do it. Obviously from a rational perspective it is much better to say never and always even if you telling a very small lie.

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I think both systems are true. For sales reps, or any job where an entire department is often driven by a couple top people, you would much rather have a terrible rep than an OK one. The OK one will never have tons of contribution and will be almost impossible to get rid of - the bad one will be easily dispatched and the search continued for that elusive home run hire.

For customer support reps, or any job where the difference between one person and another is (relatively) small, it's much better to have an OK employee than a bad one. A top cashier can do better than an OK one, but they will simply not change the average level of production that much to drive a department by themselves (unless it's like a two person department).

I think, like most things in life, it depends.

[n.s.]

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The problem isn't really what you mention. The problem is that the best and worst give the same answer.

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Often when hiring people, you'd rather hire a truly terrible candidate than one that's merely sub-par. This is because the total clowns are (relatively) easy to get rid of, while the simply sub-par guys tend to hang around for a long time.

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why the hell would you hire either of them?

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Obviously you wouldn't, not intentionally. The interviewing process is far from fool-proof though.

[nineinchal]

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Let me preface this by saying I realize not every job interview/application follows this criteria.

I was listening the the radio and they were talking about how Calvin Johnson, Amobi Okoye, and Gaines Adams all admitted to using marijuana in college when they were interviewed. Although I do not have proof I'm sure there are many other players in the draft who have smoked marijuana in college but only the guys who were honest end up getting in trouble.

Obviously you would want to weed people like this out of your business.

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Funny you use the term "weed" people out.

[MrMon]

I was looking at a multiple choice test given to prospective teachers the other day and really couldn't figure out the answer they were looking for on some of the questions. One of the questions was something like: "Do you ever break the rules?" A. Never B. Sometimes C. Yes, if I don't agree with the rule D. Only minor rules.

If you answer A, you are obviously lying, no one follows all the rules, and personally, I would never hire anyone that rigid, nor would I want to work for someone who wanted all the rules followed all the time. If I have to give this answer, I don't want the job. Answer B and C are a little suspect, especially C, so no go there. I think D is the safe answer, and it's honest. But what do you learn by asking this question in multiple choice form anyway? It really comes down to "it depends", not A, B, C, or D. Why a person answers what they answer is more important that what the actual answer is.

Stupid HR psychologists.

[suzzer99]

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I think wilbon nailed this on PTI, he said answering yes probably makes most GMs MORE likely to draft the guy. With the way the question was worded, like 90% prob should have been answering yes.

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Yes that's why when I interviewed for this job I made sure my interview knew that I've done almost every drug in the book, some in extremely copious quantities. They really respected my honesty. Then I looked at the picture on his desk and said "Who's the c*nt?"

[xxThe_Lebowskixx]

same old story. its easier to ask forgiveness then permission.

[Dids]

My job is such that I don't really care who does what in their spare time, so I don't have to ask these kinds of questions...

On the more general point though- I think one of the things that I do much better than my peers when it comes to interviews is actually asking questions where the answer matters. There's a lot of "going through the motions" type questions, or questions to which people are never going to give you a straight answer that are still far too popular on interview websites and such.