Re: vague interview opener questions are irksome

On Wed, May 05, 2004 at 09:46:18AM -0400, Terrence Brannon wrote:
> The questions that I hate to hear at the start of an interview are:
> 
> * "So who is Terrence Brannon"
> 
> * "Why don't you tell me a little bit about what you've been doing"

These *appear* to be interview questions, but they are actually two
questions on the Voight-Kampf test.  They are specifically designed to
provoke an emotional response.

> My desired answer to both of these is "RTFR" - read the $#expletive resume

Sorry.  Wrong answer.  The reason why someone would want to hire you is
because (a) you have a pulse, (b) you have the skills, and (c) you can
communicate effectively.  If you can't capture your interviewer's
interest (i.e. if stumble responding to these softball questions) then
you might as well both walk away and forget this interview ever happened.


When I was interviewing for my current job, I had a feeling I'd get the 
standard "Tell me about the last book you read".  Sure enough, I got
asked that very question.  Both the question and response were both
irrelevant.  How I managed to communicate was quite relevant.

Z.