Seven terrible interview questions and why I hate them: Part 1/2

My interview prep program is fundamentally not about playing a guessing game about what questions might be asked, but I do think it's helpful to be prepared for a few of the basics. Also, I can't always pass up the opportunity to make snarky comments - and some 'traditional' interview questions are irresistibly snark-worthy.

We'll do this in two parts because I got a bit carried away. Find part two HERE. Enjoy!

1. ‘Tell me about yourself'

I hate this classic interview opener mostly because it’s such a cliche, it’s an extraordinarily lazy way for the interviewer to begin the interview, and it’s so stressful to prepare for. That being said, knowing you might run into this hoary old chestnut gives you an excuse to develop your mini personal statement - aka your 'elevator pitch' - which is an extremely versatile and useful bit of talking to have in your pocket.

Note: The term ‘elevator pitch’ means whatever the person speaking wants it to mean. Please don’t feel you need to torture yourself trying to find the ultimate definition of the elevator pitch - it does not exist. How long is it supposed to be, for example? One sentence? One minute? Three minutes? Five? Twenty? Yes, these are all perfectly legitimate ‘rules’ about elevator pitches, depending on who you ask.

Most important, in our context, is the broader goal: to develop fluency in introducing yourself succinctly and effectively in any context. For example, in social settings, elevator pitches are an extraordinarily helpful starting point, especially if it's a network-y kind of thing. In the context of a job interview, they’re an opportunity to share a 30,000 foot view of who you are as an employee, why you chose to apply for this role, and why you are an intriguing candidate.

Does that sound like an impossible amount of information to fit into a brief statement? That’s because it is. Enter the very special writing genre of the elevator pitch template! My interview prep programs include my personal elevator pitch template, though there are approximately seven hundred elevator pitch templates floating around out there and they’re all fine. (Not quite as good as mine, of course, but fine.)

Elevator pitch templates all include pretty much the same components and provide some transition language to help with the brevity. Bottom line, the template that works for you is the best one for you to use (I’ve been known to send mine to people who ask /wink).

I do recommend working out a bunch of variations on your elevator pitch for different contexts; more and less formal, more general and more specific, longer and shorter, etc. If you’re broadly qualified, you’ll want to be ready to speak specifically to each area of your expertise. Then, practice with different configurations of them until you're quite bored.

Note: When it comes to interview preparation, boredom is our friend. Being absolutely sick and tired of talking about a topic is a great sign that you are ready for showtime - you’ve built it into your muscle memory, so to speak (pun definitely intended).

To memorize or not to memorize? I don't recommend against memorizing your pitch, exactly ... but I also don't recommend memorizing it. I have been the recipient of quite a few obviously memorized elevator pitches and I almost always find them a little cringy. If you absolutely need to memorize something, write it so it doesn’t sound memorized … and then memorize that.

2. ‘What are your strengths?'

I hate this question because it is disproportionately easy for historically accommodated people to effectively answer. For example, if you're white, cisgender, male, middle class, heterosexual, neurotypical, currently able bodied, etc, you've grown up in a world which reflects your existence back to you in a positive way. You are literally the standard to which all others are compared.

When the world tells you you're excellent, it's that much easier for you to confidently identify the ways in which you excel. Also, the rules of professionalism are designed around your strengths. Entire books have been written on this, but in brief, the strengths assigned to middle class white men are the characteristics that are valued in professional contexts.

By contrast, the rest of us grow up in a world which reflects our existence back to us in a negative way. We are the historically disenfranchised others, and our roles in society are made clear in uncountable ways. Women are trained to take responsibility for the reproductive labor of daily life, BIPOC are routinely portrayed as intellectually inferior and scary, the very existence of LGBTQIA+ folks is questioned, working class folks are shown as deserving poverty, and so on.

At the same time, our strengths as women, as queer folks, as BIPOC, etc. are ignored, erased, or denied. When the world tells you you’re inferior, effectively communicating the strengths that the world values doesn’t always come naturally.

Therefore, for most of us, thinking of our job-related strengths requires that we dig them out the layers of social yuck and assemble them ourselves. This can be a difficult process, especially without support, partly because we need to feel capable and competent AND have words to express those competencies AND we need to translate them into ‘professional’ language.

If we’re lucky, we were raised by grownups who noticed what we were good at and gave us that language. If we didn’t grow up hearing our strengths described to us or if we need support translating our strengths into professional language, working with a coach can be helpful.

One of my strengths (if I may say so myself) is helping with the digging and the assembly, and one of my very favorite things is to reflect back to you strengths that you may not have noticed. We will work together to describe your strengths authentically and professionally, while recognizing the tensions inherent in doing so.

3. ‘What are your weaknesses?'

Perhaps the ultimate garbage question! I don’t believe in trying to guess what interviewers want to hear, but on the other hand, if they are asking cliched questions ... perhaps they are looking for cliched answers! And in that case maybe it doesn't hurt to give them one? I don't think it's a terrible idea to have a response for this question, of course, and I do recommend crafting a memorable one.

I don’t love the usual ‘pick a thing you're bad at that’s not super relevant to the job’ approach that you’ve probably already seen. Instead, I suggest reframing it as something you struggle with or task you dislike. Then, describe your strategies for how you've overcome it or how you work around it, and always finish off with a demonstration of self-reflection - share what you've learned about yourself and show that you know yourself really well.

Personally, one of my biggest breakthroughs in developing interview confidence was realizing that the things that make us great are the things that make us annoying. You want me to identify potential problems before they happen and develop backup systems to keep things running smoothly? Great, just be aware that you may not love it when I poke a bunch of holes in your idea.

I also find this question a great place for judicious use of the humorous drop in. I don't recommend going so far as to lead off with 'oh, this hoary old chestnut?' but I do think there's room for a delicately humorous touch.

You might try something like: 'oh, my absolute least favorite part of a big project is formatting all the documents. Once I've written and edited everything it's just really hard for me to care very much about the font sizes! My strategy is to get myself a special treat to eat with my tea the morning before I send it out and tell myself that I'm just giving it one last edit. And I will admit that I do like how it looks after my perfectionism has kicked in and I've whipped the formatting into shape!'

Continue reading part two HERE.

Of course, if after reading this (and everything else that’s floating around the internet) you feel 100% confident that you’re ready for anything in your next interview, fantastic! There’s no need for you to schedule a free call with me to explore whether working together would help you achieve your goals!

However, if this article feels like a good start but you’re not getting quite what you need from the internet to achieve full interview confidence, please be in touch - it’s entirely possible that working with me would help get you where you want to be. You're invited to drop me a line at michelle@aequitascoaching.com - or skip the formalities and book a free call!