This is no joke...I went for years being "honest" and "being myself" in interviews until I realised that that was no way to get a job. As soon as I began bullshitting, the offers came rolling in
True but the trick is to keep the bullshit close to home. Don't go wild on it, it needs to be somewhat relevant to your person, some people would call it "major embelishment" but yeah bullshitting it is.
Yes, that's one of those impossible questions, isn't it? How on earth are you supposed to answer it? If you're honest, as the first gent said, you're more likely to shoot yourself in the foot. If you go too far, or perhaps very far at all, down the bullshit route, you're likely to come across as an arrogant git, and probably a dishonest one into the bargain.
Personal experience is luck is such a huge role. I've tried for 10 years to get a promotion at my current workplace. Initial interview approach was to answer positively but honestly about my achievements in the internal job interviews. Was told I wasn't bigging myself up. Bigged myself up, told some of my examples were too out of date (I changed roles to a VERY minor degree halfway through so needed to call on earlier experiences for relevance). Then I stuck to recent examples and was told they weren't relevant enough. After 10 years and four interviews, I was a bit sick of this and looked externally. Sent two applications out, two interview invites. Was completely honest about strengths and weaknesses in both and confessed lack of experience where there was some. Result? Job offer on the second application. For a role far more impressive than the senior positions I was going for internally. I'm not saying do what I did. But I am saying luck will have the biggest hand to play by far. You could prepare the dream interview approach, only to be questioned by someone for whom that approach just doesn't gel. My honest all purpose advice would be: brush up. Research that company. Know it inside and out. Imagine you've been working there years and are about to be quizzed on your knowledge of your employer. Read its annual reports. Check its press release sections. What challenges is it facing? What achievements is it celebrating? What's going on that would affect the position you're applying for? What might you be asked to do and how would you respond? If you can nail that, you'll impress them out the gate and you'll have less reliance on interview technique.
I come to work hung over two or three days a wwek. It takes me a while to get the hang of things. Im shit at listening to others. Im a terrible gossip. Oh, and i stink. On the plus side I cant honestly think of anything.
I've often thought how much more fun life would be if CV's were this honest. Instead of the usual wank about "I can work on my own or in a team" etc, you'd get stuff like "I tend to arrive to work late and high, and it can often take half the day before I warm up to anything approaching useful".
Does remind me of the Man Stroke Woman sketch where they ask him about what he'd do if there was a fire and he replies saying he'd jump over the table, use the lift to get out of the building, look for his phone and ipod, go home, wouldn't tell anyone about it and be chuffed if he got a day off out of it.
After many years of failing to get a job, he could no longer afford the blonde hair dye and eventually stabbed a man during one of his interviews. Fortunately, he seemed right for the job, so after his prison sentence, he'll probably have a nice cushy job waiting for him!
The moment an interviewer asks me this god awful stereotypical question is the moment I think "this person doesn't know shit what he's doing". It's the most lazy question you could ask. Everyone knows this question is one of those everyone expects and everyone prepares for it and NOBODY is honest (unless you're an idiot) so it defeats the purpose of even asking it. So if somebody does ask it, in my book, that person is not good at interviewing people and probably had to look up his questions.
