Interview questions that trip you up

[Jake22]

He appeared to read it right off his questions/comments sheet, I guessed it was just to throw something random in and see how I took it.

[son of coco]

Originally Posted by gfell

Asked about your favourite animal? Hmm.... don't see how that's relevant to the job, unless your interviewer knew a bit about psychology and what a person's favourite animal means about their personality.

Yeh, penguins are cute though!

Yeah, and even then it's purely interperative on their behalf. I think some interviewers may be adopting a psychologic approach in the attempt to boost their image rather than actually understanding what they're doing.

Of course, this doesn't apply to anyone who has ever interviewed me, or is likely to in the future.

[waixingren]

I used to get asked, "Why did you leave your last job?" That was back when I left a decent job that didn't pay well enough to go to grad school. I always had to provide that short answer because if I told every little reason why I left, it would've taken me too long. Fortunately, that was a good answer to give. I haven't been asked that since moving to China though... If I had been asked about that recently it would've been "I was told to leave before I got a chance to quit."

[elle4eva]

im fine with questions until they ask me to tell them about myself (hobbies etc) haha im pretty boring so I find it very hard!

[MrGreen]

I've been involved in recruiting myself, and I can tell you that it's not about the answers that you give to your questions, it's how you come across as a person that counts.

I've conducted several interviews and I can always tell within a minute or two whether that person will get the job - Remember, first impressions last (If you're unlucky enough to be talking to me :P)