3 Useless Interview Questions That You’re Probably Asking

With the amount of information available online for “how to answer interview questions,” interviewers must evolve their questions. After all what’s the point of asking something like “Why Should We Hire You?” when the candidate could have googled the interview question and gotten multiple answers to satisfy you.

So what questions should be avoiding? Those that provide non-relevant information. What many interviewers forget to reflect about before doing interviews is what requirements does the job specifically ask? It’s not about a standard set of interview questions to be asked across the board, rather more about extracting specific details from the individual who sits across the table.

1. Why Should We Hire You?

Can you remember a single answer from this questions that really stood out? Chances are you don’t simply because all the answers are more or less the same. Anyone with an ounce of confidence will provide you with a tirade of why they’re the perfect fit for your company. Rather than asking this, consider asking questions which reveal the candidates past such as:

Tell me about a time you succeeded at a difficult task.

You shouldn’t be putting the candidate in a position to make himself shine like the sun. Your questions, the right ones, should be providing that information to you.

2. What Are Your Greatest Strengths/Weaknesses?

This is such a common question people have either answered it multiple times in interviews or have read articles on the best way to answer it. Either way, both will give you absolutely useless answers. So what if a person can deliver on time or has a temper? Did the candidate just list 3 bullet points that have no actual basis? You’ll never really know. Instead you could ask about a story of failure which will more appropriately tell you the person’s weaknesses rather than simply asking about them:

Tell me about a time you failed at a goal you needed to achieve.

A good interview question extracts information indirectly rather than getting answers which could have been googled.

3. Where Do You See Yourself In 5 Years?

Say the person answers “leading a team” or “being the CEO of the company.” Sure the answer proves that the candidate has vision but again could he have learned it online? The more important point however is that this question should be asked of employees, not candidates. It can be used to craft employee career plans rather than being the basis for hiring a candidate. A better question to ask regarding drive or motivation could be:

Who is your role model and why?

As humans, we select role models because we’d like to imitate them. If someone says Jeff Bezos you know they’re on the right track for thinking big, or if they say Ingvar Kamprad then they’re really into the world of standardized design.

There was a recent article which talked about managing 5 different generations in the workplace. If there are are 5 generations in our current workforce, your candidates are also made up of the varied demographics. The younger generation knows how to tell a story, the older generation is all about egos. As an interviewer you’ve got to find the right balance of questions.

Are there any interview questions you think should be scratched off of the interview question list? If yes, share them below.

3 Useless Interview Questions That You’re Probably Asking