Let me start by saying that these might not be the ten worst answers to job interview questions of all time. They are, however, among the ten worst responses that I have ever heard. That's right -- these are all true.
Some of these responses I heard from students in career development classes and others actually came from people who were interviewing with me for real jobs. Hopefully you won't recognize yourself in any of these examples.
1. What interests you in this job?
Answer: I don't know. I couldn't possibly afford to work here for the amount of money you are paying.
2. How would you respond if a student asked you XYZ?
Answer: You've got to be kidding. No one would ever ask me anything that stupid.
3. Why are you interested in working in sales? (Note: It was a sales job.)
Answer: Oh, I'm not. I hate sales. I would never work in sales.
4. Are the hours of this job convenient for you?
Answer: Oh yes. I'll just get my boyfriend to drop the kids off here when he picks them up after school.
5. Why did you leave your last job?
Answer: Everybody there hated me. They accused me of stealing and I got sick of it so I walked out and never went back.
6. How would your last boss describe you?
Answer: Lazy
7. Where do you see yourself in five years?
Answer: I don't understand the question.
8. What did you like best about your last job?
Answer: It sure wasn't my boss. I hated her. I don't know who she thought she was, firing me.
9. How would you handle an irate customer?
Answer: Come get you to deal with it. Stuff like that isn't my job.
10. What's the most important thing to you in a job:
Answer: Plenty of sick time. I've got three kids who are always sick and nobody to help me.
While this list may make you chuckle, the point here is that people actually chose to answer job interview questions in this manner. It really isn't funny when people don't know better than to talk themselves out of even being considered for jobs they might otherwise be qualified for.
The people who were my students just kept answering the same questions over again until they came up with acceptable responses. The other ones? I hope that at some point they figured out better ways to respond in job interview situations.
