Generic, inane questions in e.g. job interviews

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Yeah, I also noticed Japan is a very different country. Sometimes I wonder if it's run by aspies in part at least

Oh.. and handshakes, cheek kisses etc.. is a transmission vector.

(I wonder what airlines says if one use a gas mask with viral filters due airline ventilation)

You should have said "I'm so sorry you have that problem. Have you considered therapy for it? Do you fixate on any other innocuous actions of others? You could have some sort of OCD you know. I'll keep you in my prayers." The answer to why you don't look her in the eye is "This kind of overhead lighting bothers me if I do that for any length of time. Oddly enough, it doesn't bother me looking at a computer screen or watching where I'm going, but if I were to simply stare at the wall at eye level for any amount of time, my eyes start watering. Oh, and I do hope you get over your fixation about other people's mannerisms. Therapy does help."

Why?

I also don't like job interviews. I once heart other people talk about their interviews and they were like "and I said ...... which was a lie but it is not about the truth, it is about pretending."
This makes me sad. Why do they do those interviews when they are being lied to anyway? Is dishonesty a required skill for most jobs?

If I did an interview I'd tell the truth. If that makes them not hire me then I just don't get hired.

I've only done one job interview in my life and I didn't get hired.

The purpose of the interview could be to see if you are a good liar

Or more probable, they think it makes a difference. But are too stubborn get the insight it doesn't give the answers they are looking for.

It's only nonsense if it's not true. Questions like that are simply what all employers want to know. How else are they supposed to ask them?

I know what you mean though. It's not the questions that bother me so much, but the "pat" answers everyone's become trained to give. These days employers are hearing the same things from everyone, because unemployment offices and "how to get the job of your dreams" books all give the same cookie cutter answers we're all supposed to give.

I don't play that stupid game anymore. I haven't for many years now. I'm finding dead honesty gets me much further than answers from the same mold five hundred other applicants used.

Another benefit of not using them is that I usually end up not getting jobs i don't want (you know, the ones they do the "bait and switch" thing on you?), getting the ones I want, with the hours and days off I want (within reason anyway ~ I do have to compromise a little sometimes).

What kind of jobs are those?

Ha! I definitely like your answer better than the one I gave her, but I think the end result would be the same: "We'll be in touch. Next!"

Depending on qualifications one could also just tell them that you won't waste your time with HR, period.
Or just show that time is valued, and don't waste it if there's no job to be had.

[quote="kx250rider"] in fact I don't know where I'll be 10 minutes from now

Charles[/quote]

Yeah, me too. I have been asked the "where do you see yourself in [some number] years?" and I never know how to reply. I could:

a) lie and tell them what they want to hear; PROBLEM how am I supposed to know what they want to hear?
b) be honest and tell them that I focus on the present because I firmly believe that being too forward-looking is not helpful at all

What should I do?

:-S

5 yrs from now question you could give a weirdly specific answer...

'oh yes well 18th feb 2017, well I'll just have finished the meeting with the new guy, Bill, made a cup of coffee and I'm about to start work on that report I've been assigned.'

If they're asking you to predict the future you might as well have a decent go at it

I was interviewed for biotech equipment tech position many years ago, and was once asked by the interviewer;

Interviewer: You come home and find that your house is completely dark, what do you do?

I ponder a moment, process the question...error, I do not have a house, I have an apartment...process, he likely is using house because he has a house, and thus is assuming I do as well, he does not care specifically if I have a house or not....what is he asking me....process, he is attempting to gauge something in me....unsure...how is my house dark, where am I in this question.... porch, just inside? What time of day is it? Damn....there are too many variables, why isn't he more specific.... what is he asking me this for.....process.....ok, I'll assume my apartment is sufficient, to discover it is dark, it is most probably night, and there is a high probability my blinds are shut, and also my default is to have the lights in the apartment off while away...so that to discover, implicitly, that the apartment is dark despite already having expected this outcome, that I have just opened the door... he said completely dark....this means nothing is illuminated, including passive led on electronics and such....hmm, there must be some sort of power outage...but since I've just come home when I discover this issue, it isn't affecting the parking lot, which is on the same city circuit, as I know from experience, and since me and my neighbors porch lights must still be on, otherwise I would have discovered this before arriving at my "house"...then....um...wait...this cannot happen. The porch light shares the same circuit as the front room, if it were on, so would the various electronics inside have power. Think, what would cause all electronics to go out inside your apartment but not affect anything outside your apartment....hmm, localized EMP? Maybe, vandalism/theft? That's far more likely...hmm, yeah.

Me: I call the cops.

Interviewer: What? You, would call the cops?

Me: Yes, I would call the cops to report a break in.

Interviewer: No...there is no break in, I asked what you would do if you came home and found the place completely dark.

Me: Yes, I know. That's what I would do. If it wasn't a break in, I would go inside and attempt to identify the source of the emp.

Interviewer: Excuse me?

Me: Electro-Magnetic Pulse. It came from somewhere localized inside my place, I would be very curious what caused it. Aside from a break in, nothing else I can think of would cause my home to be completely dark like that. I mean, I guess I could explore supernatural explanations if you....

Interviewer: Ok, we're done here.


He had this weird look on his face after I started answering the question, later I recognized it as fear, confusion or abhorrence I think. And as I mulled the situation over after I left, I figured out what I did wrong. I gave a correct answer, to a question with a simple, although incorrect, answer. He wanted me to say "I flip the light switch". At least I think that's what he wanted...whatever.

Well, that's the key to getting anything in life....lie your frickin' butt off. That was one of the most valuable (and troubling) life lessons I ever learned.

And what the heck was the point of that question? That's absolutely one of the most moronic ones I've ever heard. What does it have to do with your actual abilities? Nada. Ziltch.

You probably dodged a big bullet when you weren't hired by that company, for sure.

-Check the fuses with a flashlight, then flick the switch.

NEXT!

What does that question have to do with anything? I would need more info to answer. Did I leave a light on? I usually do so in that case I would think the power went out or the light burned out but more likely the power since I never have all the lights out at night or when I leave the house. If I left the light off why would I be surprised? I'd just go in and turn it on.

A break-in is a possibility too since if there is no power outage or burned out bulbs then someone was in there and shut those lights off.

I wouldn't check the fuses/circuit breaker because I'm scared of going in the basement. Someone else would have to do it because I won't.