Why are there still job interviews that consist mostly of behavioral questions?

kyrax12

Platinum Member
May 21, 2010
2,416
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81
I mean I been to interviews where it was pretty much like a conversation between two person. Those interviews were probably the most fun I ever had in terms of interviewing.
I am not sure what's the point of an interview that consist mostly of behavioral questions. A conversation is much better in my opinion.
 
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Charmonium

Lifer
May 15, 2015
10,228
3,273
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Check the kinds of questions against some of the more common personality tests like the MMPI. Some you can find online but I think most are proprietary. Still, you should be able to get an idea if they're trying to shrink you with those questions.

That wouldn't surprise me. I think a lot of companies are frightened of getting sued for wrongful termination, like for example if they find you have some mental illness after they hire you.
 

jingramm

Senior member
Oct 25, 2009
779
2
76
They might be simple behavioral questions, but they are judging how you speak, your English skills, whether you seem like a fit with the group, your perceived personality/mannerisms, etc. They also can provide some insight into what type of worker you are even though people lie a lot during behavioral interviews.
 

feralkid

Lifer
Jan 28, 2002
16,707
4,807
136
Weeds out the psycho killers and/or Replicants.

5-leon-kowalski-replicant-interview-interrogation.jpg
 

Newell Steamer

Diamond Member
Jan 27, 2014
6,894
8
0
Someone could possess the best skills and experience on the face of the Earth. But, that won't amount to jack shit if they are terrible to work with;
- poor knowledge transfer due to superiority complex
- poor communication skills
- poor approachability
 

LegendKiller

Lifer
Mar 5, 2001
18,256
68
86
Even worse are the jobs that use psychological tests. I had two of them. First job I was offered and accepted, the place fucking sucked. Everybody hated it there but put on a political front of loving it. I left at exactly 365 days, not staying a day past my employment contract where I'd have owned them the full, non-pro-rated, balance of my $50k move. Now when I talked to all of my former coworkers, save a few kiss assing political douchenozzles, they say they all hated it. So much for the psych test.

Second place I got and offer and didn't take it.
 

mmntech

Lifer
Sep 20, 2007
17,501
12
0
There's a few HR experts and business people out there that are now arguing that behavioural interviews are mindless and don't really result in better employees. All they prove is that the applicant can memorize the script and rattle off pre-prepared answers. I mean think about it. When you're hiring a plumber to fix your drain, you don't ask him what kind of animal he'd be or what his greatest weakness is. He's going to look at you like you're nuts. So why do we tolerate the same nonsense in a corporate setting.

Every crappy, obnoxious, or stupid employee where you work passed a behavioural interview to get hired. Something to think about. As Forbes columnist Liz Ryan put it, behavioural interviews are only done by fear driven managers looking for sheepie (passive) underlings.

Going off the script and having a natural conversation can tell you far more about the applicant. The applicant now has to think on the fly. So you can get a better impression about their personality and whether they're bullshitting on their resume. It works better for applicants as well. It cuts tension and tells you more about the company than the usual interrogation.
 
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zCypher

Diamond Member
Aug 18, 2002
6,115
171
116
Every crappy, obnoxious, or stupid employee where you work passed a behavioural interview to get hired. Something to think about. As Forbes columnist Liz Ryan put it, behavioural interviews are only done by fear driven managers looking for sheepie (passive) underlings.
Not necessarily disagreeing with anything you said, but you'd be surprised at how far this nonsense goes, even for jobs that are not entry level mindless drone jobs. Pretty sad.
 

Phoenix86

Lifer
May 21, 2003
14,644
10
81
Not necessarily disagreeing with anything you said, but you'd be surprised at how far this nonsense goes, even for jobs that are not entry level mindless drone jobs. Pretty sad.

Middle management has to justify their positions somehow.
 

Jimzz

Diamond Member
Oct 23, 2012
4,399
190
106
Because most do not want to work with idiots that make work harder than it needs to be. I rather work with someone that can do 90% of the job but is easy to get along with than someone that can do 100% but makes work a living hell.
 

TheVrolok

Lifer
Dec 11, 2000
24,254
4,092
136
Because most do not want to work with idiots that make work harder than it needs to be. I rather work with someone that can do 90% of the job but is easy to get along with than someone that can do 100% but makes work a living hell.

^^ this. Helps find people who can do the job (per resume, experience, references) and communicate (behavioral questions).

We use the MMI (multiple mini interview) format, which is somewhat unique to our context - but it works out reasonably well.
 

Spungo

Diamond Member
Jul 22, 2012
3,217
2
81
I am not sure what's the point of an interview that consist mostly of behavioral questions. A conversation is much better in my opinion.

The Chinese have infiltrated American businesses, and they hire the least skilled people on the planet for jobs that require a lot of technical ability. We get new hires who can barely use a computer. HR didn't think it was all that important to hire a technically skilled person for a technical job. it's part of the Chinese plot to destroy America.

Either that or American corporations want to go bankrupt. Both seem equally plausible.
 
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StrangerGuy

Diamond Member
May 9, 2004
8,443
124
106
There's a few HR experts and business people out there that are now arguing that behavioural interviews are mindless and don't really result in better employees. All they prove is that the applicant can memorize the script and rattle off pre-prepared answers. I mean think about it. When you're hiring a plumber to fix your drain, you don't ask him what kind of animal he'd be or what his greatest weakness is. He's going to look at you like you're nuts. So why do we tolerate the same nonsense in a corporate setting.

Every crappy, obnoxious, or stupid employee where you work passed a behavioural interview to get hired. Something to think about. As Forbes columnist Liz Ryan put it, behavioural interviews are only done by fear driven managers looking for sheepie (passive) underlings.

Going off the script and having a natural conversation can tell you far more about the applicant. The applicant now has to think on the fly. So you can get a better impression about their personality and whether they're bullshitting on their resume. It works better for applicants as well. It cuts tension and tells you more about the company than the usual interrogation.

The only reason these interviewing systems exist:

1. The hire is good = See, the system works!
2. The hire is bad = It's the employee's fault! The system is never wrong!
 

Spungo

Diamond Member
Jul 22, 2012
3,217
2
81
Weeds out the psycho killers
The exact opposite is true. Psychopaths are very good liars. They can easily pass lie detectors because they have no problems with lying. They don't get nervous, they don't stammer, their pulse doesn't rise, their blood pressure doesn't rise.

Interviews also selectively hire the least skilled people, and this is not an accident. It's by design. Companies want to hire the least skilled people.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning–Kruger_effect


I have a question you can ask people. Find someone who knows absolutely nothing about databases and ask them if they know how to use databases. They will say yes. They don't know what they are saying yes to, but they will say yes. If you ask someone who likes computers, they would probably say no - they don't know how to set up databases or write SQL.
 

JM Aggie08

Diamond Member
Jan 3, 2006
8,271
890
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Anyone competent can be taught just about anything technical. Seeing how said candidate thinks within a team environment, and their overall thought process, determines how good a 'fit' they will be for a company.

Then again, there are always 'pizza slider' positions where you don't care if a candidate is socially inept. Let them code/be technical, and don't bother them.
 

Spungo

Diamond Member
Jul 22, 2012
3,217
2
81
Anyone competent can be taught just about anything technical. Seeing how said candidate thinks within a team environment, and their overall thought process, determines how good a 'fit' they will be for a company.
Your company hires competent people?

I tried explaining to someone how they can send a large file through email by making a 7zip archive that is split into parts. I sent them detailed instructions that included images and everything. All they had to do was follow the directions exactly as I wrote them. He still couldn't figure the shit out. He put the files on a DVD and overnight shipped the DVD from California to Washington. Unfucking believable. How do these people get through interviews? It's because HR never asks anything technical. We get people who know how to smile but they're incapable of tying their own shoes.
 
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TheGardener

Golden Member
Jul 19, 2014
1,945
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Your company hires competent people?

I tried explaining to someone how they can send a large file through email by making a 7zip archive that is split into parts. I sent them detailed instructions that included images and everything. All they had to do was follow the directions exactly as I wrote them. He still couldn't figure the shit out. He put the files on a DVD and overnight shipped the DVD from California to Washington. Unfucking believable. How do these people get through interviews? It's because HR never asks anything technical. We get people who know how to smile but they're incapable of tying their own shoes.
You may have missed that the person receiving the zip files by email couldn't comprehend what to do with them. At my condo, one of the trustees has no idea how to attach a pdf or docx file to email.
 

nakedfrog

No Lifer
Apr 3, 2001
60,217
15,151
136
Anyone competent can be taught just about anything technical. Seeing how said candidate thinks within a team environment, and their overall thought process, determines how good a 'fit' they will be for a company.

Then again, there are always 'pizza slider' positions where you don't care if a candidate is socially inept. Let them code/be technical, and don't bother them.
Pizza slider?

And I have enough trouble finding someone competent, let alone trying to figure out their personality.
You may have missed that the person receiving the zip files by email couldn't comprehend what to do with them. At my condo, one of the trustees has no idea how to attach a pdf or docx file to email.
It seems like the relevant part of the story is that the person couldn't follow the provided directions to split the file and email it...
 

Spungo

Diamond Member
Jul 22, 2012
3,217
2
81
You may have missed that the person receiving the zip files by email couldn't comprehend what to do with them. At my condo, one of the trustees has no idea how to attach a pdf or docx file to email.

I've had to deal with people like that. It's painful. We can't send executable files through email because they get blocked, so I added ".txt" to a file name. I sent someone a file with a name like program.exe.txt and I said remove the ".txt" from the file name. They asked for clarification. I said just rename the file; it's a .exe file, but I had to put .txt at the end so it doesn't get blocked by the email filter. He then asked how to rename files.

600px-How_do_I_shot_web_gigantor_size.jpg




I've also had problems with people who don't know the alphabet. Literally. They were looking for a file like "December 10 - filename.pdf" and they said they couldn't find it. I looked in the directory and found it immediately, so I went over to his computer and asked him to show me where he's looking. He went to the correct directory, and then he scrolled to the bottom of the directory. He thought the letter "D" came after the letter "S" in the English alphabet. This isn't some immigrant guy. This is a guy born in the US who only speaks English. I should ask him who he thinks the president is.
 
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