NoTeS oN aN iNtErViEw

Let's put it on the table right now, I'm not perfect, you're not perfect, no one is perfect. Can we begin the interview now? We interviewed a girl today, first of the round. She was kind of quirky, but overall, I'm sure if we choose her we'll get along fine--that was my synopsis. My boss, however wasn't satisfied with my above answer. Apparently he knows my mind a bit better than that, so when I said, "maybe I wouldn't be surprised if she'd been in a Renaissance festival..." it was more along the lines of the feedback he wanted.

Overall, the interview was fine, but we both laughed at her response to the cringe-worthy question: What do you see as your biggest weakness? I wasn't the sociology major (she was) but I find the answers people come up with absolutely intriguing. Of course it's hard to lay your faults on the table when you're trying to sell yourself as the "total package", yet I've noticed that for many, it's like an art form to answer the question without actually saying they're bad at something! Sure, no one likes admitting they have weaknesses, that they're fallible human beings (even though we all are) but come on now people!

Her response: "Well, even though I studied in Spain for awhile, I'm not 100 percent fluent in Spanish." Hmmm...so what you're telling me is you're really good at it, but just not as perfect as you'd want to be?...

I can just imagine, I go into a job interview and they ask my weakness. I say, "Yeah, I actually am not very fluent at Chinese." You speak Chinese? "No, that's my weakness, I'm not fluent at it. I actually can't fly yet either... or split atoms.... or become invisible. Oh, and I can't quite turn water into wine yet... and I haven't perfected breathing under water, it's a big weakness of mine." How do you think that'd go over?

As an employer it's nice to see that people are, well, people. It's even better when you can admit that you are. I think that shows greater strength of character and even better, the ability to recognize flaws and through that, the ability to fix them. After all, whose that guy... that said "the only true wisdom is knowing you know nothing"? Yeah, I don't remember, I'm really bad with names; you could call it my weakness.

(No, really, I am. But I looked it up, it's Socrates.)