OV9

I've realised that a "what are your hobbies" question is now impossible to spin into things that demonstrate teamwork and leadership as all my hobbies are nerdy and insular.

I blame all of you.

Don't worry, that's not the kind of questions you're asked anymore.

(based on me having conducted 14 or so interviews in the last couple of months, using our standard corp approved questions).

I still sit in interview panels (was previously a hiring manager), I don't really care what you hobbies and interests are unless they overlap with the role and help score against criteria of the role. I have extremely limited time to review job applications and interviews are short, the more time you spend writing or talking about hobbies and interests that are not relevant to the role, is time you are wasting on more useful info that could help me score you better.

We're a lot more about personality at our place, we're a fairly small company and don't want anyone dull or weird - no matter how good their work is.

The first interview is normal - understanding what they can do and what they've done, then stuff like hobbies helps to stimulate some talking points to see if they're actually going to fit in - sometimes you need to talk about non-work stuff to actually get a genuine impression of someone rather than their work mode.

If they get through that, the second interview was always at the pub with the wider team - if they fit in there then they're in.

It's worked as an approach so far - I was employee number 6 and we're up to about 30 now across 3 sites - I'd happily have a beer or 10 with any of them.

Don't get me wrong, cultural fit is very important and we score on multiple factors such as team player, attitude to learning and change, autonomy, communication skills within a team and wider.

^ this. But don't need to hear about hobbies for that.

I always assumed "what are your hobbies?" was another way of asking "do you do anything other than drink beer when you're not at work?". In that sense, nerdy and insular suggests you're not a covert alcoholic, but maybe increases the risk that you'll one day go postal in the office.

My last job interview was in a pub. Shortly after they took me to the office and gave me a package. If you're in a job where being good with people then it far outweighs any qualifications.

Broccers wrote: Sun Sep 12, 2021 7:17 pm My last job interview was in a pub. Shortly after they took me to the office and gave me a package.

I don't think you can count being a drug mule as a job.

Jimmy Choo wrote: Sun Sep 12, 2021 7:47 pm

Broccers wrote: Sun Sep 12, 2021 7:17 pm My last job interview was in a pub. Shortly after they took me to the office and gave me a package.

I don't think you can count being a drug mule as a job.

Worked for me Jimmy

Sounds more like a zero hours contract to me.

I went for an interview recently;

Them: So what is your biggest weakness?

Moi: Brutal honesty

Them: <snorts> Well I don’t think that is necessarily a weakness.

Moi: I don’t give a fuck what you think.


Not a true story bro!

"I poop really bad"

"I don't think that we..."

"No, seriously, I think I might be lactulose intolerant."

"We were more after..."

"Do you have more than one toilet? You're going to need more than one toilet."