The Most Insincere Question Ever Asked

If you've ever had an interview, you've been asked it. When you prepare for an interview, you try and come up with a clever answer, and yet when it comes, it still won't sound convincing. It haunts all job-hunters. And because it's so clearly a trick question, I can only surmise that the reason it is still used is in order to torture the interviewee, a horrendous hazing ritual employers only force onto us because they had to go through it. Please, if any of you are reading, abandon the cycle of trickery and lies. You can change the course of so many lives by just not asking one question:

What is your greatest weakness?

What? My greatest weakness? Why would I tell you that when I want you to hire me? What am I supposed to say? "My biggest flaw is that I work too hard, never take sick days and don't ask for raises." Come on, you don't believe that. My answers are usually what most answers are: a cop out. "My greatest weakness is being a little fidgety, so sometimes I seem more nervous than I am." So that way, when I twirl my ring around my finger, I have an excuse. Because I'm not going to say that I really am nervous.

They don't want a real answer, because a real answer isn't all that appealing. But if you're answer is so obviously fake, that becomes a negative. It's almost like they're testing your ability to lie believably.

My secret desire is to use Daria's answer in the episode 'Prize Fighters,' when she, Jodie and Upchuck are up for a scholarship and have to interview to make it to the next level. Asked what her greatest weakness was, she answered, "My inability to answer stock questions with stock answers." I want to just be able to say, "My biggest weakness is lying in interviews just to get hired. My greatest strength is in actually doing the job."

But like cover letters, risking a genuine answer is basically throwing away an opportunity, and it's only a one-in-a-million employer who will appreciate your honesty and crack a smile. Most will probably just look confused and a little annoyed. Just hope they validate your parking before they kick you out.

Rush Hour

Yesterday afternoon was apparently the designated time for scheduling meetings for the rest of the week. Why is it that you can go days, weeks without having a meeting or a crisis, and then suddenly, there doesn't seem to be a moment of peace? There I was, minding my own business and getting some work done, when suddenly my Inbox started popping with new mail.

First there was a reply to a resume I had sent out asking for an interview, perhaps on Wednesday. Great news. Then I had an inquiry from my boss for another project who wanted to have a lunch work session on Wednesday or Thursday. I already also had a tentative meeting with another boss-type person which hadn't been scheduled yet, but was most likely going to be Wednesday or Thursday. Wow. How many meetings for completely different projects could I juggle in two days? And how could I answer for my availability on certain days when I had no specific times for any of these appointments.

In the end, I have most of my week planned out. A two-hour lunch meeting on Wednesday and my interview on Friday (wish me luck!). Hopefully my other meeting will end up on Thursday, evening out my days and avoiding a stressful running to and fro between meetings and interviews.

What all this chaotic schedule juggling made me realize was that though I love being able to work from home and value all the experience I'm getting from different projects, I'm the kind of person who likes to know what's happening. I'd like to be able to have just one job vying for my time and asking for meetings. Of course, one job could still mean different assignments and people to juggle, but something about it all being a part of one company and ultimate goal would give me a sense of order. And I wouldn't have to worry that my interview isn't going to be affected by my high-maintenance scheduling moment.

Maybe this is very un-twenties of me, but I do like stability. I know I should embrace this time to explore my skills and their place in the job market, but a very big part of me is ready for a nine-to-five job with health benefits and consistent group of colleagues I can build relationships with. On the other hand, I also love blogging (I don't think I'd ever give it up) and logging information on television shows that I spend so many hours watching anyway. It's a conundrum, but when it comes down to it, I'm just looking to be able to do what I love (and what I'm good at) forty hours a week for reasonable pay and health insurance. Why does that seem so hard these days?