Hero Interview QuestionI went on an interview the other day, and the interviewer asked me who my hero was - personally or professionally. What was she looking for?? I just have to say that I hate bs interview questions like this. If I ever heard this in an interview, I'd have to really fight the temptation to roll my eyes. But, I guess I'm just too sarcastic. What I've heard about that question is that the interviewer can tell traits that you admire and want to display by whoever you select as your hero. If your dream is to eventually be like them (be a leader in the company, etc.), it can show that you can set long-term goals, etc. If I had to answer that question, I'd probably say my brother. He may be just 22, but he's my hero because he sacrificed a chance to go to college to sign up and join the Marines, and go to Iraq. There's not a day that goes by that I don't admire what he did. My problem with the question though, is not only does it have the tendency to be fake (ie, for the interviewee to select someone like Mother Theresa, and give some bs answer, even though in reality that person doesn't even know who Mother Theresa was), it's hard to see what type of hero the interviewer is looking for. Someone who may be a hero to someone else could be someone that another person can't stand. I have never had the "here" question, but I have had these four equally ridiculous and not even close to being job related questions:
I half expect at any time to be asked who would I save if three of my best friends were threatened with being eaten by a shark and I only had one lifesaver. This is right up there with the most ridiculous interview questions I' ve ever heard. The interviewer probably knew they had to ask some personal questions to establish personality fit, but didn' t know what to ask. Personal and professional hero? What is this, a college admission interview? What' s next? Questions about the kind of tree you would be, or the color of a dog' s bark? How silly. Not sure exactly what they were looking for, but if I had to guess, I'd guess that they wanted to see whether you would pick someone like a celebrity/sports/political figure--some high-profile person--or whether you would pick someone who has made a real difference in your life, a "quiet" hero, if you will--parent, teacher, guidance counselor, aunt, uncle, neighbor, etc. In my mind, who someone would choose as a hero figure is pretty telling; I do not think it a stupid or irrelevant question at all. I think it speaks to the personal attributes one find admirable, therefore those which one would emulate (hopefully). I would have answered that my dad was my hero. wow. these are totally bizarre. I feel sorry for you. Survivor and Immunity idol? I wouldn' t answer. I' d ask to re frame the questions in the context of the knowledge and skills associated with the job.... knowing it would cost me the job. Also, on the original question. Who is your hero? Keep it neutral. You tell me that George Bush is your hero, guess where you' re resume' s going to land? (at the bottom of the bird cage)? Conversely, in an icebreaker during a training (given the context of the training) I said Jimmy Carter was one of my hero' s and by the eyes rolling I knew said the wrong thing... Remember Nuetral They' re looking for you to pick someone reasonable (bad choices would include Hitler or Attila the Hun), and then be able to explain in a coherant and well thought out fashion, why that is. For example, a bad answer would be: "Popeye is my hero. He' s on my TV every day at 6am." Popeye COULD be your hero if you said something like... "Popeye always stands up for the little guy. He defends the defenseless, yet he always tries to talk things over and avoid confrontations first. He' s patient and generous (all that money for hamburgers and no Tuesday in sight!) and he' s kind to women and children." Judging from how some employers (including, for example, Burns International Security Services, which, as Annie Murphy Paul notes in her recent book The Cult of Personality, recently agreed shell out up to $2.1 million to some 8,000 job applicants like Mel Thompson for "asking" them to take a "personality test" that included questions asking applicants to agree or disagree with statements like "Workers usually come last as far as most companies are concerned," "Most companies make too much profit," "The drinking age should be lowered." and "Marijuana should be legalized"--questions that made the test, in the words of Thompson lawyer Brad Seligman, basically "a true-or-false pledge of allegiance to corporate America,") use questions such as the one cited in this thread about applicants' "heroes" to ferret out their political, social, and/or economic beliefs--beliefs that usually have little or nothing to do with one' s ability to do a job--don' t you think it a bit risky for any applicant to say she or he admires anyone for "always stand[ing] up for the little guy" and "defend[ing] the defenseless"? For the record, I admire Popeye for the same reason. I also admire real people like Walter Reuther, Emma Goldman, Mary Harris ("Mother") Jones, Eugene V. Debs, "Big Bill" Haywood, Joe Hill, John L. Lewis, and Cesar Chavez. And, yes, I do strongly agree with all four of the statements quoted above. As with who I admire, however, I really don' t think that my answers to any such questions are generally any employer' s business! So what I want to know is what if you never watched Survivor and didn' t know what an Immunity Idol was? But in all honesty, some of these questions are intended to simply try to understand the person they are interviewing. Why the heartburn. On the hero question - Keep it simple, non-political, non-religious and non-offensive in any way. On the who would I save? Whoever I possibly could. It is a trick question. Who says I can only save one? What parameter is established that says this is true? Turn the question back and ask why you can only save one? Why can' t you save them all? What is wrong with asking what movies you enjoy? Personally, unless it is pornagraphy, there certainly can' t be a secret code to this so just answer the question. | |
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