For better or for worse, I've now become abrasive when asked interview questions in such a scripted, artificial manner. Because I no longer want the job at that point, I can respond more boldly, e.g.:
"Where do you see yourself in 5 years?"
"I don't know. Are you reading these questions from a textbook? FYI they're not very effective if you want to find someone who will do the job."
"What's your greatest weakness?"
"Trick questions in job interviews."
This is obviously not good advice; I have just reached a point in my life where I will not be made to dance to the whims of the interviewer, despite which the job would likely go to one of the employee's friends rather than it being given to me anyway.
One of the few merits of this approach is it tests if you can be frank with them or not. If they get offended at your lack of sucking up, then you probably wouldn't want that job anyway, because I find that if you suck up during the interview, you will find yourself struggling to maintain that ideal forever if you do get the job. It's better to be upfront about what things you actually care about.
Don't judge a company by the interviewer though. Most would rather be coding or whatever their real job is, so yes they read canned questions from a textbook. In a way, bad interviewers may be a sign that the work itself is far more interesting!
Still, the approach has its advantages. "Listen, I know you'd rather get back to doing whatever you were doing before this. Let me tell you why I'm a good candidate .... ". And then go on having "developer-to-developer" conversation, ask them about their work, talk about your own. Obviously only do this on the canned questions, not the actual technical questions, unless you've already aced a few tech questions and are getting bored. Unless it's a hugely bureaucratic organization, this will probably receive a good review.
Another thing I've noticed is that it allows the interviewer to lower their guard as well, so you can usually get some more real "what's great, what sucks about the job", and I've even scored on "what's the pay cap of this position" multiple times.
Oh, by all means, DO judge the company by the interviewer(s)! Those are likely to be your colleagues. Your managers. If you have no respect for them after the interview, chances that you'll like them on the job are slim.
[edit] Also, the interview process should tell you a little bit about what kinds of candidates make it past the interview, to become employees.
No. It is good advice. It's very good advice if you want to find a place where you fit well. Unless you're starving and just need a job, any job, right now.
Allow me to explain: After some ups and downs in my career I resolved to be true to myself. In my case that means calling bullshit on ridiculous things. You know what happened? I found out really quickly where I would have been miserable, and I was totally surprised by some incredible groups that wanted someone just like me, they just didn't know it.
Actual responses from me in interviews that found me a great fit:
A: I don't know that sounds like a contrived question. I'd be asking why you have that problem in the first place.
Q: "people who do what you do are often vague and noncommittal"
A: that's because most people who do what I do haven't bothered to read the foundational texts, thus they rely upon tropes and ceremony. This field is full of muppets.
Q: what's your greatest weakness
A: sometimes I'm just a little too awesome smirk that says "are we really playing this game?"
Q: are you <blah blah> certified?
A: no I've purposefully avoided <blah blah> certification.I think it's heavy handed bullshit and I don't want to be associated with it or asked to do it
No joke these were real responses that got me great jobs and client engagements. They also quickly helped me discover people I wouldn't enjoy working with.
Your answers sound as if you have a strong feeling of superiority, avoid sharing something about you so as not to become vulnerable, and judge things heavily which you haven't experienced firsthand. I could be entirely wrong, but that's what your comment conveys to me. Does this only apply to interviews for you, because you despise them?
I can't say I've done what he did. But I do have felt the need to reply something like that to interviewers sometimes. Maybe now I'll do it, though I wouldn't burn bridges like he does, regardless of whether I'd feel comfortable working for them or not. You just don't know what the future holds..
I guess if you see my responses as burning bridges then you of course wouldn't want to do that. I don't see it as burning bridges at all. I don't take a nasty tone, but a more playful one. The point is to set the boundaries for what our relationship might be like. I have had companies come back to me months later after they figure out that they'd like a relationship on those terms because whatever they were doing in the past wasn't serving them.
No, I love interviews. I can be very extroverted. I'm charming and funny and a little brash at times.
I think it's critically important to explore, at the outset, what the boundaries of your relationship will be with any employer or business partner.
So for me, that means I lay down boundaries that I'm not interested in playing along with ridiculous ceremonies just because that's the way things have always been done. I think the way most interviews are conducted are ridiculous. Thus I push back and see what happens. You surely have your boundaries too. I feel your should respect them.
I answered "alcohol and hard drugs" once to the famed "what's your greatest weakness" question. The guy looked at me totally shocked and I said "just f'ing with you, donuts hands down"
I did get offered the job - I deliver answers to absurd interview question more jovial than it comes across in text...
He asked me seriously and I said something to the effect of "I eat at least one donut a day for the past five years despite saying 'this is the year I get beach abs' so if you want an honest answer I think you've got it"
You know, in my 20+ years of experience, there isn't a single moment I could go back to where I could even fathom what I was going to be doing five years after that.
Once in an interview with the CEO of a growing startup I got the "Where do you see yourself in 5 years?" question, I answered "I will be the CEO of this company", I got the job.
Of course, 5 years later life is completely different, that question is useless in my opinion, especially when the company itself is no older than 5 years or barely has more than one-year runway.
> I have just reached a point in my life where I will not be made to dance to the whims of the interviewer,
I think this interview style sends a signal, a lot of requirements that a programmer has to implement at work are made up ad-hoc/in an arbitrary manner. the message is that one is not supposed to question requirements too much and 'just do it'. (at least the filter is good enough to filter out a person who questions things)
That's lightyears apart from the interview bullshit.
On the job questions come with a context, or if not with someone who can offer context, or at least some guidance. (In the worst case you can ask your boss WTF to do. And maybe you'll get the answer, I don't know, and it's not important, it's up to you, etc.)
But never does the question what should this thing we're building right now will do in 5 years comes up without the answer, huh, good questions, but we have absolutely no idea, so we need more data and a shorter time-frame, and let's call up Gartner, Gordon Moore, Gardner and Tetlock, and maybe a few fortune tellers while we're at it too!
The problem is not the question, it's a fine question to start a discussion in the right context. (Maybe even during an interview. But it's not a "Q&A with tweetable answers" type question.)
In many cases the person conducting the interview is just a manager who was pulled in to help screen candidates. They don't have a lot of experience interviewing, so they resort to common questions like those in your example. It doesn't mean it's a bad place to work.
I make sure to remain polite, and the tone isn't aggressive. But the fact is any answer I give for the "5 years" question is not going to be the truth. So I attempt to refocus on the actual job; if that's not possible, that's OK. But it beats doing that whole song and dance.
I'm getting to be the same way. I've been fortunate enough to have found work in the last 15 years through friends, so the interview process is chatting at lunch as a formality.
"Where do you see yourself in 5 years?" "I don't know. Are you reading these questions from a textbook? FYI they're not very effective if you want to find someone who will do the job."
"What's your greatest weakness?" "Trick questions in job interviews."
This is obviously not good advice; I have just reached a point in my life where I will not be made to dance to the whims of the interviewer, despite which the job would likely go to one of the employee's friends rather than it being given to me anyway.
One of the few merits of this approach is it tests if you can be frank with them or not. If they get offended at your lack of sucking up, then you probably wouldn't want that job anyway, because I find that if you suck up during the interview, you will find yourself struggling to maintain that ideal forever if you do get the job. It's better to be upfront about what things you actually care about.