It's frustrating when I can't compose my thoughts properly under pressure.. then I say something completely vapid thus making me sound like a fool

He should have chuckled as if he were joking and then given a better answer. He was probably too flustered though I guess.

Nooooo, this is Patrick!

Hahaha best comment so far!

exactly. and you couldn't think of any bullshit thing to say? like "I'm excited to join the company" or "i would really like to get experience in this field"

I never understood why they ask that. Are they testing my ability to lie under pressure? Because the honest answer is almost always "I want to sell my skills for money, and don't care if it's to you guys. This isn't even weird, since I'm in an interview (rather than, say, proportionally hired) exactly because 'they want to buy a skill I posses, and don't care if it's from me'.

I don't understand why those types of questions even get asked! Especially in a retail job. People put out a bunch of resume's, it's not like they only apply to the one place they want to work. The reality is people need a job for money, that's the real answer. I so hate the whole "game" that's played during an interview. "What are you're weaknesses?" Everybody knows to give some BS answer that makes them sound a little bit good. "I'm probably too invested in the customers," "I'm probably too much of a neat freak," no one is going to say something that could ruin their chances of getting a job, like "i am lazy" or "I don't like talking with customers" or "I hate dealing with idiots". The whole thing is a giant game and I just hate it. *rant over* lol.

They want to know that you've prepared, that you've put thought into your answers, and that you want the job enough to tailor your responses to fit that particular company. They know you want money, but these sorts of questions do serve a purpose. As for the question about weaknesses, a family friend of mine was on a hiring committee for some dozen years and hates the BS answers that take a positive and flip it around to sound vaguely negative, i.e. "I think my perfectionist nature gets in the way of doing my job as quickly as I could." While she certainly doesn't represent all people in charge of hiring, she says to be honest on that one, so long as you provide a very minor weakness that you can work on and improve upon.

As someone who has been on both sides of the interview process I find questions like this insulting to both parties. I want to hire someone who will be competent at their job not just someone thats good at feeding me BS answers.

I understand what you're saying 21, but it's still a lot of BS. People being "prepared" doesn't necessarily mean they're great workers or good honest people, often it means their manipulative or great at conning other people, or coming up with BS on the spot. And for your friend that wants an honest answer for the weakness question, she actually wants a semi-honest answer by the fact that she said "as long as it's a minor weakness." Why ask it at all? It's all a giant game in my opinion and for the people that don't know how to play it well, or that get too nervous about how well the game is played, often don't get the job even though they may actually do the job better then the person who could BS their way through and play it well. In my opinion it would be better if they took the time to find out more about the person themselves, their hobbies, their morals & values, or just cut it short and ask the necessary questions only. I would probably rather a good honest person working for me then the person that can just BS their way through anything. Just my opinion.

I didn't say I liked it. I just said it serves a purpose. Obviously it's BS, so you'd better be good at that if you want to convince them of anything. #35, as you're aware that's what the resume is for.

Have you ever read a cover letter in your life? Its painful. And you have to learn how to read a resume, take note if people bounce around jobs and different fields. You can also hire someone that has a great resume, interviews well but does not fit with your office or the work you need them to do. It happens all the time. I have excel tests on my interviews not questions that inspire people to lie to me

I just wished everyone got together and decided to forget the stupid questions and worked to find a different way of doing it so no "game" is played. I'm not saying I have the answers, I just wish it was different. My poor mom had to write a resume for the first time in like 30 years and she didn't even know how to write it so it made her "look" good, and then I had to explain the interview game to her as well. Luckily she was applying to work with older ladies in a sewing store so they didn't play the game anyway.

I'd rather play games or go to the gym, or sleep, but each to their own :)