Interview Hypothetical-Talking Negative About an Employer

[Polo423]

Alright hypothetical interview question:

"Tell me something you found negative about your employer/PI."

Alright talking negative about your employer, I know, is something you should NEVER do in an interview (don't bite the hand that feeds). So if given this question my instinct would be to politely play it off as though their positive aspects far outdid any negative aspects they may have. But if the interviewer persists and wants something negative, what would be the right road to take? Find something small? Tell them the cold hard truth?

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[morning]

They didn't give you enough hours? You felt you could have handled greater responsibility? That british dude with the crutch was always mocking your ambitions and suturing skills?

 

[rHinO1]

Alright hypothetical interview question:

"Tell me something you found negative about your employer/PI."

Alright talking negative about your employer, I know, is something you should NEVER do in an interview (don't bite the hand that feeds). So if given this question my instinct would be to politely play it off as though their positive aspects far outdid any negative aspects they may have. But if the interviewer persists and wants something negative, what would be the right road to take? Find something small? Tell them the cold hard truth?

A question like that is a trap... don't step in it.

 

[mcgyver]

just say something that's not a big deal. like, sometimes my PI puts a lot of pressure on me but it makes me more resilient.

Alright hypothetical interview question:

"Tell me something you found negative about your employer/PI."

Alright talking negative about your employer, I know, is something you should NEVER do in an interview (don't bite the hand that feeds). So if given this question my instinct would be to politely play it off as though their positive aspects far outdid any negative aspects they may have. But if the interviewer persists and wants something negative, what would be the right road to take? Find something small? Tell them the cold hard truth?

 

[TFS]

no job is perfect, but overall it was a great experience

 

[RunningDiva]

i think the key is to find what could have been better about the job, not about the company. don't dish gossip about how mean your boss was, blah blah blah. good examples are above - not enough hours, responsibility, etc.

 

[lord_jeebus]

Don't dodge the question, but focus on what you did to overcome the issue.

 

[d1ony5u5]

As mentioned, this is a trap. If you had to answer, you should act according to your capacity to handle these double-edged questions.

What I mean is, if you can think quickly, evaluate responses (even non-verbal) accurately, and have enough grace to get out of ugly situations when necessary, then you could think about answering with the hard cold truth.

If you are more like the majority of people, you should have a rehearsed answer to quickly brush this aside. The above suggestions seem good to me. They probably won't give a lot of material to your interviewer to meditate on, but they won't risk turning your interview into a disaster...