A CEO shares his favorite job interview question — and the reason why people answer it wrong

Duolingo CEO Luis Von Ahn has received some pretty cringeworthy responses to this question. Duolingo

By Aine Cain, HELLO GIGGLES

You can't go through life expecting that everybody you meet is going to like you.

In fact, it's probably healthy to be self-aware enough to at least conceive of a good reason why you may not be someone's cup of tea.

That goes double if you're interviewing at language app company Duolingo.

CEO and founder Luis Von Ahn says he has one question he likes ask all candidates: "What would someone who doesn't like you tell us about you?"

He's gotten some pretty cringeworthy responses in the past.

"A bad answer for that is, 'Everybody likes me,'" he says. "That's not a good answer. Like, okay, you're lying. You're either lying or you're clueless."
[post_ads_2]
It's even worse when candidates try to blame the hypothetical people who don't like them.

"I think the responses that are concerning are like, 'People who don't like me just don't understand me, and they're usually just wrong,'" he says. "They're not taking responsibility for anything."

However, von Ahn says that the candidates he's interviewed only rarely crash and burn when it comes to this question, and that people are generally "pretty honest."

And, at the end of the day, that's all the CEO wants in a response.

"Some people say things like, 'Under stressful situations, I tend to be short,'" he says. "That happens to a lot of people. It's kind of understandable."

It's a question that's meant to get you to reflect on your flaws. Avoid sugarcoating, defensiveness, and tearful self-flagellation and just try to string together a clear-eyed self-critique.

"Everyone has downsides," says von Ahn. And, at the end of the day, you're generally better off openly addressing yours in your response, rather than inadvertently demonstrating them.

More from Business Insider

COMMENTS

Name

Career,1003,
ltr
item
eZineInsider.com Career: A CEO shares his favorite job interview question — and the reason why people answer it wrong
A CEO shares his favorite job interview question — and the reason why people answer it wrong
https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Mb-bXPL1uF8/WS-Zh_k0zJI/AAAAAAAABjc/n-6qBLaw3wI3JXAYBVJ61I0AdcRRDHOXQCLcB/s1600/1.jpg
https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Mb-bXPL1uF8/WS-Zh_k0zJI/AAAAAAAABjc/n-6qBLaw3wI3JXAYBVJ61I0AdcRRDHOXQCLcB/s72-c/1.jpg
eZineInsider.com Career
https://career.ezineinsider.com/2017/05/a-ceo-shares-his-favorite-job-interview.html
https://career.ezineinsider.com/
https://career.ezineinsider.com/
https://career.ezineinsider.com/2017/05/a-ceo-shares-his-favorite-job-interview.html
true
1849605764304258819
UTF-8
Loaded All Posts Not found any posts VIEW ALL Read More Reply Cancel reply Delete By Home PAGES POSTS View All RECOMMENDED FOR YOU LABEL ARCHIVE SEARCH ALL POSTS Not found any post match with your request Back Home Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat January February March April May June July August September October November December Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec just now 1 minute ago $$1$$ minutes ago 1 hour ago $$1$$ hours ago Yesterday $$1$$ days ago $$1$$ weeks ago more than 5 weeks ago Followers Follow THIS PREMIUM CONTENT IS LOCKED STEP 1: Share to a social network STEP 2: Click the link on your social network Copy All Code Select All Code All codes were copied to your clipboard Can not copy the codes / texts, please press [CTRL]+[C] (or CMD+C with Mac) to copy Table of Content