Tired of candidates lying when asked about their weaknesses? Here's how to end that once and for all

We've all seen it before. As soon as you ask a candidate to share their biggest weakness, they put on a show, act holier than thou, and give you a BS answer.

"I'm too sensitive."

"I work too hard."

"I care too much."

Ugh!

Don't you wish you could just have an honest conversation instead?

In this blog post, I'll uncover the secret of how to overcome this problem.

Well, here it is, here's the secret.

Ready?

Stop.

Stop.

Asking.

That.

Question.

It's a stupid question. It doesn't show "self-reflection" or "self-awareness." It only antagonizes perfectly good candidates and gives you zero useful information. This question is a prehistoric relic that's unfortunately still being passed down from one generation to another.

But what insights does it really give you?

Did you ever think that question made sense when others interviewed you?

Did it help anyone understand you better before they hired you?

Did you tell the truth?

To scratch the surface of who someone is, you'll have to ask insightful questions and derive information yourself. Understanding how it'll be working with the person in front of you won't come from a neat 'strengths vs. weaknesses' checklist.

Here are 11 better questions to use in an interview:

1. Tell me about a mistake you've made. What did you learn from it?

2. Tell me about a disagreement you've had with your boss. How did you resolve it?