ronin phd

This is a common (dreaded?) interview question. I’ve faced it, and on the other side of the desk, I’ve asked it.

Once I was interviewing a student for a field/lab tech job. After asking her about her strengths, I asked her to tell me her greatest weakness.

She replied, “I’m paranoid. I often think people are watching me.”

This was awesome. Waaaay better then “Well, let me think a moment. … I guess one of my weaknesses is that I work too hard. I spend too much time in the lab and need to get some balance going with other important parts of my life.”

I hired her.