Job interview question: How to answer who is your best friend?

Tea “Who is your best friend” The interview question is often used as part of the behavioral assessment portion of a job interview. The answer you give to this question will give the hiring manager an idea of ​​how introspective you are in terms of how other people see you, and you will map your personality characteristics in a work environment. Answering this question or a related question like this right will be important to your chances of landing that new job!

There is no perfect interview answer to this question, but there are answers that cast you in a positive light as a leading job candidate, and answers that will result in a strike against you: Too many strikes on too many questions equals no job offer.

The interview question is often asked in the form of “Who is your best friend?” When a name is given, the interviewer will ask “If he / she was in the room with me right now, how would I describe you? Both positively and negatively.” I have often received responses from my spouse, my sister or brother, and my mom or dad, all of whom are acceptable, as well as friends.

Good interview responses to the positive attributes question

A good answer usually shows that you have an idea of ​​how other people see you and you know how to position this view in a way that is relevant to a work environment. Some examples include the following for the positive character trait part of the question:

• I am outgoing and I get along well with others.
• I am focused and motivated to succeed in whatever task I take on.
• I like to be challenged, whether it’s in a new game, in a new environment, or physically pushing myself in sports.

Good interview responses to the negative attributes question

I often don’t see really bad answers to the positives, but it gets interesting when asked about negatives that a best friend might articulate. Here are some generally good responses managers look for in response to a friend’s description of their negative traits:

• Sometimes I can be a perfectionist in things and I won’t stop until I have mastered a task.
• I can be a workaholic and sometimes I have to remind myself to balance my personal life with work.
• Occasionally I overextend myself with too many activities both at work and in my community work.

Bad Interview Answers to Positive Attributes Question

Believe it or not, I have received these responses in actual interviews, and in addition to not being impressed with how the candidate is thinking, they often start to tilt the interview more towards “no hiring”:

• I like to party and people always want to be near me.
• I am a fan of shoes and the person who takes to buy shoes.
• I am a social butterfly and often have things to do every night of the week in my personal life.

Basically you want to be honest about how your friend would describe you, but use something that translates into a character attribute that a manager would see applied in a work setting.

Shopping, driving cars, etc. they do not fit this purpose, and some of the answers above indicate perhaps a lack of responsibility, especially if the impression is that you are too fun-loving and your main focus is an active social life. A manager will interpret this as a weak work ethic, which will not be in their favor.

Bad Interview Answers to Negative Attributes Question

Often responding in the negative is difficult for most people. [there are other interview questions along these lines as well]The trick is to not present a character trait as something really negative, and certainly never give an answer that puts you in a bad light in terms of a lack of responsibility, maturity, work ethic, or teamwork.

Here are some actual responses I’ve received in interviews that are not a good response to “what your best friend would say in terms of negative characteristics or behaviors”:

• I party too much and often have trouble getting going in the morning.
• I don’t pay attention to time and am often late for our social dates / movies etc.
• I always run out of money and borrow something until my next paycheck

Can you see why these would not be well received during an interview and why you might not seem like someone I would be excited to have on my team?

Not all interviewers use this question, but similar questions are used in most interviews; we want to learn more about your personality and how you perceive yourself both in their eyes and in the eyes of others. Often times, people who are more introspective tend to be more focused on their behavior, contributions to a team, and receive and perform very well in career coaching.