Interesting Interview Question: Name One Negative Thing You Have Heard About Our Products

“Ever since your company invented ‘the Platyproliferatorinator,’ it has been the number one platypus multiplying machine used by evil scientists in children’s cartoons. The League of Villainous Evildoers Maniacally United For Frightening Investments in Naughtiness, or L.O.V.E.M.U.F.F.I.N. for short, rated your Platyproliferatorinator in their latest evil magazine. The only gripe that I could find was the reverse switch that has a tendency to erase every copied platypus, including Jerry, the loveable physically challenged platypus within just a few seconds. Otherwise, your product is easily number one on the Dr. Doofenshmirtz most wanted list.”

Companies love to see knowledge of their products from applicants. They also like to see what the competitors and applicants thinks are problems with their products. The problem is that you don’t want to tell them about a flaw in their products, because that would be negative. You do, however, want to display that you have knowledge in the company, which is why company research is so important. So when you answer this question, try to show that you have knowledge of the products while supplying an answer that isn’t truly a negative, such as a feature that is current in development but exists on competitor products.

Bad Answer

“I heard that your operating system struggles to handle DRM software, encouraging its users to download files illegally simply to run it on your hardware.”

This points to a very significant flaw in their product. You don’t want to be that negative, even if they know this is a problem.

Good Answer

“According to the Forbes’s ‘Best Portable Media Players of 2010’ list, your products rate higher than both the Zune and the Sansa by a considerable margin. The only noted problem was that your products currently don’t support mp4 files. However, as support for those file types is currently in development, I suspect that once the software update is completed your product will overtake both the Cowon D2 and the iPod Touch.”

As you can see, you briefly touched upon a “Flaw” but by researching the company, you know that they are planning to fix that flaw in just a short time, making it no longer a flaw. This is a non-negative way to approach this answer, far more preferable, and you show that you did your research.

Take Away Interview Tips

• Don’t be negative.
• Research the company.
• Show that you researched the company in your answer.
• Phineas and Ferb is a fantastic show.

Related posts:

1. Common Interview Question – What Interests You About Our Products or Services?
2. Common Interview Question: What Do You Know About Our Products?
3. Interview Question: What Do You Know About Our Competitors?
4. Interesting Interview Question: If This Field Became Obsolete, What Field Would You Choose to Go Into?
5. Difficult Interview Question: What Do You Know About Our Competitors?