I never know what to reply to those "name a bad thing about you" questions. Being honest seems like a terrible idea, but then what would an acceptable "bad thing" be to lie about? Do I say the cliche of "I work too hard" that nobody believes?
Pick a minor flaw, and immediately start expounding on what you do to mitigate it. For example, "I can't always keep all of a complex thing in my head, so I've learned to do X, Y and Z to keep up -- Z is a really cool tool, actually, have you heard of it? I've found that, in my career as a..."
That’s right, answer a bullshit question with a bullshit answer. Because this is merely an exchange in a larger game.
All these people complaining that they got turned down for being “transparent” actually failed a real test: given a toy situation between people that doesn’t involve code, can you figure out what to do to accomplish your goal?
And if someone starts listing their top defects, the answer is “no.” Could be due to nerves, sure. But for a mid-career professional to not have known what to do to get past HR is a failure in problem-solving. Luckily it is solvable with the right mindset.
