A second-round interview for a project coordinator role, forty-five minutes in and going fine. Then the hiring manager reached for the standard question — what's your biggest weakness? The candidate gave an unremarkable answer about over-scheduling his own day.
Then he put the question back: what would the manager say the biggest weakness on his team was, right now?
The manager laughed it off first, then went a little stiff, and admitted the role had turned over three times in two years. He tried to walk it back — not really relevant, he said. The candidate thought it was relevant. He would be the one filling it a fourth time.
There wasn't much of an answer to that. They moved on to the next question.
As of the following morning, the recruiter's line was that they were still deciding. Torched it or not, the candidate doesn't regret asking.