Interview Question: How long will you stay with us?

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http://workplace.stackexchange.com/questions/81836/interview-question-how-long-will-you-stay-with-us

I was on stackexchange and I saw this in the sidebar. Thought it was interesting. So what do you say if the interviewer asks How long will you stay with us?

What is the right answer? I think this would be liable to catch out those of us who think in b&w. Logically you would think that they are looking for a number. How long? 5 years? 10? 3 months?

I thought it was interesting that some people were saying that the interviewer didn't want a number. They want a sense of commitment. One person replied: '"I'm looking for a long term job where I'm able to learn and work hard for the coming years." Don't commit yourself to a 'number', show motivation and commitment instead.'

Another says: 'If I were interviewing, I would ask this question simply to see if the candidate was capable of saying, "I don't know" to a question which they don't know the answer to. Having people who are able to say, "I don't know" is valuable to decision makers. It is so common for people to just make stuff up when put on the spot, take guesses and present them as fact, try to appear more knowledgable[sic] than they are, etc.

Clearly, it's great to qualify that with something like "I don't know, but I'd hope that things would work out well for us long term."'

This really interested me. It's a trick question. But then isn't the education system at fault here. We're taught to answer exam questions to succeed. We have it drummed into us that success === knowing the answer and if we don't know the answer then a guess is better than writing nothing.

Well, apparently it's not.

I hate those "standard" interview questions that turn up all the time. There seems to be an ulterior motive for all of them, which can differ depending on the person asking. Why don't you ask what it is you actually want to know and stop making me guess?

Unless the position you're going for requires high-calibre social skills (eg sales), interviews have to be the most stupid way of judging the competence of a candidate, even in the neurotypical world. Anyone who has less than brilliant social skills is automatically at a disadvantage. I have never managed to get a job that was judged solely on an interview. When I get the chance to show my skills I have a much greater chance, and got all three major jobs I've had in my life this way.