A group on LinkedIn, Corporate Recruiters, has posed an interesting question on its discussion board: What is the most outdated interview question?

Here is a selection of the group’s ideas but we would love to get your suggestions as well.

• Why do you want to join our organisation?

• What would your wife say if we were to ask her what your biggest flaw was (it’s even worse than what is your greatest weakness)?

• Tell me about yourself…

• If you were a tree, what kind of tree would you be?

And a poster from BusinessWeek.com suggests ‘Where do you see yourself in five years?’, as well as giving this advice should the question arise:

“I give you permission, if you have any misgivings about a job opportunity, to walk out the door when you hear it. It’s such a time-waster that only the most hidebound interviewers will utter it, but it lives on.

“Here’s why it’s dumb. No company will guarantee you a job for five years, much less a career path. For an interviewer to ask the question at all is a bad sign.

“Come on, people! There are millions of thoughts in the human brain. Can we change the ones we use in job interviews every decade or so?”