When interviewing job candidates, personnel managers not only evaluate

The conclusion of this argument is that since hobbies may indicate that a candidate has other interests that might take precedence over work, managers must not inquire about a candidate’s hobbies. This seems rather absurd because simply not asking questions about hobbies will not make the hobbies go away (if the candidate does have them) and more importantly, questions about hobbies can be used to learn important aspects about job performance. All the answer choices, but one, list the flaws in the argument and we’re tasked with finding out the one that does not delineate the flaw and hence, does not weaken the conclusion.

(A) A candidate’s involvement in particular hobbies may indicate a capacity to make longterm commitments.

This weakens the conclusion by clearly stating that asking about hobbies may have benefits that would enable a better evaluation of the candidates.

(B) Candidates who have no hobbies may pretend that they have one when asked in an interview.

This answer choice supports the conclusion that managers should not inquire about hobbies as they would be prone to getting dishonest answers from candidates which would impair their ability to properly gauge the candidates’ competitiveness.

(C) Inquiries about a hobby may put candidates at ease, eliciting more honest responses about important questions.

This answer choices undermines the conclusion that asking about hobbies may elicit genuine responses that would enable an accurate evaluation of the candidate.

(D) Having certain kinds of hobbies may indicate that a candidate has good organizational skills.

Having good organisational skills may prove to be beneficial to the company for certain roles, thus if inquiring about hobbies may bring such important information to light then managers should inquire. This answer choice therefore represents a flaw in the argument.

(E) Personnel managers may make better choices among candidates if they are not restricted from asking particular types of questions.

This answer choices weakens the conclusion by pointing out that if managers are given the freedom to ask certain types of questions then they will be able to better assess a candidate. Therefore, asking about hobbies will lead to a better evaluation of the candidate.

Choice (B) is the only choice that does not undermine the conclusion and is therefore the answer.