You're missing the point entirely. It's not that first question that gives you the information. That question is just setting the stage for all of the questions that follow.
The main point, which is key to hiring, is that you need to ensure that people are answering questions based on actual experiences, not hypotheticals.
When you ask someone "how WOULD you handle xyz", they feel free to answer with ideal behavior. When you ask "how did you handle the situation you just told me about," they tell you what they actually did.
You should not be judging the significance of the person's achievement, in most cases -- you should be probing on WHY they think it was significant, what made it significant, how they worked with others to realize the achievement, where they stumbled, etc.
Agreed. In GP's scenario, telling the story of how they were able to balance working a night job with going to the public library to do their homework, say, or how they dealt with a rough situation at home, or whatever else it was, could be quite impressive.
I don't look at academic success too hard when I hire, but if someone really worked their tail off to beat obstacles and get that 4.0, I'll find those stories to be a great indicator.
The main point, which is key to hiring, is that you need to ensure that people are answering questions based on actual experiences, not hypotheticals.
When you ask someone "how WOULD you handle xyz", they feel free to answer with ideal behavior. When you ask "how did you handle the situation you just told me about," they tell you what they actually did.
You should not be judging the significance of the person's achievement, in most cases -- you should be probing on WHY they think it was significant, what made it significant, how they worked with others to realize the achievement, where they stumbled, etc.