Disastrous interview experiences

[vandermolen]

I've had a few disastrous interview experiences in my time. In my 20s it was difficult to find a teaching job in the UK so I decided to try and become a probation officer. I had to have an interview for a social work qualification at Nottingham University very early in the morning. I had no money to stay in Nottingham overnight so I walked from my parent's flat in Earl's Court, London, to St Pancras Station. This took several hours overnight. I caught the milk train to Nottingham. By the time I arrived for the interview I was delirious with tiredness. As an opening question they asked me where I had come from. I said 'Newcastle' (still don't know why). They looked at my application form and said 'but it says here that you are from London'. I replied 'Yes, I came from London'. They obviously thought that I was a compulsive liar and completely unsuitable as a budding probation officer - I was not offered a place on the course.

My brother had an even worse experience having an interview at a lawyer's firm in London. My brother had just been to the dentist and half his mouth was numb. The man interviewing him had a very bad speech impediment. My brother says that it must have looked like he was doing an offensive impersonation of the man interviewing him.  He was not offered a place with that lawyer firm.

Any similar experiences?

[springrite]

I have only had one single job interview in my life. It should have been a disaster. The first question was "why did you apply for the job". I answered "I must have done this last year. I have no memory of it. You called me to come to the interview last week. I still don't remember when I filled out a form somewhere. Must be at a job fair just before graduation last year. I filled out a couple of forms --- the first two berth. Can you tell me what it is that I had applied for please?"

I got the job.

[Renfield]

I have only had one single job interview in my life. It should have been a disaster. The first question was "why did you apply for the job". I answered "I must have done this last year. I have no memory of it. You called me to come to the interview last week. I still don't remember when I filled out a form somewhere. Must be at a job fair just before graduation last year. I filled out a couple of forms --- the first two berth. Can you tell me what it is that I had applied for please?"

I got the job.

The inevitable question: what was the job?

[springrite]

The inevitable question: what was the job?

Analyst for the State of California.

I arrived late for the interview, too. I was later told that I was the last person. Since I was late, they had time to discuss about the people already interviewed, and agreed that 4 of them were good. They needed to hire five. When I was done, the head supervisor said "can we take one of the rest or ask Kathy to call some more applicants for another round of interview next week?" No one wants to do another day of interviews. One of the supervisor says "actually I like the last guy." Someone else snickered "would you want to be the supervisor of someone with that attitude?" He replied "I don't mind having him." "Agreed then. We don't need to do this again next week. Good job, guys!"

So, Mr. Leo Belligan became by supervisor, and I got the job.

Sometimes it is good to be late.

[Renfield]

Lovely story.

[маразм1]

i got a call from a recruiter saying that there is an excellent position, how many people that he referred to the company are now working there, excellent environment, etc. 
i show up, two dudes say: "we want to develop this system.  we are not even sure what it is.  perhaps we should use java, or mac...have you ever coded for a mac?  or maybe just .net".  bla bla bla.  Waste of time.  I was so furious, I sent the recruiter an email, saying that he's a moron, with his "assistant" who has just enough intelligence to work at the DMV.... etc.  This was a waste of 1/2 of my work day!!!

Another time I drove to Stanford, CT from New York just to drink tea with milk with English gentlemen.

[greg]

I had an interview today, but it wasn't one for a job.
It went fine, except I had just come from the gym, working out with my friend, and then sat in the car for a while, sweating- so, I think I could even smell myself  . I'm not sure if they expected me to dress up, but the whole thing wasn't really that important, so I didn't really care about it.

Actually, I'm going to go take a shower now...

[Scarpia]

I had an interview today, but it wasn't one for a job.
It went fine, except I had just come from the gym, working out with my friend, and then sat in the car for a while, sweating- so, I think I could even smell myself  . I'm not sure if they expected me to dress up, but the whole thing wasn't really that important, so I didn't really care about it.

Actually, I'm going to go take a shower now...

If it wasn't important, why did you go?  And if it was important enough to go, why wasn't it important enough to bother to take a shower first?

[sospiro]

I had an interview today, but it wasn't one for a job.

If it wasn't for a job what was the interview for?

[greg]

It was just because my teacher nominated me for student of the year, and they called me and asked for an interview, so it's not like I was going to turn it down.

I seriously doubt I'd win it, though- and even if I did, it wouldn't really matter much- it might look good on a job application, but that's about it... I guess I didn't think about dressing up and everything because I just thought it would be this one lady asking me a few questions (kinda like when my friend was interviewed for student of the month).

[knight66]

I have been on boards to interview job applicants. On one occasion I was a bit surprised at who my co-interviewer was. Called Ann, she was someone I had not known had interviewed applicants. We sifted the application forms. One of the job seekers we decided to interview had a degree in psychology. Ann commented that she would be interested to ask about that.

The interview went along OK, then Ann clearly decided to ask about the applicant's degree. She said, "Now this psychology then, what's all that about?"

The applicant looked nonplussed by the question and I then made sure that Ann did not get to interview for any more posts.

Mike

[vandermolen]

I have been on boards to interview job applicants. On one occasion I was a bit surprised at who my co-interviewer was. Called Ann, she was someone I had not known had interviewed applicants. We sifted the application forms. One of the sob seekers we decided to interview had a degree in psychology. Ann commented that she would be interested to ask about that.

The interview went along OK, then Ann clearly decided to ask about the applicant's degree. She said, "Now this psychology then, what's all that about?"

The applicant looked nonplussed by the question and I then made sure that Ann did not get to interview for any more posts.

Mike

Hilarious!

Last year my school merged with another school - we were all made to reapply for our jobs (nice!) One of my colleagues knew one of the panel (three Headmistresses) and kissed her, but he then kissed the other elderly head (whom he'd never met before). He (wisely) did not kiss the current Head. He kept his job.

[jowcol]

This was probably a disaster for the interviewee-- when I was the interviewer.

I was working in the R&D department for an IT firm, and it was a rather crazy bunch of people I worked with.  For our boss's 40th birthday, we decided for some reason that he needed a toilet in his office, so we bought a brand new toilet, and placed it where his chair behind the desk was normally supposed to me.  (If only we had the plumbing done it would have been perfect! ).

Anyway, he was a good sport, and used that as his chair for about a week, and then the toilet began "making the rounds" from office to office. 

One day I came into work, and found my normal chair gone, and the toilet in its place.  I figured it was my turn,  and went on with my work.  Later somebody stuck their head him my office and asked if I'd interview someone who had dropped by, and I agreed.  When the person came in my office, he stepped up to my desk, held out his hand to greet me.  Then he looked down and saw what I was sitting on and the life went out of them.  He was so flustered he could barely talk.   I could have made it worse, and grunted and grimaced a couple of times during the interview, but the damage was done.   I don't think he was  able to answer a single questions coherently, and seemed eager to get away. 

On the way out, he told our recruiter that he did NOT want to work for us under any circumstances.

[springrite]

This was probably a disaster for the interviewee-- when I was the interviewer.

I was working in the R&D department for an IT firm, and it was a rather crazy bunch of people I worked with.  For our boss's 40th birthday, we decided for some reason that he needed a toilet in his office, so we bought a brand new toilet, and placed it where his chair behind the desk was normally supposed to me.  (If only we had the plumbing done it would have been perfect! ).

Anyway, he was a good sport, and used that as his chair for about a week, and then the toilet began "making the rounds" from office to office. 

One day I came into work, and found my normal chair gone, and the toilet in its place.  I figured it was my turn,  and went on with my work.  Later somebody stuck their head him my office and asked if I'd interview someone who had dropped by, and I agreed.  When the person came in my office, he stepped up to my desk, held out his hand to greet me.  Then he looked down and saw what I was sitting on and the life went out of them.  He was so flustered he could barely talk.   I could have made it worse, and grunted and grimaced a couple of times during the interview, but the damage was done.   I don't think he was  able to answer a single questions coherently, and seemed eager to get away. 

On the way out, he told our recruiter that he did NOT want to work for us under any circumstances.

I would have said to him: "I am sorry but, could you come back after about ... uh...five minutes? Thanks!"

[Renfield]

If the interviewee didn't have the guts to ask about the toilet, I don't think he was all that worth it anyway.

[jowcol]

If the interviewee didn't have the guts to ask about the toilet, I don't think he was all that worth it anyway.

That's essentially what we thought-- if he didn't have a sense of humor or tolerance for strange, he didn't belong doing R&D...

[Sydney Grew]

That's essentially what we thought--if he didn't have a sense of humoUr . . .

But it wasn't funny!!!

[greg]

But it wasn't   wuznt funny!!!

There.

[Saul]

http://www.youtube.com/v/HbJHkwHZCCM

[vandermolen]

V funny advert - thanks for posting.