Worst interview story (parent's versions)...

Parent Cafe
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<p>OK, The “Worst Interview Story” on the Parents Forum prompted me to start this thread. To the parents: Did you have any really bad interviews? I’d like to show the students that it’s not that uncommon and that life goes on. </p>

<p>I’ll start with a couple ot them:</p>

<p>The WORST ever was an interview for a job at a top-ranked university. The main reason I was applying (only reason?) was that if I worked there, my first son would have been able to go tuition-free. There were actually several interviews, and each person interviewing looked at my schedule and cringed when they saw the name for the last one on the schedule: Dr. ______. One person even told me that the guy was so unpleasant that everyone in the department tried to avoid him. Finally, the time came and I knocked on his office door frame. He gestured, without looking up from some papers he was reading, for me to come in (turned out it was my resume(CV) he was staring at). “Hi,” I said, “I’m …” He held up his finger as if to say, “Don’t disturb me, I’m reading.” Almost five minutes went by, so I did a polite “Ummm…” and he held up his finger again. The entire time he had not looked at me. Finally, after what seemed like forever, he said his first words to me: “What’s CCC??” he barked. I told him I didn’t have a clue, and he got angry: “It’s on your resume. How can you not know what’s on your resume???” I tried to figure out what the heck I had put CCC on the resume for, and he finally showed it to me. It was penciled into the margin - obviously by himself or someone else in the department. Was this guy trying to rankle me to see what my reaction was or what? A short time later, he grabbed a marker to write something on his white-board about the research he was doing. I noticed it was not a white-board erasable marker and said something to him about it before he ruined the board. He turned and glared at me like, “How dare you interrupt my train of thought,” and used the marker to fill the board. When he wanted to continue, he went to erase what he had written so far and of course it wouldn’t erase. And in his mind, I THINK HE BLAMED ME!! What a nightmare. I would have been working very closely with this professor, so I decided right then that this was not the job for me.</p>

<p>And of course, there had been some other bad ones too: At an interview for a university’s research institute, the interviewer wanted me to do some Fourier analysis right on the spot. And I had a recent one where it was apparent that between the time the interview was scheduled and the interview, they had decided against me. I could tell that the interviewer was being polite and going through the motions, so I called the interview to a halt only about five or ten minutes into it. Yes, he said, they had decided to look for a younger (read: cheaper) person for the job.</p>

<p>So, when the really bad interviews take place, remember, you can alway tell the tale (with laughter) many years later.</p>

<p>Other stories?</p>

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<p>I interviewed for an attorney job with TGI Friday’s early in my career. They took my picture, which seemed a little unusual. </p>

<p>A couple of years ago I arrived at an interview for a General Counsel position at a corporation and the fire alarm went off while I was still in the reception area. The CEO escorted me to the parking lot and we began our interview there until we could get back into the building. That should have been my first clue…</p>

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<p>Only time I ever consciously felt the sting of job discrimination against women: In the late '60s, seeking a summer job at Jt. Center for Urban Studies in Cambridge. My major at Wellesely was Econ. and I had taken City Planning classes at MIT. Sat down across desk from head of the Center (can’t remember his title). His first question/comment: why in the world do you think you could get a job here? Our secretaries have Master’s degrees! I didn’t get the job.</p>

<p>Cut to a month later: My then BF, at Harvard majoring in the Classics, got a job at the Joint Center.</p>

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<p>Shortly after relocating to the DC area, I interviewed for an Assistant Director of Financial Aid position at a local community college. During the interview with the director, I decided no, I don’t like this guy, he’s smarmy. Well, at the conclusion of the interview, I shook his hand and thanked him and he leaned over and gave me a kiss on the cheek. I drew back, absolutely appalled and I’m sure if he was considering offering me the job, he no doubt changed his mind after seeing my face. I wanted to report him to the personnel office at the college but was afraid it would get around in the financial aid community and I might have trouble getting a job. I did get a job shortly thereafter at Sallie Mae so I should have reported the SOB.</p>

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<p>When I was about 25 I had an interview in a studio executive’s office while she had a manicure!</p>

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<p>In 1992, I went back to school and got a master’s in education and certification to teach high school biology (from UMass). Unfortunately, during that year, the economy in Massachusetts went completely west, my DH was laid off, and we decided to move west, where the jobs were. So I took my brand-new diploma and started interviewing at schools in the Bay area of California. The first interview I had was going very well–they were all excited to be interviewing an MIT graduate, and I was all excited because it was a biology and chemistry job, my two loves in the world of science. We got well into the interview before I asked: “How many sections and how many students in each section?” “Three sections of honors biology and two of honors chemistry; 32 students in a section.” came the answer.</p>

<p>In Massachusetts, I’d done my student teaching at an “overcrowded” inner-city school–where the maximum class size was 26, and for honors sections, it was capped at 18. Honors sections in biology and chemistry had extra class periods for lab, so the student load for a teacher with two honors sections (and thus only four sections total) capped out at around 90-95.</p>

<p>In California, they were talking about a student load of 160 and five sections. </p>

<p>When the interviewer answered the question, I had just taken a sip of water from the nice cup of ice water they’d given me. Unfortunately, I was so stunned by the numbers that I literally sprayed the water all over the interview’s shoes in my shock.</p>

<p>I didn’t bother finishing the interview; I just got up and left.</p>

<p>(A few weeks later, I found a job at an inner-city school that was so desperate for teachers they hired me even though they assumed I knew nothing, since I was from Massachusetts. It turned out later that they’d had two teachers quit at the end of their first day with the classes they gave me. I was the only one who’d take the job, in the end. It was an education, that school.)</p>

<p>Now, I went</p>

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<p>dmd77 -</p>

<p>I too took a job in an inner-city HS teaching math and physics (all of 11 kids for physics). I could tell a million stories, all of which would sound made up. But you - with your experience - might believe me on some of those. To sum it up in one sentence: by the end of the first year, I had more seniority than any other math teacher and I became dept chair. Same thing in the interview for me: Would I work there? Yes. Hired!</p>

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<p>A former roommate told me that when his brother was being interviewed at a Wall Street law firm, one of the interviewer was having his shoes shined by a very young African American boy; when the shoeshine was done, the attorney handed the child a dime.</p>

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<p>I interviewed for a position with the firm of an extremely prominent plaintiff’s PI lawyer, who was conducting the interview personally. He seemed very impressed with my resume and talked as if he was ready to hire me right then – even showing me the office where I would work – but he repeatedly drilled me on my child-care arrangements. This was in 1992 - I made it clear that I didn’t have a problem working long hours, but basically it kept coming back to questions about child care arrangements. Anyway - I’m pretty sure that I didn’t get hired because my personal life didn’t pass muster - and I wouldn’t have accepted the job after that interview if I did get hired.</p>

<p>It is experiences like that which reinforce my lifelong decision to remain self-employed. I’ve only had a few lapses into the world of job interviews…</p>

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<p>I’ve had good interview experiences…mostly with people who talk about themselves the entire time…those are easy.</p>

<p>I did have one a few years ago where the decision maker was very bad at focusing his time. During the interview he answered his cell phone, made plans to have his hot tub fixed, left the office to go ask someone a question about a phone call he had just answered, made a pot of coffee, showed me the plans for his winter home in a sunny state, etc…</p>

<p>In the end (about 2 hrs later), he finally talked to my resume and asked me what I was going to do for his organization. I told him that I was goign to make him more money than he had ever made before…he smiled and said I was hired. Shortly after, he was reassigned…and I’ve since moved on, as well.</p>

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<p>Calmom - I had an interview like that. A month later I was called back for a follow-up and was hired. About a year later, a corporate officer told me I hadn’t been hired at first because I was female, but they couldn’t find a male with my qualifications so they called me back. His honesty was startling, but refreshing.</p>

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<p>EllenF --In my situation, I spent the whole interview wondering whether the questions were serious, or whether it was some kind of test to see if I would know the law and stand up for myself --it was a plaintiff’s PI firm that did a lot of class action work, including discrimination claims - so they HAD to be aware of the law. But I didn’t want to get all huffy – because I could also have been being “tested” to see if I would easily be distracted or lose my cool - since it is a rather common litigation tactic for lawyers on the other side to deliberately try to provoke the other side. In the end, though, I figured the guy who was interviewing me was such a blowhard – he spent most of the interview bragging about himself – that he just didn’t have a clue. </p>

<p>Around the same time I had an interview with a woman who was a senior partner at a major downtown firm. I don’t remember the exact circumstances, but I think she was trying to arrange some family leave time or go from full-time to part time, and looking for someone very experienced that firm could hire on a temp or contract basis to fill in for her. That interview was a very refreshing contrast, because of course the woman extremely professional, respectful and courteous - and I was also seeing that she was able to maintain her senior position and also make adjustments needed for family time and child rearing.</p>

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<p>My first job interview as a counselor was with a regional mental health center. The interview took place in the context of a large staffing grant. I was 23 and pretty nervous. I was in a waiting room with two other prospective counselors. Not realizing the chairs had three-pronged bases, I perched on the edge of one in my wrap-around skirt, and landed right on my bum in front of the others. I got up, and after I started breathing again, I figured nothing could be worse than what had already happened. When the interview actually happened, (and I could hide behind a big table,) I was actually calm! Got the job!</p>

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<p>I have a similiar story Momof3. Way back when, I went for an interview at a national polling firm. Anyhow, during the interview, I sat with my legs crossed the whole time and my left leg fell asleep. The interview was over and I stood up, reached across the desk to shake the interviewers hand and I promptly fell to the floor in a heap. I didn’t get the job but about a month later the interviewer called me at home and asked me out on a date! That really added insult to the injury.</p>

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<p>Calmom and Ellen - I have a similar story - interviewed for a position in a male dominated industry and the interviewer asked what my husband did (hotel biz) and wasn’t he subject to transfer, etc…since they were creating this position,they wanted someone who would stay, etc…I didn’t get the job…about a year later, my husband and I separated and he moved out of state…I got a call from the interviewer who said he had seen my husband’s photo in the paper and the announcement of his promotion…asked if I was moving…when I said not, he offered me the job on the spot. The person they originally hired (a man with alot of experience in the industry) had not worked out (drinking problems). I accepted the job - had a great time there for four years…it was also a significant salary increase for me</p>

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<p>digmedia, that is a very funny story. Sometimes getting the job (and working for that jerk) would have been much worse than not getting it. I’ve had so many terrible, bad, awful interviews that I don’t even know where to start. The worst was probably a group interview with three Indian executive-types who barked questions simultaneously. The funniest was the guy who opened the window and threatened to jump from the 30th floor when I told him that “my greatest weakness” was that I was overly devoted to my job.</p>

<p>The one I remember most fondly is when I was just getting started in the fashion business in San Francisco back in the 70’s. I had an interview scheduled with a partner of a very trendy clothing firm. I had always heard that you should dress to fit in with the culture of the organization that you wish to join, so I wore my best fashion victim get up. She rescheduled for the next day so I wore it again. Next day, ditto. By this time my colleagues at my current job were wondering if I was having a hot fling and not bothering to go home to change. Finally I had the interview. My idol was in fact not fashionably dressed. She was wearing shorts, a tee shirt and was bare foot! (This was the 70’s, remember.) I didn’t get the job and always wondered if I should have taken off my shoes and stockings.</p>

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<p>My worst interview had nothing to do with the search committee who interviewed me, who were polite and respectful. I, between jobs, had been proposed for a position as Admissions Director at a liberal arts college, by a well-meaning and well-connected friend. I had a few half-baked ideas about the job, and had nothiing better to do at the time, and it sounded interesting, so I decided what the heck. Well, it took about five minutes to firmly establish that I had no idea what I was talking about, another five for them to start lobbing softballs out of pity, and a little eternity for the interview to mercifully conclude. Now, 25 years later, I still cringe at the recollection!</p>

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<p>I had a couple of these in the early 70’s–brand new Masters in city planning, H still in college, major depression in gov’t hiring. Here’s the best one:</p>

<p>Went to an interview for a legal aide/secretary with a big time law firm where one of the partners specialized in land use law (I’m a city planner, right?) The first thing they do is sit me down at the typewriter (pre computer days, Hmph!) with a dictaphone machine. I had never even seen a dictaphone machine before. Type a brief from the dictaphone. It was a disaster, but I refused to give up. I finished it 30 minutes later: 3 other candidates had come and gone! I was so desperate. When I finally finished, one of the junior partners had me in for an interview (pity I guess). He looked at my resume, and the typing test, and said “You’re Phi Beta Kappa, so why did you type this brief single space?” (All you lawyer types will get this)
I was so tired, and I knew I wouldn’t get the job, so I said “Being Phi Beta Kappa doesn’t mean you don’t make mistakes, it just means you don’t make the same mistake twice!”
That got me an interview with the partner, went very well, but not the job. Three weeks later, they had fired the fast typist and wanted to hire me, but I had just accepted another job… You snooze, you lose, right??? :D</p>

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<p>My first law firm interview (early 80’s) went as follows: I was brought into a conference room where approx. 10 men sat around a table and began firing questions at me. The interview ended after the second question. They explained that the firm had 2 positions available - 1 was a “regular” associate attorney position; 1 was a non-partner track position (translation: a position for female applicants) that would consist primarily of reading advance sheets (cases hot off the court presses) for a senior male partner so as to keep him abreast of changes in the law. They explained that I was being interviewed for the latter position and asked how I felt about that position. My response: Is Mr. X not capable of reading cases himself? The second question (yes - this really happened): how would you feel about joining wives of the male attorneys in cooking and otherwise entertaining firm clients? My response: Let’s not waste your time or mine proceeding any further with this interview, and with that I stood up and left the room.</p>

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<p>schoolmarm - good for you!!</p>

<p>It’s almost impossible to believe that this could happen only 20 years ago, but I’ll bet that it continues (but in a less obvious way) in some firms.</p>