"I
was part of a team of eight colleagues who interviewed 50 people in the space of two
weeks. Four to seven people conducted each interview, which occurred in a small room. We
were stuck in that room for hours. One of the questions designated for me to ask was what
the most formidable challenge the person had ever gone through. During one particular
interview in which four of us met with the applicant, she began to share her most
significant challenge when the Director intervened with a follow-up question, interrupting
my chain of questions. Apparently I made an odd face. My colleague saw me and began to
giggle. Then two of us began to laugh, and we could not stop. At one point, the first
colleague tried to disguise his laughter by blowing his nose, but this just made everyone
else laugh more. All the while, the interviewee elaborated on the most difficult challenge
she had been through, maintaining solid eye contact with the Director. It was both equally
funny and horrifying that we were laughing. Soon the Director said to her: I think we need
to ask you to leave until we compose ourselves."
"The
summer internship organization to which I applied had about ten of us come at once, but
they interviewed us individually. My meeting was towards the end, so I waited there for an
hour before the two interviewers called my turn. They said: we have three questions that
we are going to ask you at once, and you can answer the three questions in order at which
time we will be done. They told me the three questions, and I answered the first. Then
they looked at each other and said, 'Okay, that will be it.' Surprised, I asked, 'Well, do
you want me to answer the second question?' They kind of looked at each other and said,
'Well, okay.' I answered as briefly as possible, skipped the third question altogether,
and left. I got the position."
"I
sent a digital resume and cover letter via email to apply for a position as a technical
writer. Within a few hours, a message from the director in charge of hiring came via
email. Full of anticipation, I opened the email to find a terse message: 'your resume is
infected with a virus and has been quarantined.' A person cannot recover from an infected
resume. I did not pursue the position further."
"At
one rather intense interview with a high powered man, the phone kept ringing and
interviewer took the calls long enough to say that he would call the people later. He
seemed to be telling me that I was a nominally important use of his time or at least
demonstrating how busy he was. There was some kind of odd power dynamic going on. Then he
got another call, which was clearly from his wife. After saying, 'Hi, Honey,' my
interviewer only said three cryptic things: 'is he lucid?,' 'do you need me to come home
tonight?', and 'call me when you know more and can tell me what to do.' Then he hung up
the phone and looked at me."
"I
once interviewed a woman who came in ringing her hands. I asked her the standard interview
questions: what are you looking for in a job, what don't you like in a job, what do you
need from a boss? To the third question, she replied: 'I need my boss to be my best
friend. I'm so lonely. We just moved here a few months ago and I haven't made any friends.
I need a friend.'"
"A
man walked in and deemed himself the right man for the job I had advertised, even though
he did not fit in any sense of the word. After the interview, which highlighted how badly
he and the position matched, he started an email campaign. Another man wrote to me on his
behalf. Between the two of them, I received at least twenty phone calls and electronic
messages: he wanted the job so badly, would I please reconsider? The barrage of follow-up
finally waned when I hired someone else, but even then his advocate kept scolding me for
hiring someone else."
"I
had to undergo a ludicrous 500 question psychological examination when I applied to be a
security guard during college. Among the 500 questions were about 17 questions asking me
in slightly varied ways whether or not I have ever thought of killing myself. If the exam
had not been a scan-tron, I would have answered, 'No, but the idea is growing on me every
time you ask.'"
"During
a particular interview, the interviewer had a dog present. The dog became especially
interested in my leg. I kept shuffling and moving to protect myself from the dog, but the
person giving the interview took no notice of the dog at all. Uncomfortable as this was, I
was actually wondering if it was some kind of test to see if I could maintain my
concentration."
