"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."
