I had to do a face to face interview to get a job as a hostess in college. One of the questions was: Tell her an embarrassing moment. I got the job and later she told me it wasn't about the embarrassing moment, but how quickly I could think of something when recalling a stressful moment and how I explained it. There was probably also an element of how easily do I get embarrassed.

The point being, she could not have assessed how quickly I could think on my feet through email.

DP but question. I often make it past the first phone screening to the next interview but rarely make it the third round. Is that just because there’s more qualified candidates or is my vibe off?

OP here.
Yes I understand kind of what you’re saying PP. But I know people who have had to do interviews for Dunkin Donuts or an entry level job etc. It is crazy.

I think the company also wants to see how punctual you are.

So if you are even five min. late > chances are you will not get considered. 😕

If you cannot understand that humans glean valuable info from body language and verbalization of already available information, and make judgments about that person's credibility and intelligence, then I can only assume that you have a socio-communication weakness (along the lines of high-function autism). But even my HFA husband understands this about interviews, so you must be even more impacted.

If you are trying to imply that hiring managers wish to discriminate based on skin color, gender or other factors, such as height or beauty, then most of the time, in this area, no. Of course prejudices can exist anywhere, but usually people try really hard to select the most best candidate for the job. And that means interviewing them in-person, to see how well they explain what's in their resume.

What the hell is a vibe check?

Are you confirming to me that its about looks? Or I don’t get it.

The vibe check is CRITICAL. Would you really want to entrust someone with important tasks, sight unseen?

Absolutely it’s a vibe check. I work for a remote organization and we do the intro interview in written form. The video interviews are for: technical assessment (since you’ll need need work with your colleagues over video calls), and vibe check with your future manager (this goes two ways — they need to figure out we’re not appalling too).

I thought the fact that face to face interviews were vibe checks was common knowledge?

We want to know how you'll come across in person to clients. We account for nerves in interviews.

We want to see if you fit and how well you interact socially with the team.

Like a PP said, it’s to see how you respond, how you react, your mannerisms, personality, and intelligence.

There is a human element to working, you know.

yeah, vibe check - sometimes substantive, too, but i think mostly vibe check

You wouldn't want to meet the people you want to have work for you, or for you to work with, ahead of time?

not see what you look like, more like see how fast you are on your feet, and how articulate you sound.

The roles I higher for requires people to think fast and stay composed. That can't come through over email or phone.

I just thought of something. Is a job interview just a way of them wanting to see what you look like, or if you are calm or not?

I just realised there’s no point in a job interview. Everything can be said on email or via phone.
It has to be a joke right?
I’ve had a few in my life (I’m 45). I think I’m on to something.
I do not have any desire to look for a new one because of my realisation.