Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My worst isn't so bad, really, but it was a pain. federal job interview, and within minutes is became clear I was part of the panel of candidates they had to interview, but someone else (probably someone internal, though I can't remember how that was apparent) was going to get the job and this was just a charade. To their credit, they asked me all the questions and one of them nodded every once in a while, but it was just so clear this was mostly a waste of my time and their time.

I suppose every interview is good experience, but this one just felt like a waste of time.

Oh and I've had this experience too. HUGE waste of time. Interviewers were completely un-interested.

I used to be on the hiring committee at my old job. My boss would make snap decisions about candidates within five minutes. If he didn't like someone he completely disengaged as was visibly obvious by his body language. I always felt badly for those candidates (who were often really good) and tried to go the extra mile to demonstrate interest to make up for his rudeness, even though I knew he would never hire them.

I had a boss once at a small company that was this way with potential clients he was trying to get business from. I think it was his way of asserting his power? It was always really embarrassing and I too spent the entire meeting trying to make up for his rudeness.

Anonymous wrote:OK, this is for a job that I actually got.

I walked in thinking it was an informational interview owing to a possible career switch. I was immediately handed a thick packet of worksheets with word associations, essay questions, etc. I filled it out, and met with the person I contacted about the job who asked me some questions based on my answers. Then I met with another guy who ushered me into his office without introducing himself, and we talked. Since I was still under the impression I was at an informational interview, I was BRUTALLY, brutally honest. He never told me he was the guy in charge until he offered me a job.

This wasn't by any chance with a health care think tank on M Street, was it?

Most of my interviews are bad. I'm really bad at interviewing.

But this one of the craziest ones I wrote about here:

http://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/334807.page#4133365

I have stopped taking calls or interviews from corporate recruiters. They are flakey and the last one I had she called 30 minutes late and then I could hear her walking through doors, etc. as if she was walking into work the entire time. She was winging her questions - she asked what I liked about the line of work and when I answered she said - ok but what do you really like about it. What? She was a mess.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My worst isn't so bad, really, but it was a pain. federal job interview, and within minutes is became clear I was part of the panel of candidates they had to interview, but someone else (probably someone internal, though I can't remember how that was apparent) was going to get the job and this was just a charade. To their credit, they asked me all the questions and one of them nodded every once in a while, but it was just so clear this was mostly a waste of my time and their time.

I suppose every interview is good experience, but this one just felt like a waste of time.

Oh and I've had this experience too. HUGE waste of time. Interviewers were completely un-interested.

I used to be on the hiring committee at my old job. My boss would make snap decisions about candidates within five minutes. If he didn't like someone he completely disengaged as was visibly obvious by his body language. I always felt badly for those candidates (who were often really good) and tried to go the extra mile to demonstrate interest to make up for his rudeness, even though I knew he would never hire them.

My weirdest interview was a panel interview via phone. I was given 30 minutes. I always like to show up early for interviews- so I called in 5 minutes early (it was a conference call#). Apparently they were using the same conference call # for all of the interviews and I came on the tail end of the interview before me. Awkward! I interviewed horribly - but they called me back for a second interview the next day and I ended up getting the job.

Anonymous wrote:My worst isn't so bad, really, but it was a pain. federal job interview, and within minutes is became clear I was part of the panel of candidates they had to interview, but someone else (probably someone internal, though I can't remember how that was apparent) was going to get the job and this was just a charade. To their credit, they asked me all the questions and one of them nodded every once in a while, but it was just so clear this was mostly a waste of my time and their time.

I suppose every interview is good experience, but this one just felt like a waste of time.

Oh and I've had this experience too. HUGE waste of time. Interviewers were completely un-interested.

I had a group interview for an admin-type job at a small law firm. It was SUPER weird. There were 4 of us candidates, and 3 people interviewing. Not a great way to go about things. I didn't get the job and apparently neither did the other candidates because I saw them posting the same job on Craigslist a week later.

My worst isn't so bad, really, but it was a pain. federal job interview, and within minutes is became clear I was part of the panel of candidates they had to interview, but someone else (probably someone internal, though I can't remember how that was apparent) was going to get the job and this was just a charade. To their credit, they asked me all the questions and one of them nodded every once in a while, but it was just so clear this was mostly a waste of my time and their time.

I suppose every interview is good experience, but this one just felt like a waste of time.

I was called a "corporate Barbie" to my face during an interview for a financial-analyst type role (and just for the record, I do not look like a Barbie, not even close, not that it's relevant). The guy who said it was a retired very high ranking member of the Navy (like a rear admiral or something). It's a good thing the rest of the interview did not go well (the remark came toward the end), so I would not have gotten, nor accepted, the job anyway. But looking back on it, I wish I had the balls to just walk out.

OK, this is for a job that I actually got.

I walked in thinking it was an informational interview owing to a possible career switch. I was immediately handed a thick packet of worksheets with word associations, essay questions, etc. I filled it out, and met with the person I contacted about the job who asked me some questions based on my answers. Then I met with another guy who ushered me into his office without introducing himself, and we talked. Since I was still under the impression I was at an informational interview, I was BRUTALLY, brutally honest. He never told me he was the guy in charge until he offered me a job.

I was in a group interview once. We didn't know it would be a group interview and about eight of us were sitting around the receptionist area eyeing each other until we all got called in at the same time. I was about to graduate from grad school and it very quickly became obvious that I was the least experienced person in the room. I didn't get the job, but I did learn a lot about other people's interview styles, the type of interviewee I did/did not want to be, and how experienced people in the field responded to questions. So I guess it was useful, even though somewhat off putting.

My worst interview was also my weirdest. We were relocating here from NY and I got a call from HR at a company where a friend had submitted my resume. They asked if I could be in DC in two days to meet with some people. I took off work, bought a train ticket, and came down to discover is been invited to a job fair with thousands of attendees. I finally got to speak to someone and I had been sitting in front of them for no more than sixty seconds when the same HR lady who'd called me walks over, literally pulls the chair out from underneath me so I almost fell on the floor, and tells the man I'm talking to, "You really need to meet X" and gives X my seat while I'm standing there like an idiot.

Gave*

I used to work in optical and had an interview at an eye doctors office. The manager I was interviewing with told me not to expect Saturdays off, ever. He said he just bought the place and was going to replace the entire staff. Then he asked me "do you have kids or are you planning on having kids"...I should have ran out of there. I just have him an outrageous salary expectation and never heard from him again.

My worst job interview is when I did a group interview. The company brought all three candidates in and interviewed us together. In the same room, at the same time! Brutal!

My weirdest was covered in another post where the head of HR and the two Vice Presidents of the company googled my house and discussed it during the interview.

How about you? What was your weirdest or worst interview? Post and make me feel better, like I am not alone. TIA!