"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."
