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Wow I just had my worst interview experience just now. I have seen some low class behavior from prospective employers, but this takes the cake.
I originally applied with this company last summer, I was laid off 1 month before, and they lost my assessment test, and then filled the position before I could resubmit, red flag #1. Since I noticed they had another opening, I reapplied 5 months later. Then I do another assessment and they lose that one too, red flag #2. I have been out of work for 6 months at this point, so I play along, no attitude, and help them find it in their system. Great so now they apologize and get me a phone interview I do well and we set a time to meet face to face.
Since I have applied at a lot of positions, I wanted to make sure the resume I was to print was the same as the one I submitted, be congruent. So I attempt to log into their system and it says I don't exist? Red flag #3. So I send a very nice e-mail to the company HR and hiring manger explaining this and would they like me to bring a copy and I receive an e-mail back from hiring manger telling me this shows I am not prepared and they are going to pass? WTF? Your company has technology problems and blame me for that and cancel our interview.
I come to find out from a friend, that applied for the same position, that they really don't have an opening, as he is better connected to them and didn't mind sharing with me, because he got bad vibes from them as well. They are over head count in sales, but have been waffling about firing a couple of people and it appears now they were just interviewing both of us, for a non open position, in case they fire other sales people. Ok I can understand that, but be honest and say sorry we closed the position, but don't try and lay blame on me for your internal issues. What a weasel maneuver.
While being interviewed by a panel of several people, I was asked to describe my dream job. I rambled a BS answer about a hard day's work or something, when one of the interviewers interrupts to say "Are you kidding me? My dream job would be riding dirt bikes with bikini chicks and drinking beer!" The rest of the interviewers turned and looked at him like "What the **** are you doing?!" It was super awkward but sorta hilarious.
One Friday, I applied for a position with an estate planning firm. 8 pm the following Sunday, the owner called me and give me a brief, impromptu telephone and then asked if I could come in first thing Monday morning so that he could give me an in-person interview. I informed him that it was a two and half hour drive, but that I would be able to come in. I arrived, but the manager never interviewed me. Instead a newly hired associate gave me a perfunctory interview (it was obvious to me that he, through no fault of his own, was unprepared to interview me). Apparently the owner, sometime between after calling me at night to schedule the interview and when I arrived for the interview, had changed his mind and decided it wasn't worth his time to interview me. Overall, the interview cost me $50 in gas and $20 in tolls.
Wow. I'm one of those minimum wage earners with no real direction in life and no real skills. Well, I have many skills, but not ones people want to pay for. It's great to read these stories about how screwed up the corporations are! I'm glad when I have strange experiences, it's not just me. Personally, I believe that the interview isn't only about you, but also about THEM. If it goes strange, then you've just had some lucky insight as to what it'll be like to work there!
I've had several strange interviews, but the one from within the states that I most recall is...
I recieved an email from a small architecture firm. The woman had recieved my response to their ad for a secretary or something. She asked if I could fill out a form and then get the needed info back to her by Friday at noon so they'd be prepared for the interview on Monday. On the application she mailed me, the question, "Do you have a vehicle?" was on it and I replied No. I turned in the forms she needed. At the interview Monday, which I had woken up for early, played dress up for and then biked to, I was asked only a few minutes into the interview if I had a car. I replied No hesitantly because I remembered that question on the sheet. "Oh, well, I'm sorry, but we need someone with a vehicle." I was so angry that they'd wasted my time and clearly hadn't bothered to review my info and were far from prepared. The woman who had sent me the email was in the interview as well and I gave her my pissed off face - I think she was embarrassed by what had happened.
It always feels good to vent things out. What are some of your worst interview experiences? Did you stick it out or get up and leave?
I once had an interviewer answer a phone (several times) during an interview. One of the calls was from an insurance man. After she hung up (hung up ON him), she proceeded to tell me how he was a psycho stalker who wouldn't give up. Very weird coming from someone conducting a professional interview! I'm a female, and was also called "dude".
What are some of yours?
When I was young, poor, just out of grad school and in need of a job, I had interviews with 2 different people who had no idea how I didn't have time to waste with them when they had no openings. They never told me directly that there were no openings and they were both government workers who had offered to "talk" to me about employment, but actually it was that they were bored and wanted to sit and pass the time chatting. I was so mad. I got all dressed up and traveled and they didn't even notice that I was looking for a JOB, not some stupid chat with them. They never contacted me again (I didn't let on how I was upset, was polite) and I learned that they didn't even have an opening in the first place.
Stupid, selfish people they were!
(This goes back 4 decades and I never forgot it. I had a successful career.)
just hate how even when you take charge, take initiative to call back a potential employer after an interview, the hiring-manager is never available and even when you leave him/her a message, they still never get back to you, just hardcore angers me
>I went to an interview at a hospital. Interview was standard, lasted an hour or so. As I drove off in my car I got a text message from their HR saying they decided they were not going to hire anyone for the position!
>I went to an interview at a privately owned dialysis clinic after spending multiple phone calls on talking with the nurse manager about their needs. SHE wanted to hire me and told me so (I had interviewed there the year before and they had changed their minds about hiring due to funding...) and set about to prep me to interview with the clinic owner.
I got there, sat in a room with the nurse manager for about 30 minutes chit chatting, then she told me that the owner wasn't coming to the interview afterall as she was shopping in Cincinnati. Ok.
>I had an interview with a behavioral health agency in the city that I had never heard of before. I perused their website beforehand and assumed that it was an outpatient clinic.
I drove around the area and turned into the parking lot only to see razor wire around the building! It was a JAIL! No way, not for me. I drove off and texted them that I had "car trouble" and could not make the interview. They had their job posted for over a year after that. Guess others felt the same way!
>This goes beyond the interview, but was bizarre nonetheless: I interviewed on 3 levels for a hospital position. They liked me and I them and they offered me the job, even down to salary and I accepted. They sent me for physical, drug testing, and did the background check and called all my references. A start date was set. I was elated.
On the following Monday I was just about to call my then current employer and give 2 weeks notice to my immediate supervisor. The cell phone rang in my hand and it was the hospital administrator. They had hired an "in house" candidate that they said "stepped forward to apply at the last minute". Last minute is right!
Last edited by HappyDogToday; 01-07-2013 at 10:36 AM..
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It's great to read these stories about how screwed up the corporations are! I'm glad when I have strange experiences, it's not just me. Personally, I believe that the interview isn't only about you, but also about THEM. If it goes strange, then you've just had some lucky insight as to what it'll be like to work there!
