Share Your Worst Interview Nightmares - Got One? We Do!

[rolerbe]

Just reading another thread made me think we should have a thread on your best interview nightmares. I've got several. One for starters:

I'm interviewing with the CEO of a small company,

Him: "...if we hired you, you'd be the smartest one here."

Me: (pauses for a few seconds to absorb this statement -- is it a complaint?, a criticism?, a part of his 'sales' pitch!? Reaches decision -- We're done here)

Me: "Uhhh, just how far would I have to dumb down? I mean, I could slam down a six pack every day on the way to work if you think that would make me fit in better."


How about yours?

 

[Jimmy Snyder]

This wasn't the worse, but it was the most amazing:

I hate my job here. I'm going to do you a favor and not hire you. If you find work, let me know and I'll apply there.

 

[lisab]

A friend of mine was told once, we didn't choose you because you were too relaxed during the interview.

 

[TheStatutoryApe]

The worst interviews I have been on are ones that turn out to be for door to door sales. I hate those guys. They always get mad at me for figuring out what is going on in 5 seconds and asking "So is this door to door sales?" Jerks.

Other than that there was the time that I did not have an alarm clock and tried to rely on my watch alarm to wake me. I completely missed the interview and never got called back. That sucked.

 

[Cyrus]

I had to do an interview for a job in front of 20 Sr. level engineers, followed by 2 on 1 interviews throughout the day. It was on par with a PhD exam, including doing problems at a white board cold. But it was at one of the best controls companies you could apply to. This was after a phone interview that involved technical questions.

That was my first interview ever - lol, pretty rough. But I will say this, it gets easier the more you do. I pulled an all nighter studying for that interview... moral of the story, know your technical stuff going in. I should have prepared more, oh well, live and learn.

 

[KalamMekhar]

My tie was on crooked and I looked like a fool during an interview.

 

[lisab]

My tie was on crooked and I looked like a fool during an interview.

Oops ! Well better that then having your fly open.

 

[Math Is Hard]

I once "shoe dangled" at an IBM interview. I didn't realize I was doing it until I looked down and -- ! What the heck was wrong with me?

 

[HeLiXe]

In my worst interview I was blatantly discriminated against because of my religion...and I was not even affiliated with that religion! I forgot that I had a pendant on from said religion...I wore the pendant all the time because I liked it and I totally forgot about it!

 

[Borg]

Years ago with a certain three letter agency, I got interviewed by Larry, Moe and Curly. One was nice and smiling, another was just plain nasty and the third was indifferent. I was young and naive and didn't realize until later that it was a psych test to see how I would react.

 

[GeorginaS]

I once interviewed with a lawyer for a paralegal position, and he was telling me about his assistant and wondered if I'd be able to get along with her. Because, you know, he told me, she tended to have a fiery temper. That it was that hot Italian blood in her that gave her that disposition.

I admit I'm not proud of my response to the guy about that comment. I just sat staring at him. My mind immediately kicked into analysis mode trying to figure out what he was doing. Did he actually hold that racist opinion? Did he believe what he was saying? Or was he testing me to see how I'd respond to racist commentary? Part of me wanted to get all outraged and tell him that was an inappropriate thing to say about someone (although it was the defining moment for me that I told me I didn't want to work with the guy) and part of me was just stunned and staring at him like a bug under a microscope. So I think I said something like, "Oh, I see", and I ended the interview shortly afterwards.

In hindsight, I'd have handled that one much differently if I had it to do again. Regardless of his motivation, he'd get an earful, and I'd just leave. But, hindsight is grand, huh?

 

[waht]

I don't know if I fell into a trap, but somewhere in the middle of the interview, I became very relaxed and started turning the interview into a casual conversation.

They asked if I'm proficient with a particular simulation software. As luck would have it, an update was just released couple of days before the interview, and I've discovered it by accident. So I started questioning the interviewer if he was familiar with the new update and what it does. He was blank.

I then became more overconfident. They asked me how long it would take me to commute to work, and I turned it around and asked the interviewer where he lives? He answered, and I asked does he pass by a certain monument that is located in his town, and so on. And then I talked about the history of the monument.

Needless to say, perhaps I was rude or not, I don't know, but they kept asking less and less questions, and it started to feel awkward. The interview was over, and they didn't call back.

 

[flatmaster]

Most recent one was great. Measured the interviewers reaction time with meter stick and t sqrt(2y/g).

 

[Evo]

My worse interview was one where my resume had been hijacked by a manager in a division of a large company to which I wished to apply. She was a friend of one of the HR people and had requested that any resumes from someone working for top competitors be forwarded to her.

I was sitting at a table across from her and she throws a regular wooden pencil down on the table in front of me and says "sell that to me". Right then I knew I would never work for this woman. But I 'sold' it to her", she offered me a job, I told her I'd think about it and when she called me back to ask me what I had decided, I told her no.

I never sent in another resume. I ended up working for the company a few months later quite by accident, they head hunted me directly based on a recommendation from a person they hired that had worked with me before, and offered me a postion in the right division.

 

[Monique]

I was once looking for a temporary job and was doing some interviews. I tried to make clear in the interview that I was doubtful that the project would be a good fit for me (in regard to my future plans), but a few days later I was called that I was hired (?) I felt awful, because I had to turn the offer down. It would've been fine if they weren't so enthusiastic, but they already had made future plans, which I knew wouldn't take place.

I thought it was very strange that they said I was hired, shouldn't they have been a little more reserved after a first interview?

 

[Evo]

I was once looking for a temporary job and was doing some interviews. I tried to make clear in the interview that I was doubtful that the project would be a good fit for me (in regard to my future plans), but a few days later I was called that I was hired (?) I felt awful, because I had to turn the offer down. It would've been fine if they weren't so enthusiastic, but they already had made future plans, which I knew wouldn't take place.

I thought it was very strange that they said I was hired, shouldn't they have been a little more reserved after a first interview?

Sounds like their joy at finding you clouded their thinking. You must have knocked their socks off!