Worst job interview you've had?

[Accipiter22]

I'll get things rolling:


Right after college I saw this ad in the paper for working at a security agency, working with databases and wot not. Basically right up my alley. So I go to the interview and the lady opens by telling me that the position is no longer available. I had confirmed the interview earlier that morning, and the position was still available then they had claimed, but I digress. She then asks me if i ever thought of being a rent a cop....I say 'no....I....I wanted to fill the database admin position...the one you said was available....this morning...'. She says 'well we have positions available in Northampton!' (A town 40 minutes from where I live). She then tells me the wage, which was about 70% of the position I THOUGHT I was coming in to apply for. She then tells me the hours: I would have monday night and wednesday night off. And work every other night of the week. I tell her those are pretty much the opposite of what I want. She says 'well I look at it like this: What could I accomplish if i had a monday and wednesday off? Think about it. No lines at the bank or grocery store'. I got up and left.

 

[Stuxnet]

When I was a network admin back in 2000, I wasn't very happy with my compensation. I was job hunting and put my resume on Monster.com. I received a phonecall from a MAJOR auto manufacturer saying they were very interested. I get down there for the interview and it's 3 crusty old men. They start grilling me on C, C++, OO, etc. I was like "I'm a network administrator... not a programmer... what is it you guys need me to do?"

They said "well, it sounds like you're not remotely qualified for the job."

Being the smartass that I am, I said "well, it sounds like you're not qualified for brain surgery. Thanks for wasting my morning."

... and I walked out. I was pissed. I had to get up at 5am that morning to get down there for a 6:30am interview.

Ironically, I'm a developer now.

 

[acemcmac]

I interviewed for a position as a security analyst... I should have been tipped off when the description seemed to only include basic M$ office skills in the requirements field.

I called back and called back. No response. Finally about 3 months later, I tracked down the interviewer. "Oh, I'm sorry, we decided not to fill that position after all"

 

[rsd]

I was desperate for a job (recent grad right after the .com bust), and did an informal phone call/interview for some sort of programming position that was NOT PAID (yes not paid, but with "potential" to become paid after 2-3 months).

Well the guy was somewhat of an ass, and was grilling me on random stuff. Finished with it, and I decided F this, it's not worth it to be unpaid even for the badly needed experience.

The guy calls back a little bit later, more or less asking if I'd do it. I told him I wasn't interested anymore due to it NOT BEING A PAID POSITION.

 

[Stuxnet]

Here's another one. I wouldn't say it was a "bad" interview, per se, but it was amusing. I was in college at the time and already had a job that gave me about 20 hours/week. I wanted some extra cash and had some time on my hands, and figured I could do another 5 - 10 hours/week for a few months. So I applied at a "Mailboxes, etc."

The guy who owned the shop wanted a list of references consisting of 3 character references, 1 family reference, 2 previous supervisors, and 1 previous coworker. He wanted a written essay on my work ethic and a summary of my 5 year plan.

He told me this on the phone after the initial interview, which went well. I literally laughed my ass off and told him "guy, I'm a college student... the job pays $5/hour... I'm not prepared to take it this seriously. I don't think I'm what you're looking for, but I wish you the best."

Of course, I'm trying to contain the sarcasm and laughter the entire time.

 

[halik]

Originally posted by: rsd
I was desperate for a job (recent grad right after the .com bust), and did an informal phone call/interview for some sort of programming position that was NOT PAID (yes not paid, but with "potential" to become paid after 2-3 months).

Well the guy was somewhat of an ass, and was grilling me on random stuff. Finished with it, and I decided F this, it's not worth it to be unpaid even for the badly needed experience.

The guy calls back a little bit later, more or less asking if I'd do it. I told him I wasn't interested anymore due to it NOT BEING A PAID POSITION.

Hahaha unpaid job... what a joke

 

[Chaotic42]

I honestly answered the questions at a Walmart interview back in my very "liberal" phase. There weren't any wrong answers according to the sheet, but I got several wrong.

I got an offer but declined it.


Other than that they've all been great.

 

[NuclearNed]

From another point of view:

At my previous employer, I was interviewing a guy who had applied for a job where he would work directly for me. Very early on in the interview, I decided to chit-chat with the guy a little to get to know him and set a relaxed atmosphere for the interview. Looking at his resume, he had graduated from the university where I went, and also from the same program. I started asking him questions like "So how's Dr. Whatsisname?", thinking that we would know some of the same people. It became very obvious that he was lying, so I continued to grill him about the rest of his resume. It turned out the whole thing was BS, which he actually admitted eventually. I made sure that the rest of the interview was absolute hell for him. He was good and ready to leave by the time I was done.

 

[Stuxnet]

Inspired by NucularNed's story:

A few years ago a colleague of mine was interviewing a guy for a helpdesk position. It was obvious he had no real skills or work ethic, but my colleague is a very upbeat, positive person. She stepped out of the room to take a call, and when she got back, the guy had placed a tack on her chair. She didn't sit down on it; she pulled the chair out, noticed the tack, looked at the guy, and he just casually stood up and walked out of the building.

Bizarre.

 

[LegendKiller]

This happened to me during the 2003 NYC blackout. Kinda long-ish, but a good read. I cut and paste from a previous thread in a different forum.

--------------------------------------------------------
I got an email from a big investment bank a week ago, they wanted a phone interview with me. I said I would fly up AND BACK on thursday, Credit Suisse First Boston is huge, and number one in the area I was interviewing for. I only took references, research material, notes, $200, and questions in a porfolio, no extra clothes, shoes, or shower stuff because I was supposed to leave at 8:55PM. I got the interview because my fiance works for a lawyer who had a friend at a different investment bank that had lunch with me, she naturally liked my magnetic personallity and started sending me job postings from an investment utility she uses. She also helps me on interviewing skills and job research. So, this whole thing is rather messed up...but just wait


Anyway, I leave Miami at 5:30am, get to NYC at 10:30. Take my cab in and I have 2 hours to kill before the interview. So, I go to a subway to grab something to eat, they lose power for 30 minutes.


So, I eat, go to the interview, kick ass and take names (at this point 60% change of getting hired). The guy liked me, and the one I would be replacing got along with me better. All is good. I ask them what they would do if they had 5 hours left in NYC and had never been there before. Of course, go to the empire state building!


Yup.


So, I get there at about 3pm, wait in line 30 minutes to get tickets. Then, its another massive ass line to the elevators and another one at the 80th floor. By the time I get there, it is 4:20pm. There is 6 more floors left to go to the observation deck. Ok, get in the 2nd elevator. 12 people go in.



12 people get stuck between the 84th and 85th floor. No lights, no ventilation, no phone. Cell phones are out. 3 people start to panic. LK cracks "$300 ticket to NYC, $11 ticket to the Empire State Building, getting stuck in the elevator, priceless". 11 people almost murder shawn, but then realize he is trying to diffuse a bad situation. He later becomes spokesperson when firefighters come 45 minutes later.


So, we get out of the elevator, go to the observation deck. Look down 86 floors...ABSOLUTE PANDiIMONIUM! Tens of hundreds of thousands of people are glogging the streets, intersections full of accidents...cool (not one fatality reported). So, I take 27 pictures on the $12 camera I just bought (ripoff). Then, some bossy lady comes and tells us power will be out for HOURS. Guess what?



Walk/crawl/slide/slither down EIGHTY SIX floors with no AC and minimum lights. Hand rails at the 40th floor were dripping with sweat.


Why did I come here?


I also met a family of Minnesotan's from Plymoth on the way down, thinking the same dang thing.



So, I get down to the shops. Morons who were selling bottles at 1.75 before are charging $3.50 now...I wanted to throw them off of the building. I get out, go to the place I interviewed. My interviewer is stuck in the subway. Now what?


My Fiance can't help, so I call the only other person I know who used to live in NYC (my cell phone battery was dead by this time). She gets her assistant to book me a hotel.


Now, I dont know if you have ever been to NYC, but usually its a controlled chaos (from what I was told). This was an uncontrolled controlled chaos. People walking in the middle of the roads, no stop lights, cars whipping down streets. Not a good place for a NYC newbie. I get to my hotel, check in and find 2 beds, no lights, no AC and the room is on the 10th floor....of course, no elevators...,More F'in stairs.


Now, as any normal american who has had enough BS for a day, what do I do? Find the nearest bar. Slug down 5 beers before they get warm. As I was doing that, people were starting to sleep on the streets. I decided to help somebody out, they can have the other bed if they split the cost. So I go back to my hotel.


This is where the REALLY messed up part starts.


I find a guy that looks like a businessman, ask him if he would do that.


He turns out to be a 10-year co-worker and the godfather of a child of the guy I just interviewed with. NYC has 6 MILLION people in it...WTF?


We talk, I find out he worked with CSFB for 10 years, graduated from harvard with a "classics" degree (another WTF?), but is an awesome guy. He was at JFK airport when the power went out, trying to catch a flight to rome to meet up with his wife and go on their honeymoon...ouch.


We walk, talk, and drink more beer and at new york pizza (gas ovens). I take pictures of the "city that never sleeps" when there are NO LIGHTS in the whole city on. After that, we head back to the hotel and sleep. I am exhausted, my feet are full of blisters from my dress shoes, and I am sweaty. The next day we walk about 60 blocks, Central park, Times square. We have lunch at "Wolfs Cafe", where, incidentally LeBron James is at (the 18 year old, never played pro/college basketball, 40 MILLION DOLLAR contract with Nike player). So, at 6pm Chet leaves for the airport and then I go to Ground Zero and take more pictures. I tell ya, when you see that place in person, you realize what a great country this is, and the sacrifices that have been made to keep it that way, thanks to those who have served.

So, now I have a 90% chance of getting the job, chet was going to put in a HUGE word for me since I saved him from having to sleep on the street and we are both avid Tom Clancy/Sci-Fi fans.


It hasn't ended yet.


I get more beers and pizza last night, watch Conan make a crapload of fun at the whole situation. Fall asleep at 4am. Get up at 8 to catch my re-booked 12pm flight. Guess what? At the airport there are about 900 people waiting in line to book. I finally get through that, an hour and a half later. So, flight boards.


And we wait on the tarmac for FOUR AND A HALF HOURS while bad weather circles Atlanta, my layover. I miss my connecting flight, but they DID book me in first class!


WOOT! FREE DRINKS!


4 Tanquerey/tonics, 4 cokes, 6 bags of pretzels, another tanqueray with dinner and an after dinner Johnny walker...OOOHH YEAH!


So, here are some lessons to be learned from me.


1. NEVER go anywhere thinking you will be there for only a short time. Always pack your cell phone charger (because there will always be buildings with generators).


2. NEVER just pack dress shoes, they fekking hurt.


3. NEVER go somewhere with LK unless you bring a couple hundred bucks and a portable fallout shelter


4. If you dont bring either of those two, bring a emergency parachute just in case...its better than walking down stairs


5. ALWAYS be prepared to meet the strangest people in the strangest places in the strangest ways


6. Make sure that if you ever go to NYC that you NEVER buy a camera or film in Times Square, a disposable NON-flash camera was $17 bucks, 8 bucks at Target.


7. Eat New York Pizza


8. Go to Ground Zero before it is changed.


9. Never believe what people tell you about flight times


10. If you can get first class for free, do it, then drink and eat as much as you can, it really helps when you want to sleep


Overall, I think I lost about 12 lbs, my feet are blistered, my calves burn like all heck ( I know you guys have gone through basic and have had it worse, but I am a pencil pusher...). Anyway, if you want to talk to me, dont count on me being awake for 24 hours.

----------------------------------

I didn't get the job, got beat by a Wharton graduate. However, they did cover all of my expenses, including everything I didn't have receipts for and my cash out of pocket, plane ticket, and hotel.

 

[Nerva]

Originally posted by: LegendKiller
This happened to me during the 2003 NYC blackout. Kinda long-ish, but a good read. I cut and paste from a previous thread in a different forum.

--------------------------------------------------------
I got an email from a big investment bank a week ago, they wanted a phone interview with me. I said I would fly up AND BACK on thursday, Credit Suisse First Boston is huge, and number one in the area I was interviewing for. I only took references, research material, notes, $200, and questions in a porfolio, no extra clothes, shoes, or shower stuff because I was supposed to leave at 8:55PM. I got the interview because my fiance works for a lawyer who had a friend at a different investment bank that had lunch with me, she naturally liked my magnetic personallity and started sending me job postings from an investment utility she uses. She also helps me on interviewing skills and job research. So, this whole thing is rather messed up...but just wait


Anyway, I leave Miami at 5:30am, get to NYC at 10:30. Take my cab in and I have 2 hours to kill before the interview. So, I go to a subway to grab something to eat, they lose power for 30 minutes.


So, I eat, go to the interview, kick ass and take names (at this point 60% change of getting hired). The guy liked me, and the one I would be replacing got along with me better. All is good. I ask them what they would do if they had 5 hours left in NYC and had never been there before. Of course, go to the empire state building!


Yup.


So, I get there at about 3pm, wait in line 30 minutes to get tickets. Then, its another massive ass line to the elevators and another one at the 80th floor. By the time I get there, it is 4:20pm. There is 6 more floors left to go to the observation deck. Ok, get in the 2nd elevator. 12 people go in.



12 people get stuck between the 84th and 85th floor. No lights, no ventilation, no phone. Cell phones are out. 3 people start to panic. LK cracks "$300 ticket to NYC, $11 ticket to the Empire State Building, getting stuck in the elevator, priceless". 11 people almost murder shawn, but then realize he is trying to diffuse a bad situation. He later becomes spokesperson when firefighters come 45 minutes later.


So, we get out of the elevator, go to the observation deck. Look down 86 floors...ABSOLUTE PANDiIMONIUM! Tens of hundreds of thousands of people are glogging the streets, intersections full of accidents...cool (not one fatality reported). So, I take 27 pictures on the $12 camera I just bought (ripoff). Then, some bossy lady comes and tells us power will be out for HOURS. Guess what?



Walk/crawl/slide/slither down EIGHTY SIX floors with no AC and minimum lights. Hand rails at the 40th floor were dripping with sweat.


Why did I come here?


I also met a family of Minnesotan's from Plymoth on the way down, thinking the same dang thing.



So, I get down to the shops. Morons who were selling bottles at 1.75 before are charging $3.50 now...I wanted to throw them off of the building. I get out, go to the place I interviewed. My interviewer is stuck in the subway. Now what?


My Fiance can't help, so I call the only other person I know who used to live in NYC (my cell phone battery was dead by this time). She gets her assistant to book me a hotel.


Now, I dont know if you have ever been to NYC, but usually its a controlled chaos (from what I was told). This was an uncontrolled controlled chaos. People walking in the middle of the roads, no stop lights, cars whipping down streets. Not a good place for a NYC newbie. I get to my hotel, check in and find 2 beds, no lights, no AC and the room is on the 10th floor....of course, no elevators...,More F'in stairs.


Now, as any normal american who has had enough BS for a day, what do I do? Find the nearest bar. Slug down 5 beers before they get warm. As I was doing that, people were starting to sleep on the streets. I decided to help somebody out, they can have the other bed if they split the cost. So I go back to my hotel.


This is where the REALLY messed up part starts.


I find a guy that looks like a businessman, ask him if he would do that.


He turns out to be a 10-year co-worker and the godfather of a child of the guy I just interviewed with. NYC has 6 MILLION people in it...WTF?


We talk, I find out he worked with CSFB for 10 years, graduated from harvard with a "classics" degree (another WTF?), but is an awesome guy. He was at JFK airport when the power went out, trying to catch a flight to rome to meet up with his wife and go on their honeymoon...ouch.


We walk, talk, and drink more beer and at new york pizza (gas ovens). I take pictures of the "city that never sleeps" when there are NO LIGHTS in the whole city on. After that, we head back to the hotel and sleep. I am exhausted, my feet are full of blisters from my dress shoes, and I am sweaty. The next day we walk about 60 blocks, Central park, Times square. We have lunch at "Wolfs Cafe", where, incidentally LeBron James is at (the 18 year old, never played pro/college basketball, 40 MILLION DOLLAR contract with Nike player). So, at 6pm Chet leaves for the airport and then I go to Ground Zero and take more pictures. I tell ya, when you see that place in person, you realize what a great country this is, and the sacrifices that have been made to keep it that way, thanks to those who have served.

So, now I have a 90% chance of getting the job, chet was going to put in a HUGE word for me since I saved him from having to sleep on the street and we are both avid Tom Clancy/Sci-Fi fans.


It hasn't ended yet.


I get more beers and pizza last night, watch Conan make a crapload of fun at the whole situation. Fall asleep at 4am. Get up at 8 to catch my re-booked 12pm flight. Guess what? At the airport there are about 900 people waiting in line to book. I finally get through that, an hour and a half later. So, flight boards.


And we wait on the tarmac for FOUR AND A HALF HOURS while bad weather circles Atlanta, my layover. I miss my connecting flight, but they DID book me in first class!


WOOT! FREE DRINKS!


4 Tanquerey/tonics, 4 cokes, 6 bags of pretzels, another tanqueray with dinner and an after dinner Johnny walker...OOOHH YEAH!


So, here are some lessons to be learned from me.


1. NEVER go anywhere thinking you will be there for only a short time. Always pack your cell phone charger (because there will always be buildings with generators).


2. NEVER just pack dress shoes, they fekking hurt.


3. NEVER go somewhere with LK unless you bring a couple hundred bucks and a portable fallout shelter


4. If you dont bring either of those two, bring a emergency parachute just in case...its better than walking down stairs


5. ALWAYS be prepared to meet the strangest people in the strangest places in the strangest ways


6. Make sure that if you ever go to NYC that you NEVER buy a camera or film in Times Square, a disposable NON-flash camera was $17 bucks, 8 bucks at Target.


7. Eat New York Pizza


8. Go to Ground Zero before it is changed.


9. Never believe what people tell you about flight times


10. If you can get first class for free, do it, then drink and eat as much as you can, it really helps when you want to sleep


Overall, I think I lost about 12 lbs, my feet are blistered, my calves burn like all heck ( I know you guys have gone through basic and have had it worse, but I am a pencil pusher...). Anyway, if you want to talk to me, dont count on me being awake for 24 hours.

----------------------------------

I didn't get the job, got beat by a Wharton graduate. However, they did cover all of my expenses, including everything I didn't have receipts for and my cash out of pocket, plane ticket, and hotel.

wow, this is quite the story. though it's probably a good thing you didnt work for CSG. wait, you werent applying for anything under a VP position anyway right?

my worst interview was with jane street capital, where i just got grilled on all math questions, i made it about 3/4 through before the interviewer just gave up on me. yikes! guess i will never trade for them!

 

[j00fek]

the job im currently in, its was 2 FRIKKIN HRS with my boss :laugh:

 

[ATLien247]

My most recent one... It was for an IT Director position at a local municipality. I know I nailed the interview, but it became obvious about half way through that they already had someone internally who they had groomed for the position. What a waste of my time that was! :|

 

[Accipiter22]

here's one from a friend:

He's a GREAT network admin....he's applying for this job at Pride gas stations (a chain in the north east)...he'd be basically their lead network admin. So they're talking about his qualifications and the guy seems VERY interested in him. The position would be 45 hrs/week minimum, salaried, no overtime, NO benefits, and he'd be on-call for at least 10 hours/week. so they start talking about salaries. My friend figures that around 32,000 is fair to start....the guy inteviewing him choked on his water he was drinking. The guy thought 25,000 was fair for this position.

 

[Hyperblaze]

Originally posted by: Accipiter22
here's one from a friend:

He's a GREAT network admin....he's applying for this job at Pride gas stations (a chain in the north east)...he'd be basically their lead network admin. So they're talking about his qualifications and the guy seems VERY interested in him. The position would be 45 hrs/week minimum, salaried, no overtime, NO benefits, and he'd be on-call for at least 10 hours/week. so they start talking about salaries. My friend figures that around 32,000 is fair to start....the guy inteviewing him choked on his water he was drinking. The guy thought 25,000 was fair for this position.

no offense, but that kinda sounds low for a lead network admin.

I'd be aiming for 45,000

 

[XMan]

Originally posted by: Hyperblaze

Originally posted by: Accipiter22
here's one from a friend:

He's a GREAT network admin....he's applying for this job at Pride gas stations (a chain in the north east)...he'd be basically their lead network admin. So they're talking about his qualifications and the guy seems VERY interested in him. The position would be 45 hrs/week minimum, salaried, no overtime, NO benefits, and he'd be on-call for at least 10 hours/week. so they start talking about salaries. My friend figures that around 32,000 is fair to start....the guy inteviewing him choked on his water he was drinking. The guy thought 25,000 was fair for this position.

no offense, but that kinda sounds low for a lead network admin.

I'd be aiming for 45,000

Agreed . . . maybe even more with no OT and benefits.

 

[Kelvrick]

Originally posted by: Accipiter22
here's one from a friend:

He's a GREAT network admin....he's applying for this job at Pride gas stations (a chain in the north east)...he'd be basically their lead network admin. So they're talking about his qualifications and the guy seems VERY interested in him. The position would be 45 hrs/week minimum, salaried, no overtime, NO benefits, and he'd be on-call for at least 10 hours/week. so they start talking about salaries. My friend figures that around 32,000 is fair to start....the guy inteviewing him choked on his water he was drinking. The guy thought 25,000 was fair for this position.

Erm, how long ago was this?

LegendKiller: You get the job?

 

[MrBond]

My last semester of undergrad, I was about 75% sure I wanted to go to grad school, but I talked to some companies anyway. I got a call for an interview at one company and went out there for it. Midway through the interview it became apparent that it was a job I probably wouldn't have enjoyed, but I kept going on with the interview. I talked to several people and when I was done talking to one person, they'd go find the next available person on a list of people I was to talk to.

I talked to one guy and we finished up, he left to go find the next person. I waited about 20 minutes and no one ever showed up. I finally went to the secretary and asked her what was going on, since it was almost 5. She called the last guy I had talked to and it turned out he went back to his desk AND FORGOT ABOUT ME. He said the interview was over and I could head home.

As I drove the two hours home (no travel reimbursement either), I pretty much wrote off any chance of getting a job offer from them. I mean, it's never a good sign when they forget you're there.

A week later, I got an offer from them. I was turned off by the interview experience and the job itself wasn't something I really wanted to do, so I turned down $52,000 to go to grad school instead.

 

[wheresmybacon]

Originally posted by: jbourne77
When I was a network admin back in 2000, I wasn't very happy with my compensation. I was job hunting and put my resume on Monster.com. I received a phonecall from a MAJOR auto manufacturer saying they were very interested. I get down there for the interview and it's 3 crusty old men. They start grilling me on C, C++, OO, etc. I was like "I'm a network administrator... not a programmer... what is it you guys need me to do?"

They said "well, it sounds like you're not remotely qualified for the job."

Being the smartass that I am, I said "well, it sounds like you're not qualified for brain surgery. Thanks for wasting my morning."

... and I walked out. I was pissed. I had to get up at 5am that morning to get down there for a 6:30am interview.

Ironically, I'm a developer now.

this is so typical, although usually it's small/medium business that haven't had a real IT employee before. i love looking at the ads in the local paper and job sites:

small-medium firm seeks network administrator. must have 8+ years on the job experience, BS, CCNE, MCSE, MCSE+I, fluent in .NET, Perl, Javascript, VB, VBScript, HTML, C++, COBOL, Cantonese, Vietnamese, and Klingon. Starting salary $10/hr.

some manager that saw some acronyms on teh interweb wrote the job description with cut and paste. happens all the time. best place to find them is in the local paper and not in an eletronic medium.

 

[wheresmybacon]

Originally posted by: Hyperblaze

Originally posted by: Accipiter22
here's one from a friend:

He's a GREAT network admin....he's applying for this job at Pride gas stations (a chain in the north east)...he'd be basically their lead network admin. So they're talking about his qualifications and the guy seems VERY interested in him. The position would be 45 hrs/week minimum, salaried, no overtime, NO benefits, and he'd be on-call for at least 10 hours/week. so they start talking about salaries. My friend figures that around 32,000 is fair to start....the guy inteviewing him choked on his water he was drinking. The guy thought 25,000 was fair for this position.

no offense, but that kinda sounds low for a lead network admin.

I'd be aiming for 45,000

at least. with on call it should be more.

 

[Accipiter22]

here's a quickie: I was a manager at the basketball hall of fame, in one of the restaurants....so this girl who's friends with one of my employees wants a job, so she comes in and fills out an application. One of the questions is something like 'what word best describes your attitude towards customers'. She's genuinely stumped by this question so she asks what I had put down. I said 'Don't worry, it's not really an important question, I put happy, nice, merry, something like that'. she responds with 'well you're a fagg0t.' I stop....the girls behind the counter actually DROP what they were doing on the floor and their jaws are hanging open. The idiot who's applying then continues 'I'm getting this job no matter what because I KNOW the right people'. I said 'maybe your friend didn't tell you, but I'm the manager that you 'know'. Now leave my store before I call the police'. I took her application into the bathroom with me, took a dump on it, then flushed it into oblivion.

 

[sonambulo]

the hr lady at costco was like 55 and she made me take off my shirt and play with a kitten during the interview.

 

[LegendKiller]

Originally posted by: 3cho


wow, this is quite the story. though it's probably a good thing you didnt work for CSG. wait, you werent applying for anything under a VP position anyway right?

my worst interview was with jane street capital, where i just got grilled on all math questions, i made it about 3/4 through before the interviewer just gave up on me. yikes! guess i will never trade for them!

Nope, I was applying for an analyst position. I didn't get the job thought. I ended up working with a lot of CSFB guys on the securitization side though.

 

[mugs]

Originally posted by: Accipiter22
here's one from a friend:

He's a GREAT network admin....he's applying for this job at Pride gas stations (a chain in the north east)...he'd be basically their lead network admin. So they're talking about his qualifications and the guy seems VERY interested in him. The position would be 45 hrs/week minimum, salaried, no overtime, NO benefits, and he'd be on-call for at least 10 hours/week. so they start talking about salaries. My friend figures that around 32,000 is fair to start....the guy inteviewing him choked on his water he was drinking. The guy thought 25,000 was fair for this position.

$25k? In the northeast? You could make that doing unskilled labor!

 

[TechnoPro]

My dad was friendly with the number 2 guy at a major finance company. I was unemployed at the time and he pulled some strings to get me an interview. Normally, I would not have ever applied to such a firm, but my dad's proddings made me take the chance. I had only limited work experience and didn't finish college so I was looking to apply for the lowest of the entry-level positions. In reality, there was no position open for me at the time and the whole interview was arranged to get my resume on file for the future. The interview went well, and I left a good impresion on the hiring manager.

Fast forward a month or so. A position came up on their website and I contacted the hiring manager expressing interest. This was the ideal position - entry-level, and I had a perfectly matching skillset. She told me it looked like a great fit and that she would forward the word along to the department head specific to that job. So I wait...and wait. And hear nothing. I wasn't expecting any favoritism, but I persisited. Finally, I got her on the phone.

Essentially, because my file had been "flagged" with the recommendation of the number 2 guy, I was deemed overqualified for the position and they passed me up on it. When I heard this, I nearly flipped out at the whole scene. It would have been a good company to get my foot in the door.