Worst Interview Experiences 7

[prohammy]

Reading a thread today, I was reminded of one of my worst interviews that I ever had....

I was contacted by an agent who said he had a position he thought I might be interested in. He forwarded my CV to th eclient who got back the next day to arrange an interview for the following Monday morning. So far so good.

I arrived at the interview (nice posh reception area, always puts me in the mode for an interview), met the interviewer and was brought into the interview room. Both of us sat down, he placed my CV on the desk in front of both of us and started the interview with the following...

'Mr. Hammond, I see you are a Mechanical Design Engineer, I think we may have a problem. The position I am interviewing for is for an Electrical Engineer'. Immortal words that have stuck with me to this day....(Immortal words that went through my head are censored by this website).

He apologised for not having read my CV and thanked me for taking the time to attend the interview.

I had a very nice conversation with the agent who set it all up later that day.

I'm really curious to see what others have come up against that they think is either funny/annoying or whatever else

Cheers



Kevin Hammond

Mechanical Design Engineer
Derbyshire, UK

 

[DaveVikingPE]

1. You have learned that that agent had HUA disease. So has the interviewing company.

2. My worst interview experience had to do with a technical position that I was qualified for yet lacked experience in the actual field. The position called for a structural engineer, though the actual job would focus on dams exclusively. I have a little experience with dam engineering - and I can learn - but I honestly couldn't answer the interview questions without making it obvious that I had only the minimum experience. I didn't get the job, but I did make a friend - and it was good practice.

 

[enginerd05]

A friends experience: He was interviewing out of town and was flying in the night before the big day. Turns out the airline lost his luggage. All he had was a pair of sweats and t-shirt that he had on for the flight. He spent the night waiting to see if his clothes turned up. By the time he got to hotel without luggage it was pretty late. Unfortunatley, his interview was real early. He actually showed up to interview with sweats and all. He spent 1/2 hour explaining to secretary that he really was interviewing and what had happened. After few laughs the interviewer took friend out to brunch to make up for ordeal. To make matters worse my friend decides to order beer to calm his nerves. Needless to say he spent the rest of the morning trying to convince interviewer that he wasn't an alcoholic.

 

[swertel]

Beer on an interview? Oh how I miss the days of the 2 martini lunch.

My worst interview was an 8 hour interview that was supposed to be 2-4 hours. I sat around waiting for the next person to interview me for most of the time. At least they brought me out to the lunch.

But, they didn't help with any of the travel arrangements. I had to find my own airfare, my own hotel room, my own car rental. During the interview, I was introduced to their check request system because I had to turn in all my receipts in order to get reimbursed for the trip. You don't get the receipt for the car until AFTER you return it. So I had to take the form home, get the car receipt, mail it all in, and then wait for my check. Instead, I got phone calls from the engineering manager why I spent so much money on the car rental and the hotel room. Why didn't I choose hotel X that is cheaper, or find a better auto rate?

Uhm, because the facility is located up near the PTC in Scottsdale, AZ, and it was during the Open (now called FBR Open) so finding a vacant hotel room and available car was hard enough, much less a CHEAP one.

--Scott

http://wertel.eng.pro

 

[KENAT]

In my final year at university I interviewed for then British Waste of Space (sorry I mean British Aerospace, now part of Airbus I believe) at Bristol.

I turned up for the interview with about 5 other students. It was a large complex on the airport with numerous separate buildings.

At the front gate we were told to go to a certain building and wait.

We went to the building and waited about 15 – 20 minutes. A few people who walked by asked if we were OK. Each time we’d explain we were waiting for person X from HR. Eventually one of them said something like, “you know I’ll try and find out what’s going on” if I remember correctly they came back and said, “seems like your were sent to the wrong building, go up to building Y for HR”.

We duly walk to that building and report to the front desk. They don’t know what’s going on and make some calls. Eventually they decide to send us back to the original building. We start walking back but before we get there are confronted by an irate person X from HR who starts lambasting us for wondering off, wasting her and other people involved in the interviews time etc.

She eventually calms down enough to give us the aptitude test, which being dyslexic I was given a little extra time on but that just meant I got singled out from the crowd which in this case wasn’t a good thing.

I then go into the interview and they start asking me about NDT techniques, about which I knew almost nothing. I managed to make some comments about X ray, Ultrasonic and Dye Penetrant (thought at the time I couldn’t remember its proper name) and about how my final year project which had involved fuzzy logic and neural networks might allow computers to be trained to recognize problems in the data etc.

At the end if I recall correctly person X from HR half heartedly apologized for going off on one but it was clear she didn’t really mean it.

A few weeks later I got a letter saying I’d passed the interview (much to my surprise) and aptitude test however, they felt I would be better suited to their Military division and they’d forwarded my results.

I never heard back from them!

This was just one of several, maybe I’ll post again later!

 

[MechanicalChef]

I was interviewing for a company which would place me in a project management role. I probably shouldn't have been there in the first place, but I was desperate for work, so there I was. The first in the series of interviews went well. Then I was subjected to a tag-team high-stress role-playing interview with a pair of high-level managers. Confronted with a situation involving a problem I know nothing about, with the goal of motivating these two managers to overcome this problem. Any discussion of the details was met with hard resistence, which was their goal, naturally. Eventually, I ran out of ways I would motivate someone, and faltered.

So by that point, it was probably clear to them I wasn't cut out for that role. And it's probably for the best anyway. Lord knows I'd rather be where I am now than stuck messing with train-cars in North Platte, Nebraska.

 

[kchayfie]

I worked for a year prior to going to university and then returned to the same company after graduation. When it came time to move on, I went for an interview with the company that had taken most of the work and half the staff from my first employer while I was a student.

The interviewer (sitting behind his big desk, in front of the window, with the sun streaming through and bouncing off his shiny bald head into my eyes) opened the interview with "I see you were at company X at the same time as me. I don't remember you". My first thoughts were "no, but I remember you and you were a **** then and you're still a **** now."

I had to be 100 miles down the road that afternoon and if the interview ended early enough I could catch a lift with a friend - needless to say I made every effort to get out of there quickly! The bit that made me smile most was there reason for not offering me the job "she doesn't seem interested in what she's working on". Of course I wasn't interested - there was no work to do which is why I was looking elsewhere!

 

[michfan]

I was off for the summer during one of my years of college and I went to a temp agency to see if I could get a 3rd part time job, just for the summer. I only wanted office work, no-brainer stuff on my days off from my other jobs.

I went in with a terrible head cold and took their "placement" tests, including Word and Excel tests. I had so much Vicks Formula 44 in me that I aced those tests and I honestly am no Office expert. I also did 55 wpm on a typing exam with no errors. I swear, I was high on cough medicine - I have no recollection of even taking the tests.

I went home and about an hour later I got a call that they wanted me to interview at one of the big office furniture makers here in town (you are probably sitting in one of their chairs right now). I said, no, can't possibly, have a bad cold, feel terrible, and oh yeah, I'm babysitting my two little nephews right now...ages 3 and 5.

Darned if she didn't call me back 15 minutes later and said, the VP wants to see you right away, and you can bring your nephews. By this time it was after 5 p.m. I had to put on a dress and go to the interview with my nephews in tow.

They sat at a huge swimming-pool sized glass conference table in a huge room, coloring with dry-erase markers (they still talk about that and they are 14 and 16 now!) while I interviewed. I kept blowing my nose the entire time and snuffing up snot so it wouldn't run out of my nose.

I don't even remember what I said.

I got the job, worked about 4 months there total. They ended up putting me on 4 days instead of 3. I did the daily work they gave me in the first hour of the day (I wonder what the regular lady did to fill the other 7 hours each day?) and I'd spend the rest of the time filing and stuff. Got them all caught up. They offered me full time work at the end of the summer but I told them I was so sorry, but I had to return to college for engineering...

It was all so surreal. I did find a paper in the lady's desk that I was filling in for - she had the VP's notes from the interview. I remember it said something like "she can learn anything and isn't afraid to try new skills" or something like that.

Moral of the story...don't lie (thank god I really had nephews I could bring!) and don't o.d. on cough syrup before an interview!

 

[kchayfie]

michfan's post reminded me of another interview I had while I was at university. The alumni office were recruiting students to call graduates to try to raise funds for various projects at the university.

I was in the bar after lectures, on my second pint of beer, when one of my course mates came back from his interview for the job. that was when I remembered I'd also applied and had an interview in 10 minutes. So I downed the rest of my beer, trotted across campus, talked non-stop to the interviewer (I'm a chatty drunk!) and got myself the job.

And then discovered that I'm absolutely petrified when it comes to talking to strangers on the telephone. I had to have a beer before work every night to get the dutch courage to dial the first number!

 

[EddyC]

On one interview, I was waiting outside the bosses office for a few minutes. I heard him talking to someone over the phone rather aggressively. I noticed the spelling of his name and concluded that he was Israeli. When he walked out to call me in, I saw that he had no right arm (he turned out to be a former Israeli commando). He had me sit down and opened with "So what can I do for you?". I explained that I was in the market for a new job. He asked me if I was serious about work or whether I was wasting his time, because he planned to send me to the factory in Israel for training (the Palestinian intifada had begun only a couple of weeks earlier). He asked me for my references. He immediately called up my former boss and told him: "Never mind whats right with him, I only want to hear whats wrong.". After the phone conversation, he stood up and said: "Anyway its all bull____. Even when you are a murderer, the Priest still says that you were a good man as they are burying you.". He then offered me a job. I accepted and worked there for a week, after which he fired me. Interesting, right?

 

[plasgears]

One HR person kept me waiting for an hour in the lobby. I told the receptionist that we would do it some other time. The HR person came running after me to my car, and I had to decline.

Some time later I interviewed another party, and he asked me about that same incident. That gave me the clue that HR people are networking. I told him that there was something I saw that I did not like.

 

[IceNine]

I had an interview during my last semester of grad school (november 2001). 2 months after 9/11 was not a good time to find a structural job. So the interview lasted most of the day, with me interviewing with each of the 4 principals. During my interview with the last (and most senior) principal, he said to me, "we've already decided we're not going to hire anyone. You'd be better off opening a hot dog stand."

Well, I haven't opened that hot dog stand (yet), and I eventually did find a job.

 

[enginerd05]

Now a personal experience: I was doing an internship and spent some time in the lab (my dream job). Got along with everyone and loved it so i was surprised to see an opening. Before I could contact anyone, I was ASKED if I was interested in position and didn't need to bother applying online. An interview would be set up as soon as possible. The interview consisted of me being informed about the weather, traffic, best area to live, restarurants, schools, etc. I was not asked about education or anything else seeing as how they already knew all my information. Since I had already spent time there, the following day I observed and helped with ongoing projects (nothing major). I was told where my desk would be, where to put stuff, and that they couldn't wait for me to start. Talk about being led on. After weeks of not hearing anything I called and was told that I was still a top candidate. I never got the job and from now on only get excited when I get official offers.

 

[nise56]

I worked as a tutor at same school for 6 years. By the fourth year I was doing more administration and teacher work than just tutoring. Tutors aren't normally hired for summers so when I heard that a few would be I let my boss know I was interested. To be on safe side I re-applied online, did a mission statement, and anything else my boss thought might be required. A few weeks before summer I talked to vice principal in charge of hiring and was informed that I was not chosen. When I asked why not, she told me that I didn't complete necessary steps (which I had). I brought in records and was then finally given an interview date. To my surprise none of the tutors already chosen had even done a single thing or had to interview.
At the interview she has the nerve to ask me why I thought I was qualified. I had had enough. I simply told her that I had 6 years experience at this school, twice more than all the others hired COMBINED and was semester away from completing engineering degree. Not only would I not be taking the summer job but would not be returning at all. Good luck trying to finish projects I had been doing for her. Two weeks later I had my boss begging me to come back and that I would have full time status and be supervisor. They couldn't figure out how to finish what I had started and would take too long to train someone else. I told them that maybe one of the tutors they hired could figure it out.

 

[swertel]

My best interview ever!

I got a letter in mail with a starting offer and a reporting date. I showed up to the front gate on that date, and security didn't have my name on file to be able to let me in. I showed them my letter. They gave me a temporary badge and pointed me to the right direction.

I walked into the department area and knocked on the door of the lead. He had no idea anyone was hired for his area. He took me over to the manager of the area. He didn't know who I was or even that the position had been filled. But the paperwork was in order so they sat me at a desk. Two weeks later, I finally got a phone and a computer and started working.

--Scott

http://wertel.eng.pro

 

[michfan]

I always seem to have clothes trouble before interviews too. I'm not a "fashionista" by any sense of the imagination. I try for cold weather interviews because all my jackets are wool. Most of my interviews have come spur of the moment, so I'm usually out trying to find something at the mall the night before.

My biggest interview ever (and my first "business formalwear" position after college) and I'm at the mall the night before, trying to find a suit. Ended up with black wool a size too big - you take what you can get in this town - and a blouse that really didn't fit right and, of course, the next day was one of those gorgeous sweltering October days that you get in the fall where the sun comes out and you bake like a chicken, one foolishly wearing a heavy black wool skirt and jacket.

Then, the interviewer tells you you are going to lunch with some of the other managers so you have to crawl into his pickup truck trying to keep the skirt where it's supposed to be cause it's too big. Luckily, you are already puffing up like a balloon because it's now 80 degrees out when it should be 40...

Lately I've just opted for pants and a lightweight jacket and nobody has seemed to notice I've skipped the whole skirt thing.

Guys have it too easy...

 

[65Roses]

I intervied for a quality engineering position at an automotive supplier. When I arrived the office was in total chaos and I was asked to wait a litte while due to an urgent problem. Over an hour later the interview finally began. The room was filled with exhausted looking individuals who all looked like they had just ran a marathon.

Once the formal part of the sit down interview was over the Quality Manager asked the Senior Quality Engineer to give me a tour of the plant. As soon as we got onto the production floor the senior engineer said; I'm a Christian and I have to be honest with you about this place. Its not a good place to be and the company provides three emblemed shirts to wear. If you want more you will have to purchase them. I've never purchased anymore because I never know if I will be here from one day until the next. If that wasn't bad enough about 10 minutes later a representative from their customer showed up and started cursing this poor guy right in front of me.

Why is my handle 65Roses?
Please visit

http://www.cff.org/aboutCFFoundation/About65Roses/

to learn why!

 

[michfan]

I only WISH someone would have warned me away from my last job!

My last job (I got fired from it after 89 days...) was partly owned by the first husband of the lady that owns the ladies' fitness place next to my store. He passed away and the business went 100% to the son of the other co-owner, an older guy who would stop in once a week on his way to the golf course.

After getting fired, and telling my neighbor about some of the awful things that had happened, she said, "oh, now I'm sorry I didn't tell you the way things really are there...my son hates it and doesn't want to go back next summer..." (he was a cad tech during the summers, it was his dad that passed away). And I said, "next time I interview at one of your family's companies, warn me if it is that bad!" And she said, "I thought I was biased, knowing the family that owns it, and I didn't want to say anything in case you liked it there".

At least we got a laugh out of it all!

 

[Heckler]

Since college I've always want to be in the automotive industry but at that time didn't want to move to the midwest.

My last semester I scored an interview with Honda R&D in Ohio. I think it was our results from the Mini Baja competition that got me that interview. Honda set up all flight, hotel and rental car arrangements. The interview was a panel interview with HR, American Engineers and Japanese Engineers. I had brought along some parts I had designed and manufactured from my motorcycle racing. I also had a portfolio of my senior project with lots of pictures. This was a perfect talking point for the Japanese engineers because they seemed to really like the pictures. The interview went really well up until the point I open my big phat mouth and said I didn't want to sit in front of a computer the entire day. Needless to say, I didn't get the job and 13 years later I sit in front of a computer most days.

In contrast, a year into my first job I decided to apply to an automotive assembly plant on the west coast. I had a six person panel interview consisting of all engineers and one HR rep. That was the most disorganized interview I have ever experienced. I felt like a duck on opening day....pelted with questions. On a couple of questions, I was not allowed to finish my answer before being hit with another question. I'm not sure if it was a test to see how I handled the pressure or if they were really that disorganized.

Heckler
Sr. Mechanical Engineer
SWx 2007 SP 2.0 & Pro/E 2001
XP Pro SP2.0 P4 3.6 GHz, 1GB RAM
NVIDIA Quadro FX 1400
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_`\(,_
(_)/ (_)

(In reference to David Beckham) "He can't kick with his left foot, he can't tackle, he can't head the ball and he doesn't score many goals. Apart from that, he's all right." -- George Best

 

[swearingen]

The interview for my first job out of college was mundane - it was the travel that was interesting. My car was in the shop and I asked around and finally secured a friend's motorcycle for the 70 mile trip. Naturally, the day of the interview, it's pouring down rain. So, I put on my dress shirt with a pair of shorts, packed my pants, dress shoes, socks, tie, jacket and a towel into a backpack, and cover that with a borrowed, waterproof ski jacket. When I got to the building, I went into the bathroom in the main lobby, dried off and changed. Of course the neon colors on the jacket had bled through the zipper and onto my crisp white shirt. I covered the nice multi-colored stripe down the center of my shirt with my tie and made a mental note to keep it straight. The interview went off without a hitch and I reversed the process and went home.

I got the job and about a year later recounted the story to the company owner that had interviewed me. He laughed and said he had no idea...