There are bad job interviews, and there are BAD job interviews. These are the second kind.
“Seriously? That’s how you would do it?”
“I interviewed at a game studio a few years back and within about 20 minutes of the interview process decided I wouldn’t want the job even if they offered it. One of the questions they asked that I gave an honest answer to that they were not amused by was this: What is the easiest way to hijack a user’s session? My answer was: steal their computer. (And I chuckled a bit at my own answer out loud).Then they asked me: Seriously? That’s how you would do it? My response was, yes – stealing a computer would allow you to hijack any session that the user had with any service by removing the drive and mounting it in another machine. Their follow up question: What is another way? Then I gave them the answer they were looking for. This place looked pretty dismal though. I was pretty much cool on that job. I did enjoy going through the rest of the interview just kinda freestyling it and having a laugh though. In the end their company has suffered layoffs, didn’t pay people at Christmas time, and are on the brink of closing. Their game is pretty awful and I have seen more people talk about how awful it is vs how great it is. Glad I steered clear.” (source)
“I don’t think that honesty backfired…”
“I had an interview with a company that manufactured a food product. The prices of their raw materials changed daily. They had some choices in the raw materials that they used in making their product. So they hired a Ph.D. graduate student in physics to work out a least cost formulation every time there was a price change. At the time of our interview, the graduate student was finishing his degree and moving on. They wanted someone to replace him. And that was the role that I was interviewed for. The interviewer impressed upon me how smart their guy was to mathematically formulate a solution to their problem. Then he asked me if I had any questions. Of course I did. I asked him if he had ever heard of Linear Programming. He replied, that yes, this is the method that their graduate student was running. And then I asked him, ‘Do you know that there is a module in Microsoft Excel that handles these types of problems? You can formulate your problem once. When your prices change, just enter the new prices and run the solver. Once it’s set up, a little kid could run the procedure.’ I don’t think that honesty backfired. It was a case of them not knowing what they didn’t know. And really, I would not have been proud of myself if I took advantage of this company by capitalizing on their lack of knowledge in one area.” (source)
“After this interview, I didn’t get the job.”
“I was in an interview with a high tech firm, talking to the General Manager of the division and he asked me about my management style. I said to him that I valued my employees more than my management. Upper management didn’t like hearing that I valued employees more than the management. Prior to this interview, the hiring manager, pretty much told me I had the job. After this interview, I didn’t get the job.” (source)
“Sir, you are not going to like this, but…”
“I applied for an attorney job at a insurance defense firm. The firm was filled with attorneys who worked cases to settlement and tried very hard to wear down plaintiff’s attorneys with motions and filings. I knew going in I’d be bored to tears and I’d probably kill someone (figuratively speaking). I was the hiring partner’s office and the interview was droning along. Finally, the partner looked at me and said ‘As a lawyer, what’s your strong suit and what’s your weak spot.’ ‘Sir, you are not going to like this but I geared my legal education to try cases before juries not to drive my opponent to madness through litigious delays. My philosophy is prepare like you’re going to trial and your opponent will beg you to settle. Your philosophy is to settle. That’s a good way to get buried at trial. You wouldn’t want me as an attorney working for you.’ (source)
“The reason that i wasn’t even considered was…”
“I went for a senior networking job with a telecoms company in the UK and the first stage was a telephone interview. The young lady explained what was going to happen. She asked some basic, standard questions regarding cabling then asked me to explain what a Modem does. I explained about modulation, demodulation, MTUs, NEXT and FEXT. I really got into it and answered more questions afterward. I didn’t get the job or even a second interview. I called back asking for interview feedback and the reason that I wasn’t considered was because I didn’t know what a Modem was for. The answer that they were expecting was ‘It lets you connect to the Internet.'” (source)
Lied The Next Time
“Back in the olden days (mid-80s) I was being interviewed and subsequently polygraphed for a new job having recently returned to the ‘lower-48’ from living in Alaska. When asked had I ever used marijuana or other illegal drugs I answered truthfully that I had used marijuana while living in Alaska where, at the time, it was legal to grow up to 3 lbs. and use in your own home. I did not get the job. I lied during the interview and polygraph for the next job. I passed and got it.” (source)
“Look, I’ll be honest with you”
“I was interviewed by a really big and known company. They asked me some background questions and then some technical stuff, and then they asked me something like what makes me better than the rest? Why should they hire me and not someone else? Which I found a bit weird as they had my resume, they saw what I did for the last 15 years, I’ve proven myself countless times. So I told them: ‘Look, I’ll be honest with you but I’ve been asking myself the same question about you, why should I choose you? Why should I spend my life working for YOUR company rather than other companies that want me? And so far I have to admit, I’m not so impressed.’ The entire team got offended and cut the interview short. I never heard from that team again, but another team from the same company called me 6 months after. It seems this story got famous there and some of the hiring managers actually liked me for it. An interview is a two-direction-evaluation, it’s not YOU trying to impress them, it’s you both trying to see if you’re a good match.” (source)
“I didn’t believe it to be an honest statement.”
“I was interviewing for a QA Manager position at a well known media company where many moving parts (periodicals, movies, video games) meant there would be immovable release dates for projects. The CTO wanted me to commit to ‘no bugs.’ I told him I couldn’t do that, as I didn’t believe it to be an honest statement. I tried explaining to him that given unlimited time and resources maybe I could guarantee a bug free release, but since that’s not realistic I would not make that promise. He got really angry about that. Someone I worked with years later left to go work there. Within a few weeks she was begging for her old job back.” (source)
“There’s probably not much more to talk about.”
“I was interviewed for a job with the title ‘communications executive.’ I didn’t get past the first question. Interviewer: Tell me why you want to work in sales. Q: I don’t. I: Um, why are you here? Q: The job title doesn’t mention sales, nor did the ad. Your office wouldn’t give me any further details when I phoned, so it never crossed my mind this was a sales job. I: It is . . . There’s probably not much more to talk about. Q: I doubt it. I: Did it take you long to get here? Q: About an hour. I was allowing plenty of time because I didn’t want to be late. I: Um, sorry.” (source)
“I MAY be calling you.”
“I responded with a newscast audition to a Seattle TV station’s ad for a news anchor position. They called and I was told to come to their station to be interviewed by their San Francisco decision maker. Arriving on the appointed day and time I was ushered into his presence in one of the studios. His only question was, ‘How do you feel about news?’ I told him that I was keen on news, had always been, but that what passed for news in most cases these days was actually entertainment. That the Eye Witness four person team, was, in my estimation, not really news at all. Weather, sports, comment or opinion and whatever. It turned out HE was the guy who implemented that format for their stations! He asked me no more questions, but as I was leaving the studio, he said, ‘I MAY be calling you.’ I laughed and said,’Right!!!’ You know, he never did call me.” (source)
“‘I am Mexican’ – That’s all it took!”
“I went to study a masters degree in 3D CGI to London. When I graduated, I applied for many companies in the games industry, they would all say they loved my portfolio and asked me for an interview, and as soon as I mentioned my Mexican background, they would pull off the offer. It was hard to figure out that was the reason since they never gave me an explanation. I tried to get a follow up, telling them I would appreciate any feedback so I could improve on my weak points, but I never heard back from any of them. I was puzzled and morally devastated given my previous professional background: before studying the masters I had been working in both the local industry and for international clients for 4 years, I was teaching two courses in the second most important university in the country, and companies used to steal me from each other. While I could see that same enthusiasm initially during the UK interviews, the fact I never heard back from them got me heavily confused. This went on for a couple of months until a recruiter from a talent allocating agency told me the blunt truth: I was Mexican, and UKBA process for hiring people outside the European Union is a hassle no one bothers on going through.” (source)
“They were looking for an Angel Of Death.”
“I was asked how I would handle firing someone. I responded that before I would let anyone go, I would ensure that I’ve exhausted all other avenues and re-positions within the company. They were looking for an Angel of Death.” (source)
“I was killing the interview up to that point.”
“Interviewer: Where do you see yourself in 5 years? Me: Retired. Of course I can’t be positive that that was the deciding factor. But I was one of the final two in the running, and I was killing it in the interview up to that point.” (source)
“That ended it quickly.”
“I interviewed at Allstate Insurance for a beginning position as property adjuster. The interviewer got right down to business and asked if I’d work crazy hours, long hours. That was okay. Was I willing to do whatever was necessary to save the company money? I asked for a clarification. Was I willing to say or not say whatever I needed to, so that an insurance claim is minimal, or even denied? I would give people what they are due, no more. That ended it quickly. I had no regrets walking out of that place. Later I found that Allstate was rated one of the worst for getting claims resolved properly. Whether it is any better now, don’t know.” (source)