Terrible Interview!

Plastic Scouser

I spent all of last weekend preparing/researching for an interview I had this week, but when I actually got there the interview was awful....I feel cheated!! :mad:

First off the interviewer was 15 minutes late....and then when they arrived they didn't have any questions prepared and were obviously just thinking things up to ask me as they went along....they didn't even have any notepaper or a pen(!!) with them so they couldn't write down anything I was saying!!!

I'm not even sure they'd read my application properly either as they kept asking me things about my work history/education etc. that were just wrong, and I had to correct them several times!

[There was other unprofessional carry-on but I don't want to go into too much detail as you never know who might be reading!]

So ages later...after going over the same ground again & again because they didn't have a proper plan of what to ask, and hadn't written the answers I'd given down in the first place....I walked out of there feeling really pissed off and cheated out of a proper interview when I'd spent ages preparing for it! :mad:

Has anybody else had such an annoying interview?

skye

Oh my God!! My first thought is "are you sure you want to work for this company?" If they can't get it together for interviews how on earth do they run the business? I feel bad for you though - to put so much work into preparing and to have this happen is awful... I am going through interviews at the moment too so can relate to you but this is unbelievable!! If you really want the job I would certainly request that you get a "proper" interview but for me I wouldn't touch them with a barge pole...Put it down to bad experience and move on.

AARRRGH

Wow, sorry to hear! Sounds like the job didn't actually exist.

Something similar happened to me in a Vodafone interview. I understand how annoyed/cheated you feel.

It's such a waste of time.

Plastic Scouser

skye wrote:

My first thought is "are you sure you want to work for this company?" If they can't get it together for interviews how on earth do they run the business?

Yeah, I was thinking that too....wouldn't be too keen to work for them anyway now tbh!

Still disappointed and annoyed though!

Plastic Scouser

dublindude wrote:

Sounds like the job didn't actually exist

That hadn't actually occurred to me. I'm pretty sure they did actually want to recruit someone for the job though....they just seemed rubbish at the recruitment part!

AARRRGH

Plastic Scouser wrote:

That hadn't actually occurred to me. I'm pretty sure they did actually want to recruit someone for the job though....they just seemed rubbish at the recruitment part!

Unfortunately, because the hiring person won't want to admit they're a retard, they'll pretend you are and won't offer you the job.

C'est la vie!!

There is nothing you can do so just try to forget about it and move on...

Plastic Scouser

dublindude wrote:

Unfortunately, because the hiring person won't want to admit they're a retard, they'll pretend you are and won't offer you the job

Too true I suspect unfortunately! I can't see how they'd ever be able to offer me the job anyway if they've no notes or anything about my interview...what would they even base their decision on?!

Suppose I'll just have to put it down to (a very weird) experience and keep looking!

skye

Chin up!! I'm with you in spirit;)

Plastic Scouser

skye wrote:

Chin up!! I'm with you in spirit;)

Thank you!

ErinGoBrath

Thats sounds like a terrible situation to be put in.

A friend of mine went to an interview and the inviewers kept writing words on there notepads and showing it to the other inviewer under the table. It made my friend very paranoid and was very unprofessional in my opinion.

If I were you I'd write a letter to the HR department of the company detailing your experience. Even if noting comes of it it's a way of vending your anger towards them

Stark

ErinGoBrath wrote:

A friend of mine went to an interview and the inviewers kept writing words on there notepads and showing it to the other inviewer under the table. It made my friend very paranoid and was very unprofessional in my opinion.

I can imagine. I actually wouldn't be surprised if they were deliberately making him paranoid. A lot of the companies I interviewed for during my final year in college were extremely rude during the interviewing process. Acting the prick is often referred to as "stress testing" these days in HR circles. A friend of mine actually had someone burst in during the interview and start shouting at him. Later he was rejected from the job and under feedback it was revealed that that incident was a deliberate test to see how he'd react. He didn't get the job because he looked a bit shocked :rolleyes: Looking back on it now, it's a relief not to be working for the likes of them.

Wait to see how you got on anyway. I had an interview like that before and actually got the job afterwards. So you never know until you find out.

AARRRGH

Stark wrote:

A friend of mine actually had someone burst in during the interview and start shouting at him.

I hope the next jobseeker beats the **** out of that guy. I really hate this interview nonsense.

No one is themself in an interview. It should be as painless as possible.

Cork

Many interviewers don't have a clue on how to conduct an interview.

I went for an interview before Christmas and the interviewer asked me twice about whether jobs I got previously were by open competition.

He must have tought that I was well connected or something.

About a year ago I went for an interview and they asked me an irelevant technical question.

It is all down to people who cannot conduct interviews.

TempestSabre

If I were you I'd complain. Theres seems to be a distinct lack of quality in HR people these days. They seem to lack any sort of empathy, which I would have thought was fundamental to the role. Lack of professionalisim is just someone whos bad at their job.

Civilian_Target

Plastic Scouser wrote:

Has anybody else had such an annoying interview?

Depends, if you take control of an interview like the one you've just mentioned, you could easily turn it into one of the best interviews you've ever had!

Plastic Scouser

Civilian_Target wrote:

Depends, if you take control of an interview like the one you've just mentioned, you could easily turn it into one of the best interviews you've ever had!

Hmm, I'm not really convinced tbh. Perhaps you could expand? What would you have done?

evilhomer

I had an interview like that a while back, but at least they had paper.
I felt so cheated by them, I felt they were almost not interested.
So I went home really p*ssed off because if the amount of time I had put into the preperation.

Next day I got a phone call asking me to come back for a second interview!
Had to do a presentation in the second interview (which was interesting), done that went for the interview and got the job.
The second interview was with the head of HR and two senior managers so they were far better then the first interviewers.

When I started I was talking to the first interviewer and it came up that the reason they were asking really crappy questions and looked uninterested was that I was their 15th interview of the day and the person they had interviewed before me was a complete moron and it had pissed her off.

Sometimes there are other reasons for poor interviews.

you never know you might get a call still.

pepper

you know what-

if i was you i would call them up and tell them your disgusted with the way you were treated by them
(the way i see it id have nothing to lose because if they didnt bother doing the interview proplery they wont give you the job- they took nothing down sure they probley wont even remember you)

Anyway id BOLLOCK them out of It and say Im going to make an offical complaint to some Employees board (even if your not) just to scare them, and maybe they will cop on because you cannot treat people like that.

[Jackass]

That's just pure rudeness if you ask me...I'd be offended if they couldn't be arsed showing up on time, or even being remotely organised for something they invited you to attend and obviously for interviews people make a big effort, so a company should make an effort to facilitate you and show courtesy & appreciate it...

Sorry to hear that, keep plugging away man, hopefully no more time wasters...

magpie

Poor interviwing technique is rife- my pet beefs:

- asking about someone's inter/leaving cert when they've got Post-Graduate Qualifications
- stupid "what makes you think you'd be good for this job" questions
- being asked "what are your faults" etc.

Most interviewers never learn skills appropriate to hiring senior members of staff and ask the same ones they would if recruiting for the sandwich counter in Spar.

Then again HR as a "profession" is laughable.

DonkeyStyle \o/

I think I've had one of those stress-test interviews before... either that, or the interviewer really was a rude, unprofessional dick.
Either way, homie don't play that... can't be bothered working for a complete head-case :rolleyes:

WizZard

Ha, if someone were to stress test me like that at an interview I don't think they'd be too pleased at how I react to strange people bursting into a room and screaming at me.

DonkeyStyle \o/

WizZard wrote:

Ha, if someone were to stress test me like that at an interview I don't think they'd be too pleased at how I react to strange people bursting into a room and screaming at me.

lol why? are you an expert in Kung Fu or something?
"Sorry, I didn't mean to break his arm in five places, it was just instinct, he startled me..." :v:

Demetrius

I had an interview like that before. I was sitting in the room with the interviewer while he held a pen and scratched it for about five minutes. I didnt know what to say as he didnt ask any questions or anything. We were sitting like dummies there for five minutes. Finally he made some attempt to question me with rather odd questions. I was quite angry after that, and gave him the bare minimum and thought Id failed it. Later I learned Id gotten the job and when I worked in that company with the interviewer, I found that he was an alright fellow though a bit unusual at times.

DonkeyStyle \o/

Did you never think to ask him later, under more casual circumstances, what that interview was all about?
It's a real head-f*ck not knowing if they're just stupid/incompetent or whether they were trying to mess with your head.
Maybe the correct response in that situation is to get up, walk out, and close the door quietly behind you... who knows?!

Civilian_Target

Plastic Scouser wrote:

Hmm, I'm not really convinced tbh. Perhaps you could expand? What would you have done?

Turned it on its head - be a converstaionalist. Depends on the job, if it's a technical job you can always turn it onto your experiences in the field, it gives you an excellent chance to show your knowledge and demonstrate a sociable nature.

WizZard

DonkeyStyle \o/ wrote:

lol why? are you an expert in Kung Fu or something?
"Sorry, I didn't mean to break his arm in five places, it was just instinct, he startled me..." :v:

Kung Foo actually


Sorry, had to do that...

Peace

magpie wrote:

Then again HR as a "profession" is laughable.

Exactamundo dude, exactamundo.

kc66

I had a slightly similar experience for a good IT job last Summer. Interviewers were late. They wrote nothing but gave a tough interview but I was pretty happy with it. I found out a few weeks ago they didn't hire anyone that applied and haven't tried since, even though they are badly needed. Wasted 100 miles of driving and my day.

Raiser

If I were you & I got a rejection letter I'd pen a polite letter to "The HR Manager" @ whatever postal address the company has, describing in detail the shoddy, half-baked interview you sat through with that HR retard & explaining why you deserve better.

- I have a general dislike for HR people anyhow - Its ironic that they themselves don't have a proper job description beyond half-reading CVs and asking people how they would react if a team member pissed in the canteen.

Stark

Raiser wrote:

- I have a general dislike for HR people anyhow - Its ironic that they themselves don't have a proper job description beyond half-reading CVs and asking people how they would react if a team member pissed in the canteen.

Now that is simply not true! They do plenty to **** you over in the months after you've gotten the job as well

If I had to give the one thing I hate about my job, it's our HR department.

Fraggle

Understandin' the rage here. Went for an interview, did really well, reamed off loads about my relevant experience and the interviewer seemed well chuffed. At the end of the interview the interviewer gave the usual 'We have interviewed quite a number of people and have a lot more interviews to get through but we wil certainly be in touch..."Thought it was in the bag until I got a call a week and a half later, they had decided to change the job specifications entirely and were now looking for an entirely differently skilled person and had scrapped the other position.

Should they not have thought of this before advertising the job?

They wasted about 12 peoples time. Grrr.