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Forums General Chit-Chat Awkward interviews

Voltie — she/her Posted 10 months ago ( 2023/07/13 17:43:39 )


I wanna share this silly one but I also want to hear about what was your most awkward or silly job interview?

I had one this morning over the phone. I already got hired elsewhere, but I'll still avoid saying this company's name bc I don't want them to be judged based on this XD but its a... well, idk what to call it now, but its one of the common name companies for sending packages and such.
The first question they asked me was
"describe this company, tell me what you think it is and if you have ever used our services."

Maybe there's a secret psychological answer to this, I've never been asked this in an interview before so I do not know. So I answered as truthfully as I could and in my response I had called them a mailing/packaging service. I used them with my last job to ship packages to customers and to receive packages.

This.. possibly offended her? She grumbled at me and I cant remember what she said, but after this she became short for the rest of the interview while she's reading off information to me. There were more silly things, but at the end she came back at me about my description that she didn't like.

And she raised her voice to spit it like a dagger
"we are N O T a MAILING SERVICE!

We deal with loading and unloading, labelling, shipping, packaging.."

and proceeded to describe what a mailing service does
o v o

Perhaps there is a secret to this company that I did not know going into this phone call. But it resulted in something I thought was quite funny.
Hope that person has a good day.

Now its your turn! Have any funny interview memories?

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Donator — He/They Posted 10 months ago ( 2023/07/13 22:51:32 )
(˵◕ ᴥ ◕˵)ノ Hello there


I remember once a lady told me she found a job for me that was along the lines of graphic design. I specificly asked for a job that has like semi easy acces to public transport bc that is my only way of getting around. So she gets me an interview, i show up and its just like next to a highway where only 1 bus stops MAYBY every 30mins... even then it was a 15 minute walk into a parking space to finally get to the building... I greet em yadayada, and then they decide to give me a lil tour and explain exactly what i would b doing... In short i wouldv needed a degree in like a specific machinery to glue in stickers on traffic signs... n then the person doing the interview saw my tone shift and we both just became rly quite lmao. Like i wasnt qualified in the least but honestly also wanst intrested at all. Like idk why the mady even thought id wanna do that???

Another time i was being interviewed for a place i was actually intrested in through calling. I sounded intrested, it was a good conversation... until the person on the phone said no body mods where allowed... i have several piercings and at that time also was planing to have a tattoo so i quikly was like "hmm yea no this aint gon work out im afraid. WHat im mostly confused by was that it was just a simple printing shop where d have to work in the back... like no contact with clients ect? why would me having bodymods matter then???


。.:☆*:・ヽ(˵◕ ᴥ ◕˵)



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Voltie — They/He Posted 10 months ago ( 2023/07/14 01:08:20 )


I've only had a small handful of interviews, and 3 of the 5 I've had offered me a job like, right off the bat. I felt that was weird enough on its own, but they went normally aside from that.

However, one of them was a McDonalds, and to this day, I remember during the training, I was sat down at a laptop to watch a lil slideshow by coorprate or whatever. There was a section on cleanliness, which read, and I quote: "Don't have poop hands!" and I AUDIBLY SNORTED.

They could've just said "Wash your hands" but no...




Don't know how to use/read tone tags?
Go Here!

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Voltie — she/her Posted 9 months ago ( 2023/07/15 19:50:10 )


@GoblinsAndTea:
Signs, graphic designs, whats the difference? /jk

not gonna lie though, that sounds like an odd tedious job that I would probably enjoy lmao

the second part though yeah!! I have seen rules against body mods before like this and its so confusing?
Like
my piercings arent gonna get caught in a printer machine or anything?? and certainly my tattoos wont be hazardous in any way?
at that point its probably something like "the owner doesnt like it so we cant do it!" which is a reason I was given against coloring my hair once lol

@MaxIsConfused:
omg, maybe they were just trying to be cute? What a weird way to put it lmao

I feel very suspicious when I get hired too quickly. Like I did get hired from one of last week's interviews, but it was just a phone interview and she barely asked anything? Never met in person, never had a prior interview or screening. She's just like "Yeah I wanna hire you. I'll send you an offer letter within a couple hours when I finish the rest of my interviews"
PFFT
not complaining
maybe she just liked my resume that much

@Sage:
LOL
MY BOSS DID THAT ONCE with a girl he was interviewing in my last job! He wasn't flirting, but he just got randomly excited about things and will take people on a tour. Even to see the back rooms where, for safety reasons cause of machinery, it was supposed to be strictly associates only back there!

Imagine my surprise when I would be the one driving the machines back there and suddenly there's a stranger appearing who could even have a child with them (cause he did this with customers)
and my machine has a million blind spots like

STOP

@neon:
This is actually insanely funny
I've always wondered what would happen if I lied and said I love the store and shop there all the time ect.
I almost did that for an interview with Dillards recently. But I quickly caught on to the fact that I actually didn't know the first thing about Dillards and by the questions she was asking, that probably would have ended up weird.

But I mean, it ended up weird anyways just with me being honest cause I forgot how to talk that day.

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Donator — She/Her Posted 9 months ago ( 2023/07/16 19:16:59 )
Uh, I was interviewed by the person I technically replaced, because my then-boss was on vacation when they were hiring lol. Honestly, I don't really count that as an interview because I felt like I was asking most of the questions. Granted, it was for an entry-level job, but still kinda silly how it all happened. The lady who interviewed me was on her way out the door, but I didn't know any of this until after I was hired. It all worked out though, because I'm now in my then-boss's position.

I've conducted interviews over the years, and a bunch of the silly stuff is just people not having common sense when it comes to interviews. We'd ask about job history, and some people would admit that they were let go for xyz reason that was a big red flag. I can understand being let go because the company cut jobs, but don't say you had a "disagreement" with management. Don't say you just up and quit one day. I can't trust someone who admits to that, because if they did it once, they'll do it again. Other times, we're in the hiring process, and we tell them there's a drug test involved. Common sense would dictate that you KNOW if you have drugs in your system, and what you'd be flagged for, so you'd KNOW if you would pass or not. Nah, fam, lots of people told us AFTER they done wasted a cup to tell us they had done coke, weed, etc. Though those situations aren't really silly--they're just plain dumb and aggravating.
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Voltie — she/her Posted 9 months ago ( 2023/07/16 19:55:44 )


@neon:
Haha its alright though, life happens! I'm sure they're fine

@Aisukohi:
Hahaha Ive never conducted interviews (although my boss tried to toss me in a room with one once when I didn't even know what questions were needed--that was awkward)
but I have overheard a LOT of them in my last job. Because they were done right there on the sales floor and I was usually sitting nearby working on something, if I wasn't with a customer. A lot of people admit to being fired and go into crazy details about it. Some openly talk about their criminal history. Others go on big rants about how much they hate their job and get in too much gossip detail about their coworkers.
We also did drug screenings so that part had interesting reactions. One guy got so angry about the question he shouted profanities, got up, stormed to the door then paused. Turned around and shouted back, "I cant give up the weed, man!" and then left.

Like we all respect that but the way it played out was so silly.

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Donator — She/Her Posted 9 months ago ( 2023/07/16 20:16:12 )
@Jolly: Yeah, another big red flag is when they start talking about coworkers "being after them" or just having problems at their previous jobs in general. I understand, sometimes workplaces are really that toxic, but still not a great idea to disclose that in an interview. Maybe after you're hired, y'know? The weed guy sounds hilarious though. xD We've had people try to lie to us about their drug tests, but the cups don't lie. It's amazing how many people don't know that THC stays in your system for so long. Personally, I don't care what you do on your own time, but don't waste mine with your ignorance on how your poison of choice works.
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Voltie — she/her Posted 9 months ago ( 2023/07/16 20:33:09 )


@Aisukohi:
Yeah exactly this! I was actually really worried recently with these interviews. I left my last job without anything else lined up for like 3 months. Easily would sound so irresponsible without proper context, so I was so scared about interviews asking why I left it. BUT I got lucky, no one asked
So I can keep quiet and just prove that isn't a normal thing from me.
cause yeah, seriously, its not anyone's business what goes down at the job. The context is lost already. We just wanna know that we aren't wasting our time on hiring someone flakey!!

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Donator — She/Her Posted 9 months ago ( 2023/07/16 20:55:37 )
@Jolly: It's a reasonable question to ask why someone left their previous job, but regardless of circumstance, I feel like there are polite ways of putting it without getting into too much detail lol. I've seen all kinds of people walk through our doors. Even people you never thought would do certain things after you get to know them, they'll do it, so hard to trust people, and now also hard to be surprised by anything anymore. People are so strange.
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Voltie — she/her Posted 9 months ago ( 2023/07/18 22:39:37 )


@Aisukohi:
Somehow, people still manage to surprise me. In general
You would think after over a decade of working retail jobs, from companies like Kmart to Walmart, Target, Mattress stores and so forth
that I would have seen it all by now of how people can behave
BUT STILL
there's always a new experience to be had with witnessing people.
So I agree, can't trust anyone very easily lol

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Donator — She/Her Posted 9 months ago ( 2023/07/19 23:02:21 )
@Jolly: You're right, there's always new behaviors with people. xD New excuses too. Like the other day, one of the CNAs said she couldn't come into work last minute because she had to "feed her horses". Then a few days after that, one of her horses got out??? Like bro, don't have animals like that if you can't keep track of them responsibly!
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Voltie — she/her Posted 9 months ago ( 2023/07/19 23:22:47 )


@Aisukohi:
Lol I hate the excuses about irresponsible animal situations. I agree, dont have the animal if you can't take care of it properly! Wake up earlier if you need to feed them. Do better fencing. idk
This is why I dont have a dog, cause I'd end up like a coworker I once had who had to step out once a shift to go home and walk it. She was lucky our boss and team didn't mind it (we knew she was honest about it!), but it certainly made things more difficult sometimes.
I mean, at least she cared to walk it properly! Thats better than most dog owners Ive known :T

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Donator — She/Her Posted 9 months ago ( 2023/07/19 23:59:22 )
@Jolly: Right?? I wish I could have a dog, but I have neither the time nor space for one right now. Plus, my son is terrified of them, and I really don't know where he gets it from. As far as I know, he hasn't had a traumatic experience with any dog. Hoping I can teach him that not all dogs are scary.
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Voltie — she/her Posted 9 months ago ( 2023/07/20 00:03:52 )


@Aisukohi:
I think thats a pretty normal response as a child? Especially with how dog barking sounds, I used to be scared of them too until I got older.
Hopefully you get to a place where you can get a dog though. Maybe as he gets older and can help care for it?
I also want one, but for the same reasons as you, I could not. I have a cat and she doesn't take well to other animals (trying to adapt her to meeting new humans, even!) but she was a rescue kitten. Then an only cat for 2 years.. she's too spoiled to share

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Voltie Posted 9 months ago ( 2023/07/20 00:05:03 )
    I've definitely been in some interesting ones where I was asked illegal questions, like my marital status. I think the strangest one was for a childcare position at a daycare. It was a group interview, of all things, and there were a pair of interviewers. The second interviewer was just spinning around in her chair the entire time and scoffing at answers, which was a little offputting. It was also the first time I saw what other interviewees were like; how they responded, what they dressed in, etc. I assumed everyone was like myself but how mistaken I was to see that some people just don't care or are so maladjusted that they don't see how nuts they come off. In the end, I just gave bland answers because I wanted to get out of there.

    I was asked once, "What do you think of ambulance chasers?"
    And another, "You didn't write down a salary requirement. We can just not pay you right?!" followed by the most insane cackle.

    Either I've been out of the loop of people for so long that I forgot, or I just genuinely didn't know how miserably stupid people could be. My job now has a few employees that just make me raise my eyebrows every day. It's always a surprise.
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Voltie — she/her Posted 9 months ago ( 2023/07/20 22:10:08 )


@blue:
A group interview?!
that already sounds like a scam
I didn't know marital status was illegal to ask. Now that I think about it, my last job asked a ton of these kinds of questions. Maybe they got around it by calling the interview an audit? Maybe in that case they can skate around the law, idk.
Thankfully it turned out fine, they meant well. lmao

Interviewers are often stumbling through it as much as the interviewees
but there's still a level of decency that should be shown on both sides. I'm sure you know by now, but always remember that if an interview makes you uncomfortable, you ALWAYS are able to excuse yourself and leave. If the interview is bad already, the job will be worse!

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Donator — She/Her Posted 9 months ago ( 2023/07/21 01:15:20 )
@Jolly: My cat is pretty similar to yours. She was a rescue, and we don't know her history before she ended up in a shelter. She's great with people, but never cared for our other cat when he was around. We want to get another cat soonish, but we need to do some cleaning up a bit and make sure we have time set aside to ensure an easy transition for all involved. We want to get a rescue kitty again, preferably like a black one or one harder to adopt but still good with kids and other cats. But yeah, here's to hoping whenever we get a dog, it won't be too much of an adjustment for our son.

@blue: Those experiences sound bizarre. I wasn't aware asking your marital status was illegal, but maybe it depends on where you live. We only ask for tax filing purposes. I'd be pretty turned off by group interviews regardless of job title, so I can see why it made you uneasy. Some people just know how to interview well, but then once they get in, they turn out to be complete psychos or monsters. Based on my own experiences, anyway.
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