With the painstaking preparation that goes into preparing for an interview and
the tension often felt when the hour has come, it can be difficult to maintain a sense of levity in the
process. Still, you are not the only person to suffer a faux pas or awkward moment during an interview.
Perhaps you said or did something wrong. Perhaps your interviewer was bizarre. Perhaps something just
felt weird. Maybe it is Murphy's Law or perhaps it is just par for the interviewing course. Take
comfort from these stories gleaned from the collective experience that is interviewing.
"I was part of a team of eight colleagues who interviewed 50 people in the space of two
weeks. Four to seven people conducted each interview, which occurred in a small room. We were stuck
in that room for hours. One of the questions designated for me to ask was what the most formidable
challenge the person had ever gone through. During one particular interview in which four of us met
with the applicant, she began to share her most significant challenge when the Director intervened
with a follow-up question, interrupting my chain of questions. Apparently I made an odd face. My
colleague saw me and began to giggle. Then two of us began to laugh, and we could not stop. At one
point, the first colleague tried to disguise his laughter by blowing his nose, but this just made
everyone else laugh more. All the while, the interviewee elaborated on the most difficult challenge
she had been through, maintaining solid eye contact with the Director. It was both equally funny
and horrifying that we were laughing. Soon the Director said to her: I think we need to ask you to
leave until we compose ourselves."
"The summer internship organization to which I applied had about ten of us come at once, but
they interviewed us individually. My meeting was towards the end, so I waited there for an hour
before the two interviewers called my turn. They said: we have three questions that we are going to
ask you at once, and you can answer the three questions in order at which time we will be done.
They told me the three questions, and I answered the first. Then they looked at each other and
said, 'Okay, that will be it.' Surprised, I asked, 'Well, do you want me to answer the second
question?' They kind of looked at each other and said, 'Well, okay.' I answered as briefly as
possible, skipped the third question altogether, and left. I got the position."
"I sent a digital resume and cover letter via email to apply for a position as a technical
writer. Within a few hours, a message from the director in charge of hiring came via email. Full of
anticipation, I opened the email to find a terse message: 'your resume is infected with a virus and
has been quarantined.' A person cannot recover from an infected resume. I did not pursue the
position further."
"At one rather intense interview with a high powered man, the phone kept ringing and
interviewer took the calls long enough to say that he would call the people later. He seemed to be
telling me that I was a nominally important use of his time or at least demonstrating how busy he
was. There was some kind of odd power dynamic going on. Then he got another call, which was clearly
from his wife. After saying, 'Hi, Honey,' my interviewer only said three cryptic things: 'is he
lucid?,' 'do you need me to come home tonight?', and 'call me when you know more and can tell me
what to do.' Then he hung up the phone and looked at me."
"I once interviewed a woman who came in ringing her hands. I asked her the standard interview
questions: what are you looking for in a job, what don't you like in a job, what do you need from a
boss? To the third question, she replied: 'I need my boss to be my best friend. I'm so lonely. We
just moved here a few months ago and I haven't made any friends. I need a friend.'"
"A man walked in and deemed himself the right man for the job I had advertised, even though
he did not fit in any sense of the word. After the interview, which highlighted how badly he and
the position matched, he started an email campaign. Another man wrote to me on his behalf. Between
the two of them, I received at least twenty phone calls and electronic messages: he wanted the job
so badly, would I please reconsider? The barrage of follow-up finally waned when I hired someone
else, but even then his advocate kept scolding me for hiring someone else."
"I had to undergo a ludicrous 500 question psychological examination when I applied to be a
security guard during college. Among the 500 questions were about 17 questions asking me in
slightly varied ways whether or not I have ever thought of killing myself. If the exam had not been
a scan-tron, I would have answered, 'No, but the idea is growing on me every time you ask.'"
"During a particular interview, the interviewer had a dog present. The dog became especially
interested in my leg. I kept shuffling and moving to protect myself from the dog, but the person
giving the interview took no notice of the dog at all. Uncomfortable as this was, I was actually
wondering if it was some kind of test to see if I could maintain my concentration."
