What is the strangest job interview you've ever had?

[curlybop]

First, I will say that I haven't been on a job interview in years. Maybe this is normal, I don't really know. Anyway, I interviewed for a position this week in a nonprofit organization. There was a panel of three individuals conducting the interview in the company conference room. Each had a questionnaire, so they each take turns asking a question from the paper, then a long pause while they all write down the answer I gave them. Next person, next question....this went on for 4 pages. They didn't ask anything that wasn't on the paper either. They should have just emailed me the questions, let me answer then send it back! Then if they were still interested, download some other form from the internet and conduct an interview.

I know each person probably hears things differently, but the "wait while we write" drove me crazy. All three of them wildly scribbling while I'm just sitting there was quite awkward. I can just picture them after I left...."let's compare notes! Oh wait, we all have pretty much the same thing..."

 

[aprilgail2]

I haven't been on a job interview in 26 years but I do remember the oddest one was for a part time job I went on an interview for. I walked in- the guy said, let me show you around...here is this here is that.....so, you want the job when can you start....didn't even ask my name first LOL....

 

[Myothername]

Most of my career has been in the law office business and as you can imagine they are pretty conservative. But I did interview for a paralegal position at a timber management company once. It was for the legal department so it was an interview with an attorney. Turns out they were creating a new position within the department and I could either take that new position which was basically setting up a vast database or take over the existing paralegal's job and she would take the new position. Wow. Talk about starting off on the wrong foot? I told him I could not really make that decision but he insisted I decide. So I got quite selfish and took the position I already knew which was the paralegal position. Turns out the other position never was created so I ended up being laid off 3 months later because there was not enough work for 2 of us.

 

[geffric]

my strangest interview was several years ago..

the person seemed so disinterested in the whole process and in me.. I said my bit and she said ok, will get back to you.. i was so bewildered as they should have been VERY interested as I met and exceeded all qualifications.. as was exactly what they were looking for.. so I thought..

anyway, come to find out the person interviewing me had just been fired and really didn't care anymore.. i always wondered why they went thru with the interview given the circumstances..

 

[Myothername]

Most of my career has been in the law office business and as you can imagine they are pretty conservative. But I did interview for a paralegal position at a timber management company once. It was for the legal department so it was an interview with an attorney. Turns out they were creating a new position within the department and I could either take that new position which was basically setting up a vast database or take over the existing paralegal's job and she would take the new position. Wow. Talk about starting off on the wrong foot? I told him I could not really make that decision but he insisted I decide. So I got quite selfish and took the position I already knew which was the paralegal position. Turns out the other position never was created so I ended up being laid off 3 months later because there was not enough work for 2 of us.

 

[MIGrandma]

Mine was when I interviewed for an office job at a dentist's office. The first interview was with one of the two dentists in the office. They called me back for a second interview, with both of the dentists present this time. They were asking such strange questions (I can't even remember what they were, but just remember that I thought they were odd at the time) and would look at each other, and write things down, after each of my answers. They made me so nervous, I know I had a poor second interview. I didn't get the job either.

 

[samshane]

The strangest was when I sat down and the first question I was asked was - Tell me a joke. I froze... I didn't know. It felt like an eternity before i came up with one (I am blonde and thought of, How do you make a blonde's eyes light up? Shine a flashlight in her ear). OMG - it was horrible.

But I got the job And that turned out to be the WORST boss ever. She got fired in the end - it was karma.

 

[java]

The worst I ever went on was when the interviewer started crying in the middle of the interview- saying how stressful it was to work there. How she was working weekends. How she hated it there.
Then she offered me a job! Thanks but no thanks.

Years ago I did hire a runner for us (messenger) because he looked like Vanilla Ice and I thought he would be funny to have around. Oh and he was! So you never really know why you get hired. (not very professional of me I know but it was after a long round of hiring and I was tired of the "in 5 years I hope to be on my way through the executive training program" answers I was getting.)

 

[hereyago]

A few years ago: I interviewed with the department manager, he was normal, funny. Then he said his boss wanted to talk to me. This guy was either on the "white stuff" or he needed some meds to calm him down. He was tweaking pretty badly and dealing with some paranoia issues.

No, before some one writes he may have been add or adhd, people with those don't act like that. He was either on something or needed to be on something. then he told me to get out so he could talk to the other guy, his exact words and he seemed agitated.

I got out and left. the first guy called me and said i had the job and i turned it down, there was something not right about that guy, let alone being unprofessional and telling someone to get out. the whole time, i felt so uncomfortable.

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

Years ago I was looking for a job as a nanny. This woman told me she was a placement agent, and she set up a time for me to meet with her. I met her at her house (which is not that unusual - a lot of agents do work from home).

She was a BIZARRE woman. She had her "client" cards in a box along with her recipes. She talked with me for a bit, told me a LONG story about how she got her cat and he was very wild and she had to keep him in the bathroom until he was tame. Then she proceeded to tell me that while I was looking for a nanny job I could deliver sandwiches inside office buildings. What on EARTH???? I was already working in retail management, full time, with benefits. I wasn't going to quit and go peddle sandwiches in an office building! Never heard from her again.

Luckily a very reputable, professional agent DID find a nanny job for me!

 

[Becky2005]

I haven't been on a job interview in 26 years but I do remember the oddest one was for a part time job I went on an interview for. I walked in- the guy said, let me show you around...here is this here is that.....so, you want the job when can you start....didn't even ask my name first LOL....

I had one that was similar a few years back...I went in, did get asked questions, next thing I know basically I was being trained...I'm thinking the entire time -- UMMM...I'm assuming I got the job. I actually had to tell them I HAD to leave. I hadn't planned on a 3 hour interview (nor not getting paid while the introductions/training was going on). This was just for a small retail part-time job. I would like to be clocked in thanks before I start running the register thanks.

Although, I did just have a strange one recently but since I got hired & have orientation tomorrow I'm not going to say much. It wasn't bad, just different but you could tell they had to do the papers the way they did because corporate said so. It was similar to the OP with several pages of questions that didn't even feel like a real interview more like "here, we have to fill in this form, so let's do it". I left not even sure I got the job more like "I think that was a job offer but I'm not even sure" since it was said in such a way I couldn't tell if I was offered the job or they were just telling me what position they had open was.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

In retrospect--it was good....but at the time it was strange. One yielded a job offer (evidently I Did the right thing durng that interview) and one did not (many years later realized where I went wrong as explained below).

I have not had any job interviews and these were for my post-college graduation 'careers'. So to me they were unusual b/c I was used to simply going over an application.


1. Sears Mgmt training--flown to Chicago for mega all day group interviewing. It included regular individualized interviews, lunch, and then role plays.

During lunch--I set with an interviewer instead of trying to go and friend people. Figured that was wise move #1 even if I did ask if they would close the airport over the flurries I was watching through the window. (I did explain that I did get iced in once at an airport and all they had all day was flurries, so when the airport closed I was surprised.)

During the role play--I am not one to usually hold my tongue and there was this doofus in the group who was just going to town on this scenario. I was very diplomatic during the whole thing.

I did get a job offer--I don't believe that he did.

2. Enterprise Rent A car mgmt training--again group interview setting. After individual interviews we were taken to various facilities to "tour". I thought it was kind of weird, and was totally bored out of my mind. In restrospect, I realized a few years later--that the intent of that was to go and ask questions and such. Show a very vested interest in what folks were doing. I didn't do that b/c I didn't want to be rude and interrupt their work flow. And thus the reason for my boredom.

Didn't get that job at all.

Probably very normal in an interview setting--but the tour of the rental car facilities was totally weird to me b/c I didn't figure out that interupting their work was what was expected.

 

[NotUrsula]

That would be the airport bus interview, LOL.

In my field it's normal for new graduates to go to the national conference for a sort of job fair. There are "interview suites" set up so that search committee members can do short interviews to determine if they want to invite you for a more formal interview. So, I had several interviews on the final day I was at the conference, and the last one was due to end at 4, giving me about 3 hours before my flight home.

When I got to the suite the person scheduled before me was still there, and they just kept talking to her; when she finally left it was about 10 minutes to 4, so I went in, shook hands, gave them clean copies of my resume, and prepared to talk. Five minutes in they got very apologetic and said that while they were sorry that the previous candidate had run over, and that they did want to speak with me, they had to leave to catch their flight, and could we schedule a phone interview the following day? So I'm gracious and I agree. We shake hands again, everybody leaves.

I go back to my hotel, grab my suitcase, change into some jeans and a tshirt, and get on the airport shuttle bus. Guess who is also riding to the airport? "Oh, goody -- we don't have to do the phone interview after all -- we can interview you on the bus!!" What could I say but OK? So I spent the next hour doing a job interview with a committee of 4 people, on a bumpy, creaky airport shuttle bus, wearing jeans and t-shirt, and with about 15 totally uninvolved people listening in.

I did get offered the job, but I declined. I figured the bus thing was a bad omen.

I've got other stories that are nearly as good, including the snowstorm interview, the 2-mile-hike interview, and the deserted off-season amusement park interview (the employer was NOT the amusement park; they rented out a pre-show lobby for the occasion.) I guess you could say that I've had a very colorful interview history, LOL.

 

[Disney Ella]

I interviewed for a job once as assistant executive director at a non-profit organization and met with several board members. My background is in public relations and once one of the board members heard that, she went off on a 15 minute speech about how much she hated PR people and how they are evil and don't care about anyone else. Obviously, I didn't get the job, but why even waste my time and call me in for an interview?!

 

[LaurenLC]

Part of my job is to interview people..... I've never had a strange job interview for myself, but I have had several strange interviews being the person doing the interviewing.... My favorite is when people ask me how old I'm 29 years old, but apparently I look young.... Seriously? You really think that is something to ask the person interviewing you.

 

[mpls_mm]

I had come across an ad recently for a position that a management recruiting firm had placed. It sounded great and I sent my resume. I got a call within hours and they wanted to set an appointment right away. I am new to the area but several people told me this firm is the top of the top and they have all of the best placements. I am currently the national director of sales and internet marketing for a firm but I had wanted a Marketing director job at Rockwell and heard they had the placement so I went. The interviewer was ancient and you could tell she didn't understand the internet at all. I explained that I build e commerce sites and shopping carts for large companies and she wondered if it was like selling stuff on Ebay. She had never bought anything online. I mentioned Search Engine Optimization and she had no clue. Finally I just said excel and outlook and she perked up, so you do data entry she said. She then offered me this fantastic opportunity selling office furniture DOOR TO DOOR for less than a fourth of what I make. The best part is that I would get to focus on recently flood ravaged and destroyed offices and neighborhoods, in my own car and on my own gas. I tried to be nice because I still want them to call me but I don't think she got it at all. She probably thinks the internet is a passing fad.

 

[The 4 "Quay"balleros]

One of my first job interviews after I graduated college was with AIG. It was strait forward for the most part- it was an entry level position-- answering phones and dealing with client problems/issues. The last person I interviewed with was something like a general office manager. She asked a number of questions and things were going well. Then she picked up a blue bic pen and told me to sell it to her..........maybe if it was a Waterman or the like I might have gotten the job

 

[hereyago]

Oh another one, but with a better result then my first post on this thread:

I answered a advertisement for a job on careerbuilder.com. Well, the lady called me and we were supposed to interview in person. but when i got there, she had a emergency so she couldn't make it.

She called me when the crisis was over and we interviewed on the phone, never saw each other in person. She hired me sight unseen and I started the next day. I was with that company for several years.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

Oh another one, but with a better result then my first post on this thread:

I answered a advertisement for a job on careerbuilder.com. Well, the lady called me and we were supposed to interview in person. but when i got there, she had a emergency so she couldn't make it.

She called me when the crisis was over and we interviewed on the phone, never saw each other in person. She hired me sight unseen and I started the next day. I was with that company for several years.

My last job--I interviewed with 3 people. The person whom I would be working for directly. Well...my DH worked at the same company and the following week, that man died. Very sad.

I did get the job, but clearly that delayed hiring--but between me and the other new hires, we had a heck of a time going through all of his files so that the program would be compliant in regard to their financials. It was like the blind leading the blind.

 

[Explodo]

My Strangest interview was the one where I first did a phone interview with a single person. No big deal, very good interview, laughed a bunch. Got the call back for a second interview, I was told it was going to be a panel interview. No big deal Says I.

I show up in my best interview suit, the admin shows me into a confrence room that contained about 15 people. NOt only wa sit 15 people, they were all at tables setup in a u shape with one chair (Mine) in the middle. They peppered me with questions for abotu 2 and a half hours, They had researched any papers I had written (3 published) and had me defend them from memory. It wasn't that bad, I can talk about that stuff as long as they want to listen. I was more shocked at how much they all prepped to interview me, I took it as a sign of respect (And a little bit of seeing if I really knew what I was talking about) The last 30 minutes of the interview was spent in front of a whiteboard writing out formula and explaining statistical theory. It was like teaching.

They called back about 2 days later for yet another interview, this time with a Senior Muckity Muck. LAsted about an hour...He talked to me about football, golf, favorite beer, all kinds of stuff.

I got a call on the way home with an offer.

Decidely strange.