Reply to: Interview Nighmare

[SueEllen]

I was interviewing someone at 10am in London I set off for the airport in Scotland at 5am in a blizzard, got to the airport and must have been 9 inches of snow and struggled to park the car, flight delayed an hour, got to London and made my way from hearthrow to Liverpool Street (travel chaos in London as 1cm of snow) at 9.45am I had coffee in hand waiting for my 10am to turn up.

10.40am he rocks up blaming the 1cm of snow from stopping the trains and he had been waiting at the train station for 1.5hours, I asked if he came far

No from shadwell - a 20min walk away !!!

LOL They don't grit the roads in London so it would have taken him 30 mins to walk.

Lazy fecker.

[LondonManc]

Best interview I every had was for a job I didn't get!
Went for an interview as a Lotus Notes developer, got told that I was too good and they wanted to take me on as a Senior Business Analyst instead, which paid more and has had a less limited future so far.

[tarbera]

I was interviewing someone at 10am in London I set off for the airport in Scotland at 5am in a blizzard, got to the airport and must have been 9 inches of snow and struggled to park the car, flight delayed an hour, got to London and made my way from hearthrow to Liverpool Street (travel chaos in London as 1cm of snow) at 9.45am I had coffee in hand waiting for my 10am to turn up.

10.40am he rocks up blaming the 1cm of snow from stopping the trains and he had been waiting at the train station for 1.5hours, I asked if he came far

No from shadwell - a 20min walk away !!!

[RSoles]

Not so sure about my mental health, mind you.

Neither are we..

actually I've had a couple of shockers too, including a c++ test ( I don't do c++) but I actually got the gigs.

My worst was in my permie days when I'd taken a day off sick to attend an interview at the other end of the SE.
Interview was in a deserted office block in Harlow, empty office, had to turn wastepaper bins over to sit down, it
was clear they had lost interest in the project and wanted to hand it over to some sucker. To cap it all, on the M11 on the way home the traffic in front of me stopped suddenly and in my rear-view mirror I saw this Cortina ( yes that long ago) coming towards me, bonnet-down, diagonally, tyres smoking. Fortunately the traffic ahead moved off and we avoided each other.

[Big Blue Plymouth]

I'm 55 and just in last few weeks had a massive scare, like 'am I gonna die' scare. Seems I'm ok now so nothing is phasing me at the moment, I've binned my contract, and basically spent three weeks in bed to recuperate, and loved it!

First time I've relaxed in years, even on holiday before I could never switch off.

Things have a habit of resolving themselves, and I watched all 14 eps of The Thin Blue line last night and it was great!

Wel yes, as a corollary to all this, I guess having your health is the most important thing.

Not so sure about my mental health, mind you.

[Paddy]

Went for a second interview at Agfa, Brentford (first interview was in Leeds) 2009, did my research, located the site on Google Earth (not sure if maps existed then) drove down in plenty of time, rolled up to building just off M4/A4, parked up in an 'Agfa Visitor' marked parking space, waited and about 5 mins before interview time strolled up to the reception desk, only to be told Agfa have moved to a building on the opposite side of the M4/A4 and I can't park where I am.

Panic mode.

And for some reason I can't remember there was no way to get across other than driving down to next junction and coming back.

So I did that, 4:00pm, massive queues (it's just come to me - Chiswick Roundabout?) eventually got on M4/A4/Westway whatever it was, drove on, missed the junction to turn round on, drove almost to Newbury Junction and managed to turn back, 17 miles later I was back at the roundabout with 1 min left or so (these timings may have been exaggerated over time). Missed the entrance to car park, had enough, just reversed on an A road and got in via the exit somehow and parked up.

Turned up for interview all ruffled with mahoosive sweat patches in every region and didn't get the gig.

Me and buildings.....

I went for an interview with RBS 7 July 2005. The train stopped at Woking and would not go further into London. Rumour of a bomb scare in London was denied by train staff but I phoned RBS and told them. RBS were sceptical about the excuse and said if I can’t make it by 3pm then there is no chance for an interview.

I hope it took them all night to get home!

[northernladuk]

Take a holiday some where warm, should be quite cheap at the moment. I was stuck once, went on holiday, landed a role over the phone from a beach shack. It can be done, you just have to realise, you are as good as the next guy.

Either that or create a sockie account and troll some forum with stories... oh.. hang on.

[stek]

I think you get to a point where failure becomes a self fulfilling prophecy.

It's hard enough picking yourself back up when you're young but I'm 52 now and I reallyu feel I'm on life's scrapheap.

Oh well, at least it's only a short trip up to Clifton.....

I'm 55 and just in last few weeks had a massive scare, like 'am I gonna die' scare. Seems I'm ok now so nothing is phasing me at the moment, I've binned my contract, and basically spent three weeks in bed to recuperate, and loved it!

First time I've relaxed in years, even on holiday before I could never switch off.

Things have a habit of resolving themselves, and I watched all 14 eps of The Thin Blue line last night and it was great!

[alreadypacked]

I think you get to a point where failure becomes a self fulfilling prophecy.

It's hard enough picking yourself back up when you're young but I'm 52 now and I reallyu feel I'm on life's scrapheap.

Oh well, at least it's only a short trip up to Clifton.....

Take a holiday some where warm, should be quite cheap at the moment. I was stuck once, went on holiday, landed a role over the phone from a beach shack. It can be done, you just have to realise, you are as good as the next guy.

[LondonManc]

Paid NLYUK for a bargain happy ending?

Wouldn't need the ground to open up for him to be swallowed then.

[vetran]

Life can be like that.

Sometimes you are in a rut and it just feels like an endless slog.

Throw in some personal issues and a couple of instances of bad luck and anyone would be feeling low, depressed and worthless.

But it's just a phase. It will pass.

indeed

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/This_too_shall_pass

Attar records the fable of a powerful king who asks assembled wise men to create a ring that will make him happy when he is sad. After deliberation the sages hand him a simple ring with the words "This too will pass" etched on it, which has the desired effect to make him happy when he is sad. It also, however, became a curse for whenever he is happy.[1]

[tomtomagain]

Unfortunately it's been an unending sequence of bad luck for months.

I guess all the personal trauma can rub off and put you in a bad place which must affect how you are perceived at work & in interviews.

Yes, I haven't given up on seeing light at the end of the tunnel but it's hard & I'd gladly give you the 10% if I get in on a good role & the budget isn't canned after 1 month or some such nonsense...

Life can be like that.

Sometimes you are in a rut and it just feels like an endless slog.

Throw in some personal issues and a couple of instances of bad luck and anyone would be feeling low, depressed and worthless.

But it's just a phase. It will pass.

[vetran]

God, just wanted the ground to open up and swallow me.

What have you done?

Paid NLYUK for a bargain happy ending?

[SueEllen]

Went for a second interview at Agfa, Brentford (first interview was in Leeds) 2009, did my research, located the site on Google Earth (not sure if maps existed then) drove down in plenty of time, rolled up to building just off M4/A4, parked up in an 'Agfa Visitor' marked parking space, waited and about 5 mins before interview time strolled up to the reception desk, only to be told Agfa have moved to a building on the opposite side of the M4/A4 and I can't park where I am.

Panic mode.

And for some reason I can't remember there was no way to get across other than driving down to next junction and coming back.

So I did that, 4:00pm, massive queues (it's just come to me - Chiswick Roundabout?) eventually got on M4/A4/Westway whatever it was, drove on, missed the junction to turn round on, drove almost to Newbury Junction and managed to turn back, 17 miles later I was back at the roundabout with 1 min left or so (these timings may have been exaggerated over time). Missed the entrance to car park, had enough, just reversed on an A road and got in via the exit somehow and parked up.

Turned up for interview all ruffled with mahoosive sweat patches in every region and didn't get the gig.

Me and buildings.....

Least you found it.

[stek]

Went for a second interview at Agfa, Brentford (first interview was in Leeds) 2009, did my research, located the site on Google Earth (not sure if maps existed then) drove down in plenty of time, rolled up to building just off M4/A4, parked up in an 'Agfa Visitor' marked parking space, waited and about 5 mins before interview time strolled up to the reception desk, only to be told Agfa have moved to a building on the opposite side of the M4/A4 and I can't park where I am.

Panic mode.

And for some reason I can't remember there was no way to get across other than driving down to next junction and coming back.

So I did that, 4:00pm, massive queues (it's just come to me - Chiswick Roundabout?) eventually got on M4/A4/Westway whatever it was, drove on, missed the junction to turn round on, drove almost to Newbury Junction and managed to turn back, 17 miles later I was back at the roundabout with 1 min left or so (these timings may have been exaggerated over time). Missed the entrance to car park, had enough, just reversed on an A road and got in via the exit somehow and parked up.

Turned up for interview all ruffled with mahoosive sweat patches in every region and didn't get the gig.

Me and buildings.....