Reply to: interviews

[BolshieBastard]

I can list 4, including 1 I actually got the job!

2 were with yorkshire electricity. First one I was interviewed by 2 very young permies. o-oh, I thought when I saw them.

Anyway, the guy opens the interview, thanks me for turning up and says 'Why do you want to work for YE?' Excuse me? I asked? So he repeats, why doy ou want to work for YE?

I said is there some mistake? Why? he asks. Because that's a question I'd expect to be asked for a permie role and I understand this role is for a contract. Yes, that's right, he says. I lost interest at that point.

2nd one at YE, I was due to be interviewed for a bog standard testing role, SQL not required etc. Turns up to the interview to be met by 2 guys, the team leader was 'busy' and couldnt attend. They just told me about the job and didnt ask me any questions! I had to ask them about the role, what it entailed etc, etc. Couldnt believe it, job in the bag, interview piss easy and £1500 a week.

Gets the job turns up first day and the team leader is 'busy' again. No where to be seen for 3 days! When she eventually turns up, I can undertsand why she was never available. She couldnt organise a piss up in a brewery and just wanted me to read, read, and read. After 2 weeks of this I'd had enough and told her I wanted to do some work.

She then went on to criticise my SQL skills so I pointed out the job spec she'd presumably written didnt state any! She then started to make a bad name for myself. So she's a right **** arent you nina carroll?

Once had an interview with BT at Gateshead. Was told in the interview I'd got the job could I start monday? Yep no probs so organised accommodation etc. Turns out BT changed their mind on Friday but didnt tell me until I arrived on site Monday morning.

Another interview at logica, again told I had the job, start Monday, you'll be sat here etc. Da before due to start agent phones and says they changed their mind. Obviously spoken to that stupid woman again.

[zara_backdog]

Bloke who was conducting the interview took a phone call (from an agent ) and offered their candidate the job. When I asked how many roles they were recruiting for he said "just the one" but he did not have time to cancel mine

Oh well - was before I started to contracting

[BrowneIssue]

what is the worst interview that you have had.

I'm sure I've answered this before.

Did you want:

a) the South London Housing Association that had each of us do a presentation on how to run a particular project and at the end of the presentation said "You can go now. We're not recruiting. We just wanted the free consultancy."

b) the bloke who called me to an interview just to prove my CV was a pack of lies because I'm a contractor. I offered him a referee for every entry but he didn't need to check them as I was "clearly a liar, nobody could have done what you claim to have done". (I think my CV is not that impressive.) If I recall correctly, I invoiced them for that one.

c) travelled to Edinburgh (from either North Wales or Leeds, I forget) for an interview as an undersea civil engineering manager (ask Diver to list the qualifications needed for that 'cos I wouldn't know), sold to me as an IT project manager role. "Same thing innit? Does that mean you don't want it?" That interview clashed with my wife's birthday.

I'm sure there have been others, but I try to blank them out.

[tim123]

Correct answer is:

My CICS experience is limited compared to my COBOL experience. As you can see from my CV, I don't think this will be a limiting factor in me providing the services you are looking for.

I tried that once, the interviewer just re-iterated that he was only interested in knowing my experience in the exact thing that he was asking about.

Fortunately, it was phone interview.

(I found out later that he was just fishing for people with that experience, so that he could tender for a contract that required it. His company knew sod all about the thing in question and were looking to buy the knowledge. They didn't get the contract)

tim

[pmeswani]

In light a recent events (for myself) what is the worst interview that you have had.

In my case the interviewer couldn't be bothered asking any leading questions and just got me to "tell him about my cv", leaving me no clue to what they were looking for....

One interview I had recently involved me confirming that I did not require DV clearance for the role (prior to the interview), during the interview I was told that DV clearance was a pre-req. They tried to persuade me to consider the role, ended up telling them that I would think about it, and told the agency that I was going to withdraw my application.

Another role with a company in MK. Should have asked the obvious question to the Agency about DV clearance before the interview.... anyway... the interview went well... got offered the role, but the pre-req was that I had to go through DV clearance. A clear D'oh moment... ended up having a debate with the agency and persuaded them to accept that I wasn't going to take the role.

[shoes]

I had a couple of interviews for my placement year 'in industry' when at uni. One was at xerox. The middle management type started out by drawing some diagrams on a whiteboard describing some architecture or other. He was so dull in his delivery I had a real problem paying any attention at all, I was really trying to look interested but probably not managing it. During this a woman, probably some sort of underling maybe a secretary or reception person came into the room without knocking. The dull man went ballistic at this woman and I can still recall the look of utter fear on the poor womans face. It seemed to me that he had been bullying her for years, she left apologising and visibly shaking.
I decided then I didn't want it, listened politely to the rest of his droning and left as soon as I could.

'Is there anything you'd like to ask me?'

'No.'



Another was at bt. I was met at reception and went up in a lift with the middle management goon. The lift was all glass and he pointed out a couple of trees they had in the lobby to me, telling me very proudly that they cost 10k. Again I tried to look impressed/interested but probably didn't pull it off. He was visibly disappointed at my lack of enthusiasm for the trees. He spent most of the subsequent interview telling me how hard a job it was for him to have to choose a student for placement out of 20 applicants, and that he didn't think it was his job.



In the end I felt sorry for these people, they were clearly unhappy. I promised myself then never to work as an employee in a large company in case I ended up like them.

I've avoided it so far.

[Sysman]

First interview for a "proper job" after university. The interviewer talked for about 45 minutes about the company and job, but wouldn't let me get a word in edgeways, and I didn't get a chance to sell myself.

I couldn't work out why I'd bothered...

[JoJoGabor]

(Again a permie interview years ago) THey wanted me to come in and deploy a client management software called LANdesk which I'd done a fair bit of before. Interview was with 3 different people including the IT Director. All went very well, impressed all 3 people but asked them what my role would be after I had done the deployment.

They had no answer for this and then phones me direct to apologise for not thinking it through properly, it was only my foresight that made them realise there was no permanent job. Managed to persuade them to take me on a contract basis! result! So good and bad really!

[norrahe]

should point out my second interview with the same person comprised of "tell me about your CV" again!

[PM-Junkie]

Slightly different, but I interviewed a guy a couple of years back....making small talk from reception to the meeting room discussing journeys and weather etc, he called me an idiot for taking the route into work that I did.

Needless to say I turned down the chance to use his services.

[foritisme]

I went for an interview a few years back (permie role - yes I know it was my own fault) and had a real good interview for about one hour with this guy. He showed me around all the new premises the company was moving into and introduced me to a few 'key' people. I though the job is in the bag. he then dropped a bombshell - "right, I'll now introduce you to the client". This was the bloody agent, though to be fair he came across as a decent guy.

The actual guy interviewing for the role hadn't read my CV, wasn't really sure what he was after - was in and out in 5 minutes. The agent was fuming when I told him. Least it taught me a valuable lesson - don't go permie !

[swamp]

French bank who found I was an "independent contractor" during the interview.

Long story, but I got the interview on the back of a friend who works at a consultancy who pimp people out like a bodyshop/agency. All went well at first, but when they found I was a proper contractor they seemed to want to tear my technical record apart and somehow rubbish me. I endured an hour of "why this?", "why did you do that?" on minutiae of projects listed on my CV.

Lesson is always be clear upfront on the mandate of the role. I should have had the balls to say "do you have any issues with me being an independent contractor?"

[s2budd]

interviews - Shortest

Many years ago....

After waiting for 1.5 hours while the interviewer drives into work because he did not know he was conducting an interview at C&W, Swindon.

Interviwer: Hello
Me: Hello
Interviwer: Do you have SC clearance
Me: No
Interviwer: Ok, we need people who are security cleared
Me: OK, I did ask the agent at the agency and he said that it was not required.
Interviwer: They are wrong I'm afraid. I'll show you out.
Me: Ok, I'll get my coat.

[DaveB]

Had one last year. First interview with the guy I;d have been working for went great. Ended up running 30 mins over time cos we were just talking crap for the last half hour.

2nd Interview was with the MD. Was decribed as "He's very hands on so you'll need to meet him just so he knows who you are and can give the go ahead."

Guy turned up 20 mins late for the interview blathering into his mobile. Was dressed in a striped brown and yellow suit, dyed spikey blond hair and a fake tan. Spent 20 minutes going on about how wonderfull he was and how lucky I was to be working for him.

I phoned the pimp on my way out and told him I didn't want the job. Had a call from the line manager later wondering why I had turned it down and I told him. His reply was "*sigh* Yeah, we get a lot of that."

[dang65]

I was flown out to Stuttgart for an interview once, at the client's expense. Sat down, got out my CV and a few examples of my web development work and code, took the interviewer through it all, explaining it as I went along. After about ten minutes I could see that he was looking a bit worried. Not what I was expecting at all after what the agent had told me about the job [uh oh]. I should have been ideal for the role.

"So, uh, how many servers have you built?" he asked.

"Eh?"

The job had nothing at all to do with web developing.

I imagine that sort of thing has happened to most contractors at some point, but going all the way to Germany to find out was a bit of a blow. Lesson learned and all that.