Worst interview experiences

[Shotgun]

You see what you've done @mathematics?  You see what you've done to us all.

My only regret is that I tried to get involved in things I have no right to go anywhere near.

[welshbairn]

29 minutes ago, A96 said:

 I can only think they’re hoping for an answer that’ll give them grounds for claiming they’ve been discriminated against in some way. So unless the job is one where being a complete and utter c@nt is seen as  essential or at least advantageous , I’d have thought that merely putting that question to the interviewer would end any chance of the applicant getting the job.

 

Talking of discrimination, I was recently advised not to put my date of birth down on application forms, as I'm getting on a bit.  There's talk about banning selfies on CVs but what do you do if your first name's Ahmed?

[Shotgun]

47 minutes ago, welshbairn said:

Talking of discrimination, I was recently advised not to put my date of birth down on application forms, as I'm getting on a bit.  There's talk about banning selfies on CVs but what do you do if your first name's Ahmed?

It's illegal for employers to ask date of birth here. We don't use CV's but resumés which are much briefer, 1-2 pages max. When I was last on the job hunt, I was told to ignore the first 13 years of my job history (the British bit) and just start with my career in my current industry and even then, skipping over my junior roles. I've been in this game since 1993, so a potential employer will still figure out that I'm no millennial but they won't see how old I am until they meet me face to face.

[welshbairn]

1 minute ago, Shotgun said:

they won't see how old I am until they meet me face to face.

THE HORROR!!!!

[Shotgun]

20 minutes ago, welshbairn said:

THE HORROR!!!!

Tell me about it. I have to look at that ugly b*****d in the mirror every morning.

[GiGi]

4 hours ago, Shotgun said:

It's illegal for employers to ask date of birth here. We don't use CV's but resumés which are much briefer, 1-2 pages max. When I was last on the job hunt, I was told to ignore the first 13 years of my job history (the British bit) and just start with my career in my current industry and even then, skipping over my junior roles. I've been in this game since 1993, so a potential employer will still figure out that I'm no millennial but they won't see how old I am until they meet me face to face.

Is the 1 pager an American thing? Ive been playing about with my CV recently and changed the format to get all the relevant stuff for my area on 1 page rather than the original 2. 

I haven't applied for anything with it yet but I do worry that 1 page might just be binned for looking too short before someone even reads it. It does look a wee bit more professional now. 

[Fullerene]

8 hours ago, oaksoft said:

You can't have 36 combinations. There is only one way to get 1+1, 2+2 etc. If you are ruling out 4+4 you have to rule the others out too.

There are therefore only 30 possible combinations by your logic.

f**k it. Bedtime.

I went for a job interview where I was asked to explain the difference between a combination and a permutation. ☺

Strictly speaking a combination lock should really be called a permutation lock.

Similarly "what's the combination for the safe?" Permutation would be more useful.

[Honest_Man#1]

Was doing an interview a while back and opened with the usual chat through their CV and previous experience etc. At this point they started ranting for a decent amount of time about how bored they were of their current job and how they needed a change (strangely I think he thought that’s what I wanted to hear, rather than the genuine reason of wanting more money). He even described the numerous particular bits that he hated of his current job... which was a mirror image of the job he’d be doing. Obviously hadn’t read the job description at all, so when I explained that everything he described he would still be doing, he tried to furiously backtrack to say he actually didn’t mind all that stuff. Brutal.

Another one turned up and I started talking about the job and again it become clear he hadn’t even looked at the job description. I asked if he’d read it and he said “no my wife applied for this, she does all this stuff for me”. Asked him if I should really be interviewing his wife instead and we finished the interview quite quickly.

[Fullerene]

36 minutes ago, MixuFixit said:

Without looking it up, is it that a combination made up of different sets of things but a permutation is a selection of the same set of things?

1-2-3 is a different permutation to 3-2-1 but the same combination.

[Newbornbairn]

5 minutes ago, oaksoft said:

Don't worry. We'll be back to talking about womens tits and Eastenders soon enough.

Excellent. In your own time...

[Fullerene]

32 minutes ago, oaksoft said:

I think it's to do with the difference between distinguishable and indistinguishable things.

 

.. or maybe the other way round.

[mizfit]

I went for an interview for network rail at 17 in York, interview said dress code was smart casual.

Casual shirt, jeans and shoes were my chosen attire. As with most.

Someone showed up in a GioGoi t-shirt, joggers and trainers. They were asked to leave 20 minutes in as we could all smell weed coming from his direction.

[mathematics]

10 hours ago, Honest_Man#1 said:

Or a 5 and a 3, or a 3 and a 5, or a 4 and a 4. For someone that’s really into mathematics that seems like a basic error.

The trick is not to do the entire question for the student.

[mathematics]

10 hours ago, oaksoft said:

Did they specify 'n' or were they looking to see if you could generalise the Euston result?

They didn’t specify n, from what I can remember (this was in 2001, I think) they were just testing my knowledge, exploring how I’d tackle it, and maybe hoping then I’d mention coding.

[mathematics]

8 hours ago, Shotgun said:

You see what you've done @mathematics?  You see what you've done to us all.

My only regret is that I tried to get involved in things I have no right to go anywhere near.

I had no idea I was holding the match.

[mathematics]

2 hours ago, Fullerene said:

I went for a job interview where I was asked to explain the difference between a combination and a permutation. ☺

Strictly speaking a combination lock should really be called a permutation lock.

Similarly "what's the combination for the safe?" Permutation would be more useful.

That’s lovely stuff. Some really beautiful maths in that topic.

[mathematics]

I’d like to apologise to all, I just wanted to mention a weird interview I once had.

[RussellAnderson]

I went for an interview for network rail at 17 in York, interview said dress code was smart casual.

Casual shirt, jeans and shoes were my chosen attire. As with most.

Someone showed up in a GioGoi t-shirt, joggers and trainers. They were asked to leave 20 minutes in as we could all smell weed coming from his direction.

^^^^


imho

[Hedgecutter]

Went for an interview at a golf 'resort' in Fife as a teenager, which at the time reeked of manure and decomposing hay, with mud all over the roads because it was attached to a working farm.

Got asked by the manager "what would you do if somebody like Rod Stewart came up to you, as that's the kind of person we're looking to attract here".  I just burst out laughing in an unambiguous 'aye right' manner.   Never understood why I never heard back.  

 

Eta:  I also turned up for a PhD interview in bog standard clothing, not quite realising that suit and tie seems to be standard attire even though it's effectively applying to be a student again.  Never got that one, but got another years on having learnt my lesson.  Ties: serious business.

Edited January 15, 2020 by Hedgecutter

[Fullerene]

12 hours ago, mathematics said:

I once had an interview with the National Grid. They sat a monopoly board down in front of me and asked the probability that I’d land on Euston Road on my first roll. They then asked the probability that I’d land on Mayfair after “n” rolls. Brutal.

It's a trap!  If you had been able to answer these questions instantly they would know you spent all your time playing games and be of no use to them at all.