9. Apparently, this is a common job requirement…
“Would you be willing to skip class to cover shifts?”
No! I’m taking classes and working to educate myself and to get a job that has advancement opportunities. If I wanted to be that loyal to a gas station, I wouldn’t waste my time with college at all.
10. Smell it
I was once doing an interview for a customer service job that was going great, I could feel I was getting this job. The nuts and bolts part of the interview was over, so my future boss shuffled some papers on his desk and said, “How do you know salami is going bad?”
I was really stuck for an answer, but I had put on my resume that I used to work in a deli, and figured that’s where he got it from. So I said, “Smell it and study it. Even if it smells OK if its going too white it’s no longer a good idea to eat it.”
He burst out laughing and told me he’d keep that in mind. Turns out he was just joking with me, didn’t realize I’d used to work at a deli, and offered me the job a day or two later.
11. Zebra stripes?
I was interviewing for a position at an events company when I was in university. The guy interviewing me was.. on the larger side with very visible scars on his arms and legs from a bypass surgery. His last question was, “If someone who didn’t know me was looking for me at an event, how would you describe me to them?”
It was so awkward.
12. Is that a problem with you?
I applied for a summer camp job in college. I have a physical disability that wouldn’t have been apparent in an interview, but I naively decided to disclose it on my application. About halfway through the interview, they hit me with “So, if you’re in a one-piece bathing suit, is your body going to look, you know, weird?”
In a word, no. I got the offer and turned it down.
13. Full Disclosure
“How is the relationship between your parents and what do they work with?”… “Are you in a relationship? What does your girlfriend do for a living?”
Yeah… I was not interested in working for that company after that.
14. But I’m not entry level…
Had a first and then second interview about a year ago for a general manager position. The second interview ended when I was asked if I ‘would take an entry level sales position if it was offered to me’. Had more than the required previous experience and got accused of not being a team player or someone who is willing to work for progression…
15. You asked my opinion though
I once went to a interview that was not for a specific job but to try and get admitted into a “pool” that candidates would be selected from when the appropriate job was posted. Looking back, it was a pretty big red flag. The interview was rapid-fire and about 15 questions total.
I had to answer 4 differently-worded questions that essentially asked the same thing: “Will you do the work of other people as well as doing the work we hired you to do?”
Not too ridiculous, but what was ridiculous was they asked me that four times.
For a different job I also had to guess what was the most popular social media platform. And when my answer was not Instagram, I got chewed out.
16. Read the paper, that is the real me
“I don’t want to talk about your resume. Tell me about the real you.”
I am here for a job. Let’s talk about the job and we will end up talking about me anyway. Don’t throw that at me right off the bat like I have it written down somewhere.
