Some background:
I’m an 18-year-old going to college in the fall. Although I’ve never worked an actual job, I’ve held various paid internship positions. Some of them being college internships that I managed to worm my way into. I’ve probably had more than twenty interview experiences so far, everything from college admissions and internships to scholarships. This was going to be my first job and I was looking into something related to my desired field (also great for graduate school applications). The job I applied to required a high school diploma and no prior experience. I went ahead and applied. Since my university is nearby, I would be able to work at this place for a while.
The phone call (aka surprise interview):
I received a voice mail about how I’m low on the list of applicants because I put down that I planned to work for less than a year on my application. The director who called me told me to call him back and that the conversation would take <5 minutes. I called back as soon as I saw the voicemail. I basically clarified that if my work location was nearby, I’d be able to work over the 7 days of the week. I also stated that I’m flexible in my time and I could work any day of the week after 5 pm. At this point, it had been a couple of minutes and I thought he just wanted to clarify a few things about my file. Nope.
This is where it got weird. He asked me what I knew about the company and the position I was applying for. I basically summed up what the job was and how the company assisted other facilities. Then he asked what prior experience would assist me in this. I said all I could say. In all honesty, my prior experience was mostly unrelated (I changed the career path I wanted to pursue) but compensated better than this position. Then he asked how I heard about the company and job. So I was honest, I told him about how my friend inspired me and how I learned about it. Then I talked about the company’s goals in relation to mine. And I described my pursuits for the company and how I could apply this experience to my future in the industry. I mean, it’s an entry level position.
This is the point when it just went downhill really fast. He said that he has over 500 applicants and that even the top applicants don’t get picked. He also mocked my responses by reducing it down to “you can’t just tell me you want to work here because we gave your friend a job so ‘give me one too’.” I was SHOOK, for lack of better words. He told me “I shouldn’t have to be struggling to pull decent answers out of you.” At this point, my anxiety and depression kicked in and I just started sobbing. It had been well over 15 minutes and I thought I gave excellent answers on the spot. He asked me to call him back and I hung up.
I don’t even want to work for this company anymore. I felt absolutely humiliated. I have never in my life dealt with an interview that horrible. I don’t even know…
I 'm sorry. Don’t call him back. Everyone has had a bad interview. Two things - you don’t need to say that you are planning to work for less than a year. Second, I 'm not sure why you pointed out that your other jobs paid better.
@CheddarcheeseMN I didn’t point that out to the interviewer, I’m just pointing out that I’ve been paid better in the past. He knew that my prior experience required more technical skills than the position I was applying for.
Your interviewer sounds very unprofessional and possibly inexperienced to me. If you blow an interview, I end it; I do not insult or denigrate you. It’s on him, not you. Better luck in the future.
I don’t think that you did anything wrong with this interview. I think that this is a job that you don’t want, and that you should be glad that it isn’t going to work out. For one thing, you don’t want to work for this guy.
Years ago I had at least two similarly unpleasant job interviews. At the time it was quite disconcerting. Looking back at it years later, the interviews did what I should have wanted them to do – get me out of this place before I waste any more time here!
By the way, there is a lesson here: Not all employers are good ones to work for, not all bosses deserve to be bosses, not all adults behave like adults. Sometimes in some situations walking away with your head held high is the right thing to do.
Also, are you going to be a full time college student?
Maybe wait and find a job once you start college and see what your schedule and academic workload is like, and how much time you really have available to work.
An on campus job might be better because they might be more flexible with your hours during finals and such.
@mommdc I will be! I just wanted this job to get some experience in the industry that I aspire to work in. I already have my schedule, but I guess I haven’t considered my workload.
Sometimes it is not all about you, sometimes it is the other person. Just because he was the interviewer didn’t make him a more mature or knowledgeable person. If I were his boss or an HR person at his company, I would have sent him to get an interview training. I always told the interviewers to not make applicants feel bad even when they know the applicants are not good fit. The reason being we want those applicants to still say nice things about the company even after they were rejected. Just go check out glassdoor, when applicants bad mouth a company it is much harder to recruit.
OP - from what you posted, you didn’t do anything wrong. You are an 18 year old and I am sure the interviewer was older, he should have known better.
This is also on the company in my opinion - if they have 500 applicants, you have to narrow it down to those you would potentially be interested in before calling. It didn’t seem like they really expected this to work out, and in that case, why did they even call?
I would consider paid internship jobs, though not full-time jobs. Does that imply that this position was a 40 hour a week or so job? If so, I think this is a blessing in disguise beyond dodging this boss/company. Focus on college. You’re only 18 and already have experience at multiple internships. At this point, you’ll gain more from classes in your field (for most industries) than trying to focus on a job in an industry while doing school “on the side”. In summer you can do an internship in the field you switched to, and you’ll already be ahead if most of your peers.
There’s going to be plenty more opportunities to come along, and many will be better than this one likely if you’re going into with a degree as well.
“OP - from what you posted, you didn’t do anything wrong.”
Absolutely right.
There is one thing that occurred to me that I had left out of my earlier post on this thread: It is perfectly normal to feel bad after this sort of experience. When a person goes into a job interview a person goes in with hope that something good will come of it. To get nothing other than disappointment and insults from an adult in a position of authority will be depressing for pretty much anyone, and especially for an 18 year old. It is okay to feel bad about this for a day or two.
However, as all the responses on this thread have pointed out you should hold your head high and know that you did nothing wrong. A song says “you got to know when to walk away”. This is a time to walk away. There will be better opportunities in the future.
You are just 18, and do probably need to practice your interview skills. If he thought he was pulling answers from you, maybe you weren’t tuned into what he was really asking for. Also, odds are you will have lots of interviews in your life for jobs you don’t get; it isn’t unusual.
And the interviewer said up front that your ability to work less than a year was an issue; telling him you could work a lot during that year doesn’t really address his concern. It isn’t efficient for companies to train someone who is just going to leave. And talking about your grad school goals might have made him feel like they were just a stepping stone for you.
When you get to college, take advantage of the career office to help you prepare for interviews. Usually they will do mock interviews with you and help you develop those skills. It can help you develop confidence for future interviews.
@intparent
The whole situation was unexpected; I didn’t anticipate the spontaneous interview. I was admittedly unprepared. One thing that doesn’t make sense at all is that he didn’t formally tell me that I’d have a telephone interview AND usually interviewers ask for a convenient time?
I just couldn’t wrap my head around him acting like I just wanted a job. If I just wanted a job, I’d just go for any old retail position. They both pay the same, anyway. This position was healthcare related.
I’ve worked 40-hour a week internships in the past. Not exactly a job, but I was still paid to do work. This position was part-time too and most employees are pre-health students. I think I’ve recovered from the embarrassment. I have an interview elsewhere next week.
Most people consider internships to be jobs, hence my confusion there. Being paid to do work is pretty much the no frills definition of a job. Most would say you’ve had jobs before.
This will be a great story to laugh about someday - the surprise phone interviewer that was taking time to mock a candidate when he had 500 applications to go through
As someone who has done a lot of hiring over the years, I can’t tell you enough how much it is often NOT about a candidate specifically. The company may be looking for a skill set that is more weighted to something you don’t have, a personality that will mesh with a difficult person in the department, etc. You can present yourself perfectly but you cannot make yourself what you are not, especially when it’s something the company can’t completely articulate. It is match-making at some level.
So get the practice presenting yourself well. Be prepared for every interview - show that you have done your homework. Follow up afterwards. But then, just shake it off if it doesn’t happen.
Reddit has some funny threads about this very thing-it is amazing how bad some interviews can be. If anything, reading over there will make you feel better about your experience. Don’t take it personally; there are a lot of crazy people out there in charge of hiring.
Look at it like dodging a bullet-the WORST company I ever worked for (advertising firm) was crazy from the get-go. There were days when they’d scream and throw shoes at each other (it was an all woman company) and I’d sit at my desk going, they think this is ok???
And I should have known right at the interview when the boss went on and on for 20 minutes about how her dogs were always in her bedroom with her and her husband. “Always”. Ew ew ew! I should have run then-but I was very young (24) and trying to be polite.
