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AIBU?

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Original poster

Taking an object to an interview

269 replies

Stickseas0n · 05/10/2024 09:21

Okay, where do I start
I've just had a job interview confirmed and they've asked me to bring an object that best reflects my personality 😂
Never heard of this before
What does one bring? 🤔
Not strictly an AIBU but can I have some ideas please!

OP posts:
user98786 · 05/10/2024 11:43

Are they men? Bring a nut cracker

MiniPumpkin · 05/10/2024 11:42

I’d be hitting the withdraw button I’m afraid

BashfulClam · 05/10/2024 11:39

Umbrella because I’ve weathered many storms and am usually happy to be a team player and let someone share my shelter. I’m good at this bollox lol

Nanny0gg · 05/10/2024 11:39

Stickseas0n · 05/10/2024 09:25

It's only a seasonal position
In a retail shop is all I'll say incase they find my thread 😬😂

That's absolutely bloody bonkers!

So glad I'm retired!

Pandagirl10 · 05/10/2024 11:37

My daughter had to do this for a retail interview. It was in a fun youthful kind of shop and she took a bouncy yellow ball with a smiley face on - indicating she was bouncy and energetic and always had a smile on her face! (She got the job!)

Ophy83 · 05/10/2024 11:37

YorkshirePuddingsGreatestFan · 05/10/2024 09:31

Vibrator

Shows you're hard working, always buzzing about and keen to get stuck in.

I was thinking the same, to signify you get the job done.

Tiredofthewhirring · 05/10/2024 11:36

Absolutely do not work for these batshit crazy ppl

Chateauneufdu · 05/10/2024 11:35

I'd take a grey rock

notprincehamlet · 05/10/2024 11:33

Copy of Machiavelli's The Prince

NoBinturongsHereMate · 05/10/2024 11:30

My collection of books on the Colditz PoW camp.

I'm resilient, adaptable, a creative thinker, not constrained by traditional gender roles, and have strategies for dealing with extended periods of repetitive tedium and micromanaging guards bosses. And the moment I'm in the door I'll be looking for a way out.

PeggyMitchellsCameo · 05/10/2024 11:29

YorkshirePuddingsGreatestFan · 05/10/2024 09:31

Vibrator

Shows you're hard working, always buzzing about and keen to get stuck in.

I was waiting for the dildo. Genius.
Was thinking of Last Tango In Halifax when the female copper went into see Gillian in the supermarket and set one off buzzing.

Demonhunter · 05/10/2024 11:29

Andoutcomethewolves · 05/10/2024 11:27

I had the pen question too, with a biro. I suggested it could be used in an emergency tracheotamy and demonstrated by taking the ink bit out - think I knew this from Casualty. This was not an interview for a medical job. I prefer your friend's answer tbh

Show quote history

That was an ingenious answer! I hope they gave you the job after that!

DaxieTaxi · 05/10/2024 11:28

A spade. For the amount of bullshit you’ll have to shovel while you’re there.

Catsmere · 05/10/2024 11:27

If I could find a sign that said "I despise corporate wankers" I'd take that, because I wouldn't want the job.

BeetlejuiceBeetlejuiceBeetlejuice · 05/10/2024 11:27

Stickseas0n · 05/10/2024 09:25

It's only a seasonal position
In a retail shop is all I'll say incase they find my thread 😬😂

Sounds like the crap Lush would pull.

Andoutcomethewolves · 05/10/2024 11:27

Demonhunter · 05/10/2024 10:56

An old friend of mine, in an interview, handed her a pen and told her to sell it to them. They were trying to give subtle hints about the pen lid having holes and she panicked and said "if a child accidentally swallowed it, they could whistle for help" 🤣🤣🤣 she was mortified.

That's lived rent free in my head for over 20 years.

Show quote history

I had the pen question too, with a biro. I suggested it could be used in an emergency tracheotamy and demonstrated by taking the ink bit out - think I knew this from Casualty. This was not an interview for a medical job. I prefer your friend's answer tbh

Giggorata · 05/10/2024 11:26

So the majority of people want to stick with the usual Q and A interview format?

As a frequent interviewer, I found this often led to the same old tired jargon filled answers, and worked hard to frame questions that allowed for more individual input.
Often our interviews included presentations or written assignments, seen and unseen.
When I was managing the young people's interview panels, we sometimes asked candidates to role play situations they might encounter in the job, for example breaking the news to a child that their parents had cancelled contact.
It told us so much more than candidates telling us their qualifications and theorising about what they would do.

But this kind of interview question (which boils down to a seen presentation) offers a view into the candidate's personality and outlook that tells you so much, including how they will fit into a team and how they will respond to the unexpected.
I grant you it may seem excessive for a seasonal job.

🤣 about the pulse and opposable thumbs comment!

Loub1987 · 05/10/2024 11:25

A diary, you’re organised, social and always like to plan ahead.

SpunkyKoala · 05/10/2024 11:25

Blow me all that effort for a seasonal job - when I recruited seasonal workers all we cared about was a pulse and opposable thumbs

nOasistickets · 05/10/2024 11:24

I will bring a cake beater - explain it’s a workhorse when it comes to baking and it’s quite possibly the most important and most used thing in baking - without it - impossible. 😂

evertoni · 05/10/2024 11:21

Take a book.

For me, off the top of my head, I'd go either with Derek Parfit's On What Matters (Volume 2), or with an old favourite, Ludwig Wittgenstein's Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus (German/English facing pages edition).

Either way, I'd be interested in their reaction.

Everyone will have their own choice. But, anyway, taking a book your interviewer may not have read, while you have, will allow you to take charge and talk about what you want, rather than allowing yourself to be led to places you may not want to go.

HappyMummaOfOne · 05/10/2024 11:21

Glitter… because you have a sparkling personality and as everyone knows a little bit of sparkle can make everyone feel better 🙄 or some crap like that 😂

PinkSparklyPussyCat · 05/10/2024 11:21

betterangels · 05/10/2024 10:02

Is this a thing now? Makes me dread looking for a permanent position after freelancing.

I'm in the grain of sand camp.

I've just been made redundant and I'm dreading looking for a new job if this is the kind of bullshit that goes on!

roses2 · 05/10/2024 11:21

Ask chatgpt for inspiration:

quirky personalities: rubber chicken; novelty pen
serious: notepad; text book

IMustDoMoreExercise · 05/10/2024 11:21

Unless you really need the job, I wouldn't go for the interview. It would put me right off the company.