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AIBU?

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Original poster

This was a test wasn't it?

542 replies

LadyIrisBarclay · 21/02/2018 20:55

And I obviously failed?

Had an interview for a job today. Really, really wanted it as it's my dream role and I so desperately need to get away from current organisation and arse of a boss

It was interview panel of 3 which I had kind of expected but I know my nerves got the better of me.

Anyway, I walked into the boardroom and the 3 interviewers were sat on opposite side of boardroom table. It was quite formal and I was trying not to hyperventilate Grin

On my side of the table there was just one chair plus a notepad and pencil and carafe and glass of water. So this was obviously where I was supposed to sit.

I walked in and we all shook hands and then the lady (possibly a PA?) invited me to take a seat - but here's where it all went tit's up!

My chair had a very large and noticeable wet patch on it. I have no idea what it was, possibly water or a spilt cup of tea? I touched it with my fingers and it was very damp.

So I pointed it out to the panel in a casual way, didn't want to make a fuss but just said 'oh dear, something has been spilt on this chair and it's still very damp'. I was assuming someone would offer to go and get another for me as there were no other chairs in the room other than the three they were sitting on.

But no-one offered so I asked whether a replacement could be found. I was told that none were available and the Manager then just asked whether I was ready to get started with the interview??????

I said that yes I was but I couldn't sit in the chair provided, I was really trying to keep it light and breezy, the manager just said that no other chairs were available. This is the UK HQ of a large global organisation in a state of the art building covering 5 floors. Of course there were other fucking chairs available??

I could feel tears building up at this point as there was no way I was going to humiliate myself by having a wet patch on my skirt after the interview.

So I walked out Sad - I can't remember now what I said but managed to keep it fairly polite still.

What the actual fuck was I supposed to do? Was this a test?

I have read about organisations such as Apple and Google asking really wanky questions at interviews that I just think is a pile of shite. This was a large organisation in the Financial Services sector though.

It did occur to me afterwards that maybe it was a test and I was supposed to show my initiative by using the notepad they'd provided to cover up the wet patch?

I can't be doing with such arsery though - so very fucking upset this evening Sad

OP posts:
MichaelBendfaster · 22/02/2018 13:25

Definitely get in first and write them a polite email saying you were very much looking forward to the interview but you're sure they understand why you couldn't continue at that time.

Surely they'll either confess to it being a test, or apologise profusely for acting like idiots at the time.

Posters saying the OP ought to have stood up/scoffing at her for crying when she wasn't/saying you'd have sat in a wet chair need to give your heads a wobble.

5foot5 · 22/02/2018 13:31

Actually I think Pengwynns email is tremendous. I particularly like:

"...if the chair and the attitude I was offered today are anything to go by, your organisation isn't the right fit for me, particularly as chairs and manners appear to be at critically low levels."

I would be seriously tempted to send that

GnotherGnu · 22/02/2018 13:39

If it was a test, I suppose the answer they wanted was something along the lines of "Oh, I'm sure there must be other chairs, shall I go and ask the receptionist?". But it's still pretty stupid, because it's expecting the candidate effectively to tell the panel that they're lying or just thick if they don't realise that other chairs must be available.

Original poster
LadyIrisBarclay · 22/02/2018 13:40

Why couldn't you have done it standing up?

There are a number of things I can think of where standing up would be a beneficial experience Wink

Interviewing for a job is not one of them.

OP posts:
frieda909 · 22/02/2018 13:48

OP please do email them. Whether or not it was a test, they shouldn’t be able to get away with that!

Original poster
LadyIrisBarclay · 22/02/2018 13:54

Frieda909 - I will x

I thought that I would have heard something from them today, some form of follow up but there has been no acknowledgment from them at all so I'll be emailing them later with my own feedback.

I'm not aiming to gain anything from it, would not be interested in another interview for example but I have to say something.

OP posts:
ememem84 · 22/02/2018 13:54

I think it was to test to see how long they’d wait. How eager they were for the job. See how they’d perform under pressure. I was told to make someone wait 30 minutes once because they’d said they had to be back by a certain time. Stress them.
It was awful.

C8H10N4O2 · 22/02/2018 13:56

They were testing your problem solving skills

except they were not, whatever they thought they were doing. Standing up for an interview is more a measure of how much you are willing to be walked over than a measure of problem solving skills.

The idea of artificially stressing candidates by making them wait or doing other stupid things has been discredited as a technique for at least 20 yrs

Originalfoogirl · 22/02/2018 13:59

then the lady (possibly a PA?)

Because?

Also, possibly a Regional Director, Associate Director, Departmental Head, especially as she was the one who welcomed you to the room.

But of course, far more likely to be a PA - given the lack of a penis and all that.

It sounds like you made a huge fuss over a wet chair. And being "close to tears" I think they probably saw all they needed to.

Original poster
LadyIrisBarclay · 22/02/2018 14:02

OriginalFoolGirl - read the bloody thread.

That has been answered to death

OP posts:
Storminateapot · 22/02/2018 14:02

Very odd behaviour, If they want to recruit people who don't mind being treated like dirt then they aren't worthy employers anyway.

Aside from anything else, they have made the massive assumption that you are 'nobody'. They are a business who need a client base, they don't know who you are connected to or know socially. Your partner/relative/best mate could be CEO of a potential new major client for all they know and they've just made themselves look like arrogant twats.

Very risky behaviour to treat people like that imo.

If it helps I used to work for a major financial services organisation in a client manager role for a few years and I could well imagine this might be the kind of fuckwittery they'd employ in interview situations. I have never, ever been so unhappy in my life as I was when I worked for that arrogant bunch of bullying arseholes. You probably dodged a bullet there.

rumbelina · 22/02/2018 14:04

Ugh I once had an interview where they asked 'If you were a drink what sort of drink would you be?'

It was a fucking student placement admin job in a hospital. It didn't even pay money! Wankers.

I hope you get to the 'bottom' of it OP. I'm massively intrigued as to whether it was a test or not. Either way they're dickheads.

frasier · 22/02/2018 14:11

"I was told to make someone wait 30 minutes once because they’d said they had to be back by a certain time. Stress them. "

That's abusive. Whoever said that is a tosser. I would have told the candidate.

Worst I had was a line manager trying to change emails to make it sound like we (as a company) weren't really interested in services "so we get offered a better deal". I don't play games and refused to do it, suggesting instead that he take half and I take half and we see what happens. I got all the deals of course, no one replied to his wanky "we don't need you" crap.

I was a contractor at that place and never took the fulltime position because of that one guy who went on to lose the biggest contract the firm had because he went out clubbing, slept in and missed a plane lol!
Some people only play at being grown ups...

NotCitrus · 22/02/2018 14:12

I'd assume cock-up and being flustered rather than a test, perhaps if a memo has recently been sent to all staff telling them they must not move chairs from one room to another.

Either that or the previous interviewee was the candidate one of the panel really wanted, so tipped water on the seat to put off the next one. In which case if the person gets and starts the job, the other two interviewers will always be wondering if that person pissed on the chair or not!

corrianderisthedevil · 22/02/2018 14:15

Have you heard anything back OP? A courtesy call might've been nice from them. What a strange situation

Originalfoogirl · 22/02/2018 14:17

OriginalFoolGirl - read the bloody thread. That has been answered to death
(Ironic I'm being told to read by someone who patently can't)

I did read the thread. Clearly you didn't answer it as well as you think you did.

mollied · 22/02/2018 14:17

Well done for walking out I'm not sure I would have had the guts to just leave but definitely the right option what twats.

HobnobBob · 22/02/2018 14:19

The ONLY reason why I assumed the only other female present was a PA was because I am pretty sure that this was how she was introduced to me.

I wear a digital hearing aid which massively helps but I do have to concentrate furiously on conversations with other people and I have to watch their faces closely. It's harder to concentrate when there is more than one person talking to me.

In all probability, she was introduced very clearly as the PA but I often don't 100% trust my own hearing. I know exactly who the other two panelists were but there was a question mark (for me) with regards to her role.

What part of this doesn't answer it?

SheenaWasAPunkRocker · 22/02/2018 14:25

If this was a test then it was a really shit one. If they thought it would show them how you deal with difficult situations professionally then that's bullshit. In an interview you are representing yourself; in your job you are also representing your company. So how you respond when personally offered a wet chair does in no way indicate how you would deal with difficult clients when acting on behalf of your company. Idiots.

I have one former colleague who would set people ridiculous and cryptic 'tests' during interview. He was a massive bellend so clearly compensating for his own shortcoming by trying to highlight others'.

I am impressed you walked out though. I would probably have spluttered and stammered and not known what to do.

StormTreader · 22/02/2018 14:25

"I did read the thread. Clearly you didn't answer it as well as you think you did."

"The ONLY reason why I assumed the only other female present was a PA was because I am pretty sure that this was how she was introduced to me."

There, sorted.

Trendy1 · 22/02/2018 14:29

I still don't understand why some posters are aggressive to the point of rudeness when they haven't read the thread. I simply don't understand why they bother to get all steamed up when the haven't got the facts.

gingergenius · 22/02/2018 14:34

Really hope you message them to give them some feedback. Really important!

frieda909 · 22/02/2018 14:37

OriginalfooGirl if you genuinely read the whole thread and didn’t spot the five or six times (at least!) that the OP and other posters have patiently answered the ‘why did you think she was a PA?’ question then there’s no helping you.

Afternoon · 22/02/2018 14:40

How strange and rude of them. Maybe they already had a preferred internal candidate lined up but were legally obliged to advertise and interview, and wanted to put everyone else off?

JimboDoesTheLimboInHawaii · 22/02/2018 14:42

I've had some stupid interview questions ("Are you fun?" - wondered for a split second if I was being propositioned) which put me off working in places, but nothing like what some pp have been put through. What crap ways to try to get to know people. Unethical too. Recently I've been involved in some uni research projects and there is no way an ethics committee would approve of this behaviour nowadays.

I can't say with 100% confidence what I'd've done in OPs shoes. I fucking hope I wouldn't have caved in and sat down; I'd've felt terrible afterwards. Maybe I'd've stayed standing and done the interview, but after they'd treated me like that I wouldn't take the job. Tossers.

Pretty much every job interview I've been for they've been running late, so now I just expect it. As a way to make candidates sweat, it's pretty rubbish - just makes the company look disorganised. I am organised, so I don't respect it.

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