This was a test wasn't it?

[LadyIrisBarclay]

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

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 - 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

I would love to know if it was a test. I think that if it was then the reasoning behind it was to test out your quick thinking in tricky situations, in a show must go on type scenario.
However this is not a nice scenario, I would not have expected anyone to sit in wet stuff and I doubt that was what they were expecting. Just maybe to find a way around the situation.
FWIW I would have done the same as you OP and I am sorry that you had this to deal with you are not being high maintenance 🙄to have reacted this way.
I hope you find a much better caring company to work for 💐 please don’t let it knock your confidence.

I'm not a mum
I always have tissues in my bag

so what? I'm not being interviewed by asshats who expect me to do that.

Yes, I am lucky I am not on the bones of my arse but hopefully OP wasn't either.

It wasn’t a test. They just thought you were making a fuss about nothing I expect. Incredibly rude of them. You should definitely follow up with them to highlight the issue.

perhaps reflect on what you might have done if the 'meeting' had been with a client organisation, after your team had made a major error and you were there to 'take the flack'.

How might you have handled that situation, as a client or account manager? You will then have learned something really useful from attending that interview and will be really well prepared in the face of any examples of client truculence you face, when you get the role (in an even better organisation).

Actually if we interviewed you at my company and asked you the 'tell me about a time you dealt with a difficult client' and you answered 'I'd do X, Y and Z' we'd immediately say 'well, that sounds great but can you give me a specific example explaining why the customer was unhappy and how you dealt with it'.

And, FWIW, what we do when we have to tell a client there has been a mistake made is to let the affected client(s) know as quickly as possible and then push the discussion from recriminations to how we were going to deal with the issue. If the team can't appease the customer then senior managers will be brought in but that only happens rarely.

Of course this is a test and of course it's not belittling, or designed to be belittling. It's simply designed to whittle down who can cope with something a little unexpected and find a solution and who can't. Unfortunately you showed which you were. But maybe that's a good thing.
I've heard of similar - panel members are on a raised platform. Three chairs are provided on the side of the interviewee. If you have initiative you stack them up so that you can maintain eye contact during the interview rather than be looked down upon.
It's simply about showing initiative.
I can't see why people think this is designed to humiliate anyone.
The business just wants to hire the best people with the best skills for that company and hire people who can think outside the box.

I'll say now I've not read every answer but it's not your dream job if that's how they treat you at interview.

I simply don’t know what to make of this,utterly bizarre

I think that if it was then the reasoning behind it was to test out your quick thinking in tricky situations, in a show must go on type scenario.

Yeah, I’m starting to think it definitely wasn’t a test. If it were, then I’d expect someone to come running after you on your way out and sat ‘OK, that’s that part done, now come back for the real interview! Oh and here’s your actual chair.’

I think it’s more likely that they were all just lazy knobheads who couldn’t be bothered to deal with the problem.

Name and shame the tossers!! Good for you OP!!

I normally have tissues on me, usually enough to mop up a spill too, but with a liquid I couldn't guarantee wasn't someone's bodily fluid the chair would have to stay wet.

There's also an unpleasantly discriminatory element to this, since some candidates will have conditions rendering them unable to stand for long. Not necessarily even candidates who'd consider themselves disabled either. Awkward as it would be for those who would be physically able to be interviewed whilst standing, at least they'd have the option of doing it. Basically treating people worse because they're less physically able.

Lucky escape OP. Imagine working for the fuckers! Nah.

Tissues!!
I have a bag full, but no way would I wipe up possible urine from a chair and then sit on it ~ even in my old kit, never mind in my interview suit.
(In any case a padded chair isn’t going to be dry after dabbing with tissues)

This panel’s behaviour was degrading.

Scotland
I have a back problem so if sat on stacked chairs I would be in great discomfort as I need my feet to be comfortably on the floor. A test like that is potentially discriminatory unless you are hiring someone to be a professional chair stacker.

A damp seat is not such a great test if one of your candidates has a vision problem and doesn't clearly distinguish that the seat is damp.

I work in a fast paced stressful environment and often have to deal with situations I haven't seen before. I have never come across a stupid interviewing technique like this.

I've heard of similar - panel members are on a raised platform. Three chairs are provided on the side of the interviewee. If you have initiative you stack them up so that you can maintain eye contact during the interview rather than be looked down upon.

What a colossal, pathetic waste of time. If you arrive for an interview you’re there to be interviewed, not to fanny about moving the furniture.

Any company that thinks this is a clever way to test people must be run by total wankers who I personally would never want to work for!

Without wanting to sound like a total princess, when I go for an interview I expect to be made to feel welcome as a guest and potential employee of the company. Not to be presented with a damp seat and to have to clean it up or sit awkwardly on a notebook for the duration of the interview. I’ve done plenty of different interviews in my time with all sorts of tests and puzzles to solve, but thankfully none of them have thought to pull anything like this crap.

What utter bollocks.

How awful, OP. I feel really bad for you. Fuck 'em - they weren't worthy of you anyway.

Always remember interviews go two ways. You check them out as well.

I’ve declined more than one further interview and declined more than one job due to feeling that the people interviewing me were symptomatic of a poor company culture, or that I wouldnt be a good fit in their culture

And I always give very polite, but very honest feedback.

Whether it was a test or not, you have dodged a bullet. Either it was a test, in which case, you don’t want to work there or they were all too ‘senior’ to deal with such a thing that’s beneath them , in which case, you don’t want to work there

@Scotland32 - in your view, what should OP have done to pass this test?

re your example with stacking up chairs, I think it's a bizarre example.

I don't have a disability but I had a major injury which left me unable to do things like lift chairs for about 2 years. I looked completely fine walking about, but any lifting in the gym or even carrying a shopping bag a long way was difficult.

that's not the kind of thing you'd declare as a disability, so you'd just sit down, surely? I might mention in the interview that I can't fetch and carry stuff (if that is relevant to the job) but otherwise...?!

plus, most people would think "ooh, wankers, look how they've set this up".

this is reminding me of an interview - sort of - that I had for some contract work. I combine different contracts at the moment. One place I rejected effectively said to me "we used to have a full timer doing this, how will you fit it into the 20 hours?" - 20 hours they advertised!

I told them "if YOU don't think this work can be done in 20 hours each week, are we wasting each other's time?"

the 2 interviewers looked at each other in a disgusted way. I got up and said "Have a lovely day" and left.

I'd bet money they spent weeks moaning about how they couldn't find a good contractor for that work.

Stacking up chairs, eh? Good thing everyone's physically capable of doing that, otherwise it would be totally discriminatory.

If I'd been quick-witted enough, (which is rare), I would have asked one of them to give me their jacket to cover the wet patch.
I've done a fair bit of interviewing as a school governor and the aim has always been to try to make a candidate feel at ease during the first few minutes. It's quite in order to press a candidate if the panel are really keen on them. Wet chair? Absolutely not!

Well, I have an interview coming up next week and shall go armed with tissues and my chair stacking skills all brushed up.

Not.
Not on yer nelly!

I didn't design the tests (and I'm not in recruitment so I don't use them either!), I'm simply saying that they happen!
If anyone experiences them and truly believe they are discriminatory then naturally they should complain.
But unless they are discriminatory then I think we should all just deal with them in the best way we can and try to show what we're made of - if we are ever faced with something like that. Thankfully I won't be as in self employed!

another thought on stacking chairs - I'm short, so my feet would have been dangling like a child's.

whoever thought that one up really is a prize git.

Scotland "But unless they are discriminatory then I think we should all just deal with them in the best way we can and try to show what we're made of - if we are ever faced with something like that."

Yes, I'm made of "treat me badly - fuck off."

this is why I started saving "fuck off" money from when I was 19. I realise not everyone can save that money, but if you can, do. The workplace isn't going to get any better.

I wonder what would have happened if the OP had been using a walking stick or crutch and clearly couldn’t stand? I hope you get an answer OP as to what that was all about!

I once had an interview for an airline in the Middle East to be cabin crew. Or as they called it “an air hostess.” It wasn’t that long ago either! Panel of 4 interviewers, no smiles. One of the first things I was asked was “what are you doing about your pimples?” I had a couple of spots at the time covered up with foundation! I was then asked to walk up and down the room and then step on the scales. I said I needed to go to the loo and walked out never to return. Was offered a job at a very large British airline the following week - no personal comments, no weighing and no walking up and down!

Awful OP. You handled it well. Feel bad for the poor soul who gets the job!