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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:
Theshipsong · 21/02/2018 23:49

Well done on walking out OP. I'd contact the HR Dept and tell them why you walked out though.

I remember doing an interview once where one interviewer sat in front of me at one side of a boardroom table. Directly opposite it was the chair where I was to sit and directly behind me was another interviewer. It was like we were on a bus or similar. They both asked questions but to answer the person behind me I had to fully turn around. Such fuckwittery.

SelfLoathing · 21/02/2018 23:49

Reanimated

Does the job involve dealing with people who are likely to be obnoxious, self-important... or incontinent?

Aparently it does judging by the interview panel and the chair!

TwentySmackeroos · 21/02/2018 23:49

I think I would email —or indeed probably telephone— to say that you were unprepared to sit on a wet chair and when can you expect the interview to be re-scheduled.

Telephone puts you on the front foot, and expects an immediate response: if you are given a date/time, accept (and then decide if you want to go or not); if declined, you can say ‘this seems very unfair - you invited me for interview so I do expect to be interviewed in a proper setting. On what grounds can you be ruling me out?’

Email you are more likely to get a fudgy answer.

SelfLoathing · 21/02/2018 23:51

Ooh yes - I like TwentySmackeroos idea.

HughLauriesStubble · 21/02/2018 23:53

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Chocwocdoodah · 21/02/2018 23:53

If I were you, I’d be feeling very proud of myself. Not many would have the balls to do what you did.

SimonBridges · 21/02/2018 23:54

Am I alone in waiting for you to come back and say you got it?

gingergenius · 21/02/2018 23:57

No Simon. But I also expect she'll tell them to fuck off!!!

ferrier · 22/02/2018 00:07

Not rtft but if it was then (a) there's no say I'd have sat in the chair but (b) I think the best response might have been to throw the ball back into their court "would you like me to stand or shall I go and find a clean chair - where would be best to find one?"

gabsdot · 22/02/2018 00:10

I have been involved in recruitment in my job and I always reassure the candidate that we want them to get the job as much as they do.
Recruitment is about finding the right person and when you don't it's a pita.
Bad luck OP. I would definitely follow up but let them come grovelling to you to arrange another interview

LellyMcKelly · 22/02/2018 00:16

An interview is a two way street. You are deciding whether you want to work for them as much as they are deciding whether they want you to work there. They want to attract the best candidates so they should always be welcoming. It is very unlikely that this is an accepted hiring practice. The wet patch could be water, or bodily fluids, or bleach, and no right minded person would sit in it. At this point you have nothing to lose. Contact their HR department and explain the situation, and that you felt they were going out of their way to embarrass and humiliate you (they may have had someone else in line for the job and were trying to put off other candidates). You are also entitled to ask for the interviewer notes.

halfwitpicker · 22/02/2018 00:17

How utterly bizarre

ReanimatedSGB · 22/02/2018 00:22

Look, there was obviously wankery going on, or they would just have apologised and fetched another chair. Even if the job does involve dealing with clients who might shout, wet themselves or smack you about a bit, that interview setup indicates that the company would expect you to suck it up and never complain. So definitely a bullet dodged.

frasier · 22/02/2018 00:30

DP just remarked even David Brent wouldn't try something as immature as that!

ThumbWitchesAbroad · 22/02/2018 00:36

That's ridiculous of them!

I'm shortly to sit on an interview panel myself, and one of the instructions for conducting the interview is to make the room in which the interview is conducted welcoming and comfortable for the candidates! At no point does your experience reflect either of those things, and if it was a test or a joke, then I agree you're best off not working for those idiots.

I do think you should contact them to ask whether they plan to reschedule your interview with a dry chair available - actually, not whether, WHEN - but then I'd probably turn them down because, again, who wants to work for people who think that sort of thing is any kind of good idea?!

SunsetInParadise · 22/02/2018 00:42

Complain publicly on their social media pages such as Facebook or Twitter. They'll soon be in touch. Disgusting behaviour, what arseholes!

abigamarone · 22/02/2018 00:47

You missed a trick.

What you should have done was perch yourself on the edge of their table and interviewed them. In the style of Kirsty wark.

bretonknickers · 22/02/2018 01:27

Agree it sounds like a test.
Also think this is the sort of thread that will end up as DM fodder.

Shadow666 · 22/02/2018 02:52

I would definitely give feedback by email and write a review on glass door. Why on earth wouldn’t you? Just be factual and honest. This is what happened, this is how it made me feel. Hopefully they’ll learn from it.

LastAnni · 22/02/2018 03:20

My DH interviews for one of the big Silicon Valley tech companies. I promise you they would NEVER pull any weird shit like this! Sounds to me like no one on the panel knew how to handle it, so they just didn't. I wouldn't be surprised if they contact you to ask you to re-interview.

LeslieKnopefan · 22/02/2018 03:32

Yes an interview is to see if you want to work there too. You found out you didn’t and sounds like thank god they showed their cards now before you maybe took a job there!!

I didn’t get a job last year because whilst waiting I didn’t go up to all the staff in the open plan office and ask them what they did etc. One of the staff made me a cuppa and I had a chat with him but I wasn’t going to walk up to people working and start chatting!! Realised then I was glad I wasn’t going to work there!

Mummyoflittledragon · 22/02/2018 04:44

I think ThumbWitches has the best solution. I wouldn’t write them off completely if it was your dream job. If it wasn’t a test, it sounds as if they probably didn’t know how to handle the situation or thought you were being daft and awkward. Then they will then have looked at the chair after you left and realised they were the idiots.

Leslie
That’s mad. In most companies had you done that, you wouldn’t have got the job.

LeslieKnopefan · 22/02/2018 04:57

Mummy - I know!! If someone I was interviewing did that I would at best think they were a little strange!

Also had another interview where in the first minute he told me I was actually suitable for the job I was there to be interviewed for as I didn’t have some qualification I needed. But then went on to tell me about a different job I had no interest in for 20 mins.

Oh and another job where they try and make you cry / put you under extreme pressure to see how you cope. It’s one of those jobs where 10,000 apply and 20 and the job itself is quite high pressured but still I think it’s somewhat old fashioned method. They would ask me a question based on a situation and once I answered would basically argue back with me that I was wrong. Oh they also told me they didn’t like my hair (was a woman) which I think was just to un nerve me but just annoyed me as it’s the one part of me I take great pride in.

They offered me the job, I accepted and loved it. At the end of my first year they asked me and the other newbies to give them feedback on interview and training and I made a point of mentioning the comment about my hair 😅 still bitter ;)

Mummyoflittledragon · 22/02/2018 05:08

Leslie
Exactly. I was thinking the only person who’d do this would perhaps have mental health problems.

Bloody hell some of your interviews have been awful. I’ve been out of the workforce for a considerable time now but never had anything like some of the things described by you and others.

stayathomer · 22/02/2018 06:06

sorry that happened:(