What's your most odd/unique job search moment?

[mjr]

Here's a few from me...

1. I was doing a "phone screen" interview with a company. The interviewer on the other end of the phone actually laughed at me at one point, so I just ended the call. I literally hung up on him.

2. Another job I was actually very interested in. Would have given me the opportunity to use newer tech, and learn new skills. However, it was a pay cut from what I had been making, and even though I was unemployed at the time I didn't want to take a step backward in pay, and they paid once a month. I don't know how pay works where you are (since we have posters from all over the place), but once a month wasn't going to do it for me.

3. I was headed to a job interview once, and the recruiter tried to talk me into her accepting the role on my behalf (i.e. calling the company and saying, "He will accept the job"). I don't work that way.

4. Here's one more I remembered...I was job hunting, and found one that would have been a decent pay bump. So I meet up with the guy, we talk, and then he tells me that there is no job. That they sometimes put up fake job postings with desirable salaries just to get resumes.

[Ironclad Alibi]

My odd job search moment was an interview that turned out to be a pitch for Scamway.

[RealUnimportant]

I think the oddest I've heard about is when people get called in for interview even though the position's been filled. Wastes everyone's time for nobosy's benefit...

Personal weirdest interview was the one that seemed very focused on what my managerial decisions would be if I got the job. This was odd because it wasn't advertised as a managerial position, and once I accepted the job it became odder still because it soon became apparent that I was allowed to make no decisions whatsoever, not even the ones that seemed to be within the perameters of my role. I didn't stay there very long.

[Nunavut Pants]

I had an interviewer laugh at me twice in the same interview. But I made a couple of jokes. Once was when he asked why I wanted the job, and I responded that I "...had this thing called a mortgage..." and then talked about the company. The second time was talking about a programming task, then about one relating to that first task, and I said something about "You do this, and then the problem is reduced to the previously solved problem." (This is something you see A WHOLE LOT in math textbooks, so a lot of software folks will have seen it a bunch.) I did get the job. That interviewer and I became pretty good friends.

I had a very strange interview from the other side, though. The guy was a former co-worker of our grand-boss, and had some very relevant experience. We gave him a coding test, which he simply didn't do. Didn't even put pen to paper, didn't even try. I tried to talk him through a possible solution to the problem, and he didn't even try to do that. I don't really know why he was there.... No, we didn't hire him.

[Trixie]

I had one of those scam interviews. It was for selling Kirby vacuums. Luckily it was a giant group so I was able to walk out without anybody noticing.

Another time I was going to the local mall for a Christmas job at a department store (I think they're out of business now). There was a ton of people in this small office filling out applications. I remember one person going on about how ashamed they were to even collect unemployment! And the interview was kinda over the top for a job that was going to last a couple months at best. Half way through the interview I knew I wasn't getting the job. I ended up getting job at Yankee Candle and that interview was held on a bench outside the store in the mall. Got that one.

[Dreamstalker]

Just out of college, I was applying for a retail computer store technician position. At the time I was working with a job coach (who as it turned out was badly misinformed as to my actual skills and goals, as well as that particular industry). She attended the initial interview with me and that was...unusual to say the least.

The job coach sat slightly behind me to one side and each time I was asked a question, she would lean expectantly in my direction (as one would expect, this threw me off my game slightly). But I generally managed to recover--I think the hiring manager could see what was going on but didn't want to call the coach out on it--and the head tech later called me directly for a second interview. Which I passed with flying colors; it was primarily skills- and knowledge-based with a 'mini' updated A+ exam. The coach somehow found out that I had been to the second round without her, and then proceeded to harass the hiring manager about making a decision--she insisted that all communication go through her, effectively cutting me out of the process. I didn't get the job possibly because of that stunt...I approached the job coach and her boss with my concerns (phrased gently) and got nowhere. I now think that the agency had a specific (slightly negative) expectation of my abilities and didn't quite know how to deal with that expectation being turned sideways.

[KuariKaydrith]

I had applied for an office admin job only to find out upon sitting down for the interview that it was actually a door-to-door fundraising job. The moment the interviewer said what the job was I put my hand up and told him to stop right there, that I didn't appreciate the bait and switch as if I'd known it was going to be anything like it was that I'd never have applied, and that I would be reporting him and his so-called company to any and all job posting websites I found him and his company on. And then got up, thanked him for wasting my time, and walked out into the hallway where several other people were waiting and told them what the job actually was. Only one person stayed as the others walked out with me. I was desperate for a job, but not THAT desperate.

[EricKei]

Nunavut: That makes me think that he wasn't expecting to actually qualify for the job, but get it anyway, due to his connections.

My odd job search moment was an interview that turned out to be a pitch for Scamway.

I had a similar, but opposite experience once. The pitch email made it sound like an info seminar (for something I was actually interested in buying, tbf - I don't recall what), but it turned out to be a group interview type of thing. They wouldn't even let me in the door because I showed up without a suit and tie.

I was applying for a retail computer store technician position.

I applied to a position like that with the big yellow tag; I was well-qualified for it, and I had a friend who was a veteran worker there who put in a good word for me with management. I never got any callbacks (even when I called them), never heard back from them, and they stonewalled my friend with regards to why they never even interviewed me. It took until my third set of applications/resumes (online) before she finally found out the answer: They saw that I had actual, hands-on experience doing computer repair work, so they simply assumed that I would refuse to work for what they were willing to pay (likely very close to minimum wage). The sad thing is: At that time, I would have accepted the shit pay, as I really needed any job I could get at that time.

[mjr]

We gave him a coding test, which he simply didn't do. Didn't even put pen to paper, didn't even try.

Personally, as a software engineer in the industry for nearly 25 years, I don't like coding tests. If there's something I haven't run across before, I know how to research possible solutions. I mean, I get why they're requested, I just don't like doing them. Especially "on the spot" tests.

I was at an interview once where they wanted me to write a ToUpper() function. Internally, I was thinking "Why? That's built-in!"

[dalesys]

... they wanted me to write a ToUpper() function....

Did they ask for a snap-on airtight plastic lid?

[Ironclad Alibi]

Did they ask for a snap-on airtight plastic lid?

And did you fail the interview when you failed to burp the lid?

[csquared]

The sad thing is: At that time, I would have accepted the shit pay, as I really needed any job I could get at that time.

A lot of places won't hire you if you are over qualified. They are afraid of losing their training investment as you will likely jump ship at the first opportunity. Sucks if you are desperate for a paycheck.

[EricKei]

A lot of places won't hire you if you are over qualified.

Yeah, that's true. Thing is, I had previously worked for a dinky little repair shop most of the time where I mostly did Windows troubleshooting and upgrading rigs. I would consider that the bare minimum to even apply for that job.

[Ironclad Alibi]

A lot of places won't hire you if you are over qualified. They are afraid of losing their training investment as you will likely jump ship at the first opportunity. Sucks if you are desperate for a paycheck.

That is a good reason to customize your resume to the job your are applying for. Don't overstate your qualifications.

[Dreamstalker]

Between high school and college I was working for a family friend's "computer shop"--really a glorified dinky copy shop with a "tech bench" in the back. I quickly found out that he only really wanted me for the A+ cert cred (he actually wanted my original certificate to put on the wall, it would then be "his property" WTAF) and knew/cared fuckall about actually repairing computers. He told me to build my own rig...I wasn't allowed to actually buy new parts (well, I could but I would have to pay out-of-pocket which I couldn't at the time) and had to make do with what he had in-house. Half of which was untested and the other half was salvaged from somewhere so functionality depended on what I had tweaked in the bios that morning, phase of the moon, relative humidity, orientation of the computer tower toward Atlantis, etc. I was told to effectively pirate software--he didn't trust open source--and expected to "register" everything with my credentials (name/email). Yeah, that was a bit sketchy.