Ever had an interview go South?

What was your most embarrassing or empowering interview moment?

I was thinking about the whole job search thing, as I was writing my latest post on Job Search Techniques on my other blog, Motivational Magic. I thought, wouldn't it be interesting to hear some ladies' stories about interviews that have 'gone South' on All Things Women. So I sent out some emails to ask my girlfriends if they've ever had an embarrassing interview experience that they would like to share.

My Experience

To kick things off I shared one of mine. I was at an interview for a training position in the Public Service. The Department was finance related, not exactly my highest level of interest being very creative, but an interesting opportunity. I had just completed a knock out interview, where I'd dazzled them with my psycho-babble activities that are designed to get the learner thinking about themselves, taking the pressure of you, the interviewee. I was wrapping things up and had my briefcase on my lap, with my resume, sunglasses, mobile phone, pen, and some other papers that I had been scribbling notes on balancing precariously on top. In my nervousness, I jumped up to shake hands and knocked the glass of water over on the table. Whilst leaning forward to grab the errant cup, I promptly dropped my load on the floor. As I bent to pick everything up, I almost collided with the panel chairperson and was mortified. Suffice to say, I had sufficiently planted myself in their memory as perhaps the highest risk candidate to date! Funny enough, I was offered the position!

My Girlfriend Kris's Experience

My girlfriend, Kris, responded to the call and told me about her misadventure when she spun a line to her employer about a doctor's appointment as she didn't want them to know she was looking for another job. Well, her appointment was at the local law courts and she managed to grab a 30 minute car space, right out the front, which she saw as a stroke of luck, as she would be able to duck in, do the interview, then shoot off back to work. There was just one problem. During her interview there was a bomb threat and everyone had to down their possessions and leave the building immediately. Her bag, keys etc were locked in the building. She was made to stand in a group, outside the law courts for 2 hours! Meanwhile, the local camera crews were there in force and what were they filming, her personalized number plates on her lovely car parked right outside the building. She managed to evade the cameras, but her car was a dead give away! Imagine having to explain that one to your boss!

My Girlfriend Kelly's Experience

Then there was my other girlfriend from New York who was going to an interview at a very upmarket business in downtown N.Y. Firstly, my friend is from "The Projects", so opulence and her are new acquaintances. She looked great - got herself looking gorgeous for the interview - well that was when she left home and before she road the train in the summer heat. Suffice to say, her deodorant was working overtime but she made it to the venue with time to spare!

Arriving at the building she couldn't prevent jaw from gaping, as she walked into the marble, fine wood and gold trimmed foyer. She was whisked up to the floor of her appointment and once again, couldn't help but be awestruck by the opulence. She had an interview with the current occupant of the position she was applying for and they hit it off famously. Then she was ushered into a board room to meet her potential employer, a Director of the business, and the view from the room was breathtaking. She was hard pressed to concentrate on the interview because of the view.

Her interviewer was a bit dry but bearable and gave her a task to complete. She had to recreate a presentation and was ushered to a computer. Well she whizzed through the presentation but found she was stuck on one element. After battling with it for 10 minutes, the lady who'd initially interviewed her came over and asked how she was going. She confessed she'd never done that one particular element, but was reassured that it would not be a problem. To cut a long story short, after sweaty palms and feeling like she'd failed her high school exam, she was shortlisted with another woman. She didn't get the job, but the knowledge that she got into the top two in such a high profile establishment shot her confidence through the roof.

My Girlfriend Pat's Experience

Another girlfriend shared this tale of woe, as an interviewer and not an interviewee. She said she was at the end of a three day process, where she was one of two women on a three person panel. The male union rep panel member was drawing the last of 11 interviews to a close, with the obligatory "do you have any questions that you would like to ask the panel or comments you would like to make regarding the interview process?"

The male interviewee promptly asked my girlfriend and the other female panel member to assess how they were sitting, the height of the coffee table in front of them and the height of the chairs that they were sitting on. Confused they assessed the situation but were unsure of the meaning of the question, so he filled them in.

All through his interview my girlfriend and the other female panel member, had been crossing and uncrossing their legs, as they tended to do on a regular basis. The height of his chair allowed him a birds eye view straight up their skirts. With the crossing and uncrossing he had been able to ascertain that my girlfriend was wearing pink knickers and the other lady, black. Can you even start to imagine the color they went and the sinking feeling they experienced when they realised they had been sitting in this same position for all 11 interviews. I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall of that interview room. How hilarious!

Fittingly they decided that anyone who could perform at interview with that level of distraction and still keep his head and have the guts to tell them at the end, was going to be an asset to any company. So his bravado got him the job. It was a bit difficult when he started work in my girlfriend's area to make eye contact for the first couple of days, but eventually they got over the embarrassment factor. His employment turned out to be the best decision that they had ever made with him taking over her position as Assistant Director when she resigned.

What about you?

Do you have an embarrassing or empowering interview moments to share? Please comment.