I had an interview for a position I really really really want on Wednesday. It was the oddest format I’ve ever encountered- a panel interview, but they had 6 questions taped to the table, and you had 20 minutes to answer them. No other questions were asked. I was not allowed to ask any questions of the interviewers. It was more like an interrogation than an interview. :eek:
So I have no idea how I did. I mean, there was no feedback.
15 people were interviewed for this position on Wednesday and Thursday (I’m assuming a few ended up on Thursday). I was told by a coordinator, quote, “The hiring manager may choose 1 person right now, or they may choose 1 or 2 to come back for a second interview, or they may choose up to 7 for the hiring pool, but in no event will more than 1 person be chosen for this position. You will hear from us by email or letter within 10 days, unless the hiring manager decides to call you, in which case you may hear sooner.”
Which doesn’t really leave me with any clear sense of how I may or may not be contacted.
But now I’m on pins and needles waiting for a call or a letter or an email, and I’m hoping like hell I got it. Not only do we need a second income round here, but damnit, there has never been a job that has been more designed for an Inkleberry.
AUUUUUUGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH!!!
I want the phone to ring!! I hate waiting! Hate hate hate!
I wish I had a psychic friend who could clear up the mystery for me right now.
Oh, god. I hate that so much, waiting through the torturous silence after a job interview, waiting for the phone to ring. Waiting for a letter. Waiting for a goddamn carrier pigeon or smoke signal. Give us SOMETHING, people, we sit around and stare at the phone until you call! Sadistic bastards!
Heh. Sorry. Anyway, good luck, inkleberry!
And you could always ask someone to see if there’s anything in Family Circle about it this month.
God, I feel like I’m 14 and waiting for a call from a boy I “like like.”
Heh. That subscription was free. I didn’t have many good options to choose from, and so I deliberately chose the most not-us magazine I could find. It’s hysterical.
Seriously. I also hate the ones that never call or give you any inkling as to whether you have a chance. Then, a month later, you get the whole “Thanks for coming in but hell no” letter in the mail.
I’ve done that, too! We get those free magazines with credit cards all the time, and I’ve picked things like Ladies Home Journal, just to see.
It’s… interesting. Found some hella good recipes in there, though.
That was equally as unclear. It was suggested that one of them would be my supervisor, but which was unclear. Also, I was not introduced to them by name. It was just, “Inkleberry, this is Ms. X, Y, Z, your interviewers.” But they didn’t in any way specify which was which. Just sort of gestured to them in general.
I sent a thank you note to the coordinator (who I had a better “Relationship” with than anyone else), and one addressed to all 3 interviewers because I was able to get 1 email address. They claimed they didn’t have the time in the interview to provide me with the others (no questions!), and the coordinator only knew 1.
I have a mental picture of this occuring in black & white, with stark, James Wong Howe -inspired lighting with deep contrasting shadows. There are no writing instruments or tablets in sight, and the only thing on the table is a glass carafe of water with a single glass which no one invites the you to drink from. There’s a barely perceivable hum, and a spotlight shining down, concealed in the Modern decoration in the ceiling. Light streams across the room from tall windows inset into the side wall, and in front of the interviewers is a single chair, slightly too short to be comfortable, which you are only invited to sit in after an uncomfortable silence.
The interviewers are emotionless. One is a short woman, with a pageboy coiffure and sporting a cape; another is a tall man wearing a black, button-to-the-collar jacket, with piercing eyes and ears that stick out and smoking a caustic, European cigarette; the third is a white-haired older gentleman with a goatee, genial and smiling in appearance, looking for all the world like Harland Sanders. They each press the questions in turn, not waiting for a complete answer before the next question was asked, and you sensed the presence of another observer hidden by the mirrored panel behind the interviewers. They referred to you not by name but rather as your number in the interview queue, and admonished you from speaking to the other interviewees. When you mistakenly step out of line and as a question, the woman answers, “Questions are a burden to others. Answers are prison for oneself,” and the old man clucks his tongue.
Take heart in the fact that you were not electrocuted or found yourself falling through a trapdoor on the way out of the interview chamber. Your chances may be quite good. However, if they invite you to the company retreat on a remote island, you may want to reconsider, though by that time it may be too late to refuse. Indeed, you feel at this very moment electronic eyes peeking at you through the walls, and microphones recording your every word. You are already in their database; soon, they will know everything about you, and can erase your identity at will.
Did they make you sign a receipt for the interview, and offer you a receipt for their receipt?
Stranger
“Confess quickly! If you hold out too long you could jeopardize your credit rating.”
Is there a union involved? Plus, from your pre-interview thread, I gather this is a public agency position. Sounds to me like a very carefully negotiated & crafted procedure to make sure nobody’s personal bias is involved in the hiring procedure, and that no interest group gets their toes stepped on.
My guess is that daily life in the office won’t be at all like the interview, but there will probably be lots of rules and regulations that need to be followed.
You are right. It is a government position with a nearby county. They were very clear in both writing and in person about how if I knew any of the interviewers I needed to tell them immediately so they would not be present, and also to tell them if I thought any one wouldn’t rate me fairly so they could be excluded.
I doubt they were allowed to let any personality come into play during the interview process. All of them smiled at me at least once, so I’m fairly sure they weren’t robots.
Even my interview with the police department wasn’t as grueling–or bizarre–as what you experienced. I’ve had hundreds of interviews for all kinds of jobs and have never heard of such a thing.
Me thinks that someone must have sued over preferencial treatment not too long ago and won a truckload of money.
That’s my guess too. This way no one can say they had a different experience than someone else. However, I’m not sure the 6-question-no-dialogue format is really a great way to see who fits and who doesn’t.
