Craziest thing a potential employer has asked you to do

Did you take the job(s) when that happened?

 

I've been in that situation before. A candidate was thinking of relocating across the country and she asked some questions about the place. Me and another employee said "Well, there are a lot of changes afoot. Make sure they are clear about what you will be doing and what the expectations are." She didn't take the job and the editor was stunned when she turned the job down figuring it was a lock. I think he held it against me the rest of the time I was there.

 

Had that happen, more or less, at my final newspaper shop. After I was shown around the building by the managing editor (the former sports editor), a handful of writers and deskers dragged me to a conference room at the other end of the building and dropped lots of hints. I took the job because I thought I'd enjoy the challenge, but soon learned why the others were trying to warn me. (The fact that the ME previously was the SE was one of the biggest problems.) I left after 10 months on the job for the world of glossy magazines, and I've not regretted that move at all.

Weirdest thing that ever happened to me was fairly mild. When I was interviewing for a corporate PR job, I was asked to go to the airport and bring four or five in-flight magazines to my second round of interviews. Fortunately, this was before 9/11, so I was able to go to each gate and ask the desk agent for assistance. Got the job.

And I took that Knight Ridder intelligence test, too. Wasn't expecting that. Apparently I passed, because I got the job. Unfortunately, it was at the place I mentioned in my opening paragraph. And as I think about it, I believe I had to pee in a cup on my first interview day. Wasn't expecting that, either. Luckily, the test clinic was directly across the street from the newspaper office.

 

Why did they want the in-flight magazines? They need them and figured you would be at the airport and would save them the trouble? Or was it some kind of test to see if you can follow through?

 

They were about to launch a campaign that would involve advertising and editorial in several in-flight magazines, and they wanted a few copies of the latest editions. They told me in advance why they wanted them, so I didn't feel like they were creating a snipe hunt just to screw with a job candidate.

That said, I do think it was a small test to see how I'd respond. Given the upcoming campaign, I didn't balk. It made sense, and I figured I could create some good karma by bringing what they needed. The odd part was that the job was local, so I didn't really need to be at the airport ...

 

As a newbie to this website who has a long history of job interviews, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to revive this thread. I always think back to my first major metro copy-editing job almost 30 years ago. The assistant managing editor/sports and his second-in-command took my to lunch as soon as I arrived.

About 15 minutes or so into the lunch, the AME/sports excused himself to use the restroom. As soon as he was out of earshot, the second-in-command said, "This paper is really messed up and I think you need to know a few things before you decide to work here." Before he could elaborate much, the AME returned. Turned out he and his second-in-command didn't get along and agreed on almost nothing (although they DID agree I was qualified for the job). The No. 2 guy (who was a superb editor and would go on to have a long, illustrious career in sports journalism) left about three months later, and the AME was canned a few months after that in a management shakeup.

They offered me the job at the end of the day, but I really didn't know what to do after being warned at lunch. Finally accepted the job because it was a big step up, in an attractive city, and I really appreciated the No. 2 editor's honesty. He was right, though -- the place WAS dysfunctional in almost every respect. But the sports section was among the top 10 in the country at the time and the paper's overall reputation in the industry was very good, so I had no problem finding a good job elsewhere when I finally got fed up and began sending out resumes.

 

Sort of echoing Riptide's story* on the first page of this thread ... For my current gig I was scheduled to fly out on a Saturday for a Monday of interviewing. That Friday my future boss called and said a hiring freeze was coming down at 5 p.m. and I'd have to either sign an offer that'd be coming later that day or else. The offer came in and I signed it and faxed it back with 20 minutes to spare.

There were 9 of us hired that day across the college -- one was actually pulled out of an interview at another school -- and in all, four of us ultimately were tenured here. And, yes, it was true ... the hiring freeze was actually imposed.

*This was in late January and I wouldn't start until August. Remember, this is academia ... We measure time with calendars, not with clocks.

 

I'm mostly pleased to realize I've never asked a job candidate to do anything really crazy.

Maybe I need to work on that.

 

Not really an interview, but as an intern I was told I would be driving Bill Bidwell from the Denver Airport to Greeley Colorado. One-on-one for about 90 minutes to two hours with, well, a guy who could have not even said hello for two hours or talked my ear off about God knows what.

The old man said he wanted one of my bosses at the time to drive him instead.

Whew.

 

These are funny. I've done a few, including a week's worth of critiques, the routine drug test (seems like everywhere does that now), writing a sample story or designing a page in the office. Never was asked to do anything immoral, illegal or unethical. I've been asked incriminating questions about former jobs and colleagues and I usually dance around those pretty well.

 

I also interviewed once in Lakeland, Florida. They put me up in a good hotel, gave me a nice lunch and a decent interview, and then I went back the next day for a follow-up interview and the SE said the job had been frozen overnight. It hasn't been filled to this day.

The SE bolted a month later, and that's all I needed to know about that.

 

Lakeland is on my "Do Not Help" list. One of just a few.