Interview duds

End. Of. Thread.

 

Did they offer you his job?

 

Wow. I was a nervous wreck at my last interview. I can't imagine how i would have felt if they told me the interviewer was dead.

 

Not even close to topping this, but...

I went to a job interview just before I got out of college at a paper that covered a certain SEC team. Ended up hopping on a plane out of Austin, flying into an airport two hours away, renting a car and taking a leisurely drive into town on Friday for a two-day interview. I was told I wouldn't get reimbursed for the plane ticket, but they'd take care of the rental car and the gas. Alright, no problem.

I get into town and meet up with the SE/ME. He seems like a good enough guy, a bit eccentric mind you, but a decent fellow. We tour the office, meet the publisher and then head out for a bite to eat before I check into the hotel. Supposedly, they've set one up for me somewhere in town so I'm looking around as we pass all of the cute little Holiday Inn Expresses and Best Westerns wondering where I'll be spending the next two nights. Then, we pull up to this little hole in the wall motel with graffiti all over it. I check in, and schedule a time to meet with the guy for dinner. The time rolls around, I call. No answer. An hour later, I get a call back asking if I'm ready. We go out, eat, and take a tour of the town, that ends with the guy taking me out to a bar. He knocks down about five redbull and vodkas before getting back in the car to finish my tour. He drops me back off at the hotel to a couple of cop cars parked outside two doors down from my room next to a gaggle of folks with open containers. I make my way back in my room, the cops leave, and about 10 cars pull into the parking lot and start blasting out of the huge systems in their trunks. I get up the next day, a little weary and head to a baseball game with the guy. He takes me up to sit with his buddies, and they're all watching the game and cheering for the home team. A black player from SEC school B gets called out at first, so he has a heated discussion with the umpire backed, of course, by the sounds of heckling from the crowd. The SE gets up, cups his hands around his mouth, and screams "GET BACK IN THE DUGOUT YOU FUCKING C**N".

I never did get that money for the car, either.

 

Two personal examples:
1. I applied for an AP internship and had to go to a downtown bureau for testing. I mapquested directions, but that area of downtown was under construction, including the exit I needed to take. I take another exit, but have no luck getting back on track. At this point I know I'm going to be late so I call the person I'm testing with. I try to use her directions, but get even more lost. She ends up having me park and drives to get me so I can follow her back to the office. I did well on the test, but I felt like I bombed any chance of getting that internship because I couldn't find the place on my own.

2. During my most recent job search, I was a finalist, or at least got phone interviews with a few papers. One of the paper's SEs had the same last name as the city that another paper I was interviewing with was in. When I heard back from both places I knew this might be a problem. I'm talking to an ME from the paper with the SE that has the same name as a town. The ME asks if I have any questions about the position. I say "No (first name of SE in other town) covered everything." MgtEd: "Who?" Me: "The sports editor, you know _____, .... Oh, I mean (first name of guy with town's last name)." Once again, I felt like an ass. The ME was cool with it though. I said I was expecting a call from another paper and got my names confused. They ended up offering me the job, but I took the job in the other town.

 

The only thing that would shock if that story was told about me in 25 years, would be that I was offered a job as a sports editor.

 

Did you ask for HIS job?

 

I know this story. Someone in the last two years told me this story.
An absolute classic. Thanks for sharing.

 

Did he send clips?

 

Well, for example, if one of the items on the agenda was whether to put a traffic light on Podunk Trail, you could do a second-day story looking at how much it would cost, what the traffic is like there, whether the mayor lives nearby and is wanting it for himself, what locals think.

 

Holy crap, podu and intramurals. I thought those kinds of things were just made up to entertain/scare people.