Interview duds

[copperpot]

We had a guy come in yesterday to interview for an entry-level news reporter position. Editor asks him what he'd do if a house in the next town was on fire. He said he'd try to find buckets so he could bring water "since the most important thing to do is put out the fire." Once the fire was extinguished and he was sure everyone was safely out, he'd look for people to talk to, he said.

Editor said it was the first interview he ever did that he just wanted to cut the guy off and say, "Thanks, but no thanks." But he didn't, so the ME got this gem.

ME says, "Imagine you're covering a meeting that's not going to make the next day's paper. What do you do to make it fresh?"

Guy says, "I'd write it in the past tense."

What does that even mean??

 

[Ace]

We had a guy come in yesterday to interview for an entry-level news reporter position. Editor asks him what he'd do if a house in the next town was on fire. He said he'd try to find buckets so he could bring water "since the most important thing to do is put out the fire." Once the fire was extinguished and he was sure everyone was safely out, he'd look for people to talk to, he said.

Editor said it was the first interview he ever did that he just wanted to cut the guy off and say, "Thanks, but no thanks." But he didn't, so the ME got this gem.

ME says, "Imagine you're covering a meeting that's not going to make the next day's paper. What do you do to make it fresh?"

Guy says, "I'd write it in the past tense."

What does that even mean??

At least he didn't say he'd refrigerate the story to keep it fresh.

 

[Starman]

We had a guy come in yesterday to interview for an entry-level news reporter position. Editor asks him what he'd do if a house in the next town was on fire. He said he'd try to find buckets so he could bring water "since the most important thing to do is put out the fire." Once the fire was extinguished and he was sure everyone was safely out, he'd look for people to talk to, he said.

Editor said it was the first interview he ever did that he just wanted to cut the guy off and say, "Thanks, but no thanks." But he didn't, so the ME got this gem.

ME says, "Imagine you're covering a meeting that's not going to make the next day's paper. What do you do to make it fresh?"

Guy says, "I'd write it in the past tense."

What does that even mean??

 

[playthrough]

Buckets? Was this guy born in the 18th century?

 

[Bob Loblaw Law Blog]

I would have written it in the future tense.

Wait, what was the question?

 

[markvid]

Ok, may I ask a stupid question?
As someone who is not in the paper side, just TV production, what WOULD you do to make a meeting story fresh?
Get quotes from those involved in issues discussed at the meeting?

 

[spaceman]

i thought this was another thread about what to wear to an interview.

 

[SixToe]

Sounds like a "citizen journalist."

Past tense. What a moran.

 

[fishwrapper]

Have I shared this? I interviewed a guy in a paisley dress shirt.

 

[Some Guy]

Have I shared this? I interviewed a guy in a paisley dress shirt.

Maybe it was laundry day.

 

[GBNF]

I interviewed a guy in a Pirate shirt. Jerry something or other.

 

[forever_town]

I've seen some interviewees come in dressed a little too casually for my tastes. The worst offender in my book was a freelance photog who was interviewing for a full-time reporter position. It was a courtesy interview because his clips were pretty weak.

He came in with a shirt and tie all right, but he was wearing JEANS. ****ing jeans. After I specifically told him to dress for an interview.

Needless to say, he didn't get the job...

 

[fishwrapper]

Have I shared this? I interviewed a guy in a paisley dress shirt.

Maybe it was laundry day.

I'll find it for you. Cansportschick knows the story well...

 

[fishwrapper]

It was a thread about interview or resume advice.
And, I always answer the same. Wear paisley.
It's an inside joke that very few get and Cansportschick asked what the deal was, so I explained:

OK. I have to explain. It's a bit of an inside joke. But, I'll let you play along.
I/we have one of our rare openings over the last five years. And we get to fill it on the outside. So, understandably, we're pretty excited. After a few quick calls -- before the higher-ups pull the hire -- we line up a few interviews.
It's a beat job. Pretty big one, too. Talk to him a few times before he gets in making sure flight and stay were in order, etc.
He arrives. I go down to get him.
No jacket. No big deal. But, he's wearing brown pinstriped slacks with this brown and black high-collar paisley dress shirt. Like he just had sex with a 70s thrift store mannequin and got their outfits mixed. Hideous. Abominable. I know we're not the best-dressed profession. But, good Lord.
The hire was frozen. So, it was all for not.
But, whenever anyone asks me for advice...

 

[Frank_Ridgeway]

We had a guy come in yesterday to interview for an entry-level news reporter position. Editor asks him what he'd do if a house in the next town was on fire. He said he'd try to find buckets so he could bring water "since the most important thing to do is put out the fire." Once the fire was extinguished and he was sure everyone was safely out, he'd look for people to talk to, he said.

My first full-time job, some of us went to a bar after work. And we all got pretty hammered. And the bar caught fire. Pretty big fire. I don't think buckets would have done the job. And I have to admit, all but one of us, as we stood shivering on the sidewalk, were just thinking, "Holy ****! The bar's on fire! Where we gonna drink tomorrow night?" But one of my roommates, he's as loaded as the rest of us, but at least has the smarts to run to the payphone on the corner and phone it in to the paper. Then he finds the bar's owner and phones in quotes from him and the fire department guy. He was working on the news copy desk, and about two months later he got hired by a metro, and now he's a news director for a TV station in a major market. I remember thinking, wow, this guy just has faster mental reflexes than the rest of us.

 

[markvid]

We had a guy come in yesterday to interview for an entry-level news reporter position. Editor asks him what he'd do if a house in the next town was on fire. He said he'd try to find buckets so he could bring water "since the most important thing to do is put out the fire." Once the fire was extinguished and he was sure everyone was safely out, he'd look for people to talk to, he said.

My first full-time job, some of us went to a bar after work. And we all got pretty hammered. And the bar caught fire. Pretty big fire. I don't think buckets would have done the job. And I have to admit, all but one of us, as we stood shivering on the sidewalk, were just thinking, "Holy ****! The bar's on fire! Where we gonna drink tomorrow night?" But one of my roommates, he's as loaded as the rest of us, but at least has the smarts to run to the payphone on the corner and phone it in to the paper. Then he finds the bar's owner and phones in quotes from him and the fire department guy. He was working on the news copy desk, and about two months later he got hired by a metro, and now he's a news director for a TV station in a major market. I remember thinking, wow, this guy just has faster mental reflexes than the rest of us.

No, he was the least drunk

 

[fishwrapper]

Frank: "Save the women! And the Single Barrel Malt Balvenie!"

 

[Some Guy]

We had a guy come in yesterday to interview for an entry-level news reporter position. Editor asks him what he'd do if a house in the next town was on fire. He said he'd try to find buckets so he could bring water "since the most important thing to do is put out the fire." Once the fire was extinguished and he was sure everyone was safely out, he'd look for people to talk to, he said.

My first full-time job, some of us went to a bar after work. And we all got pretty hammered. And the bar caught fire. Pretty big fire. I don't think buckets would have done the job. And I have to admit, all but one of us, as we stood shivering on the sidewalk, were just thinking, "Holy ****! The bar's on fire! Where we gonna drink tomorrow night?" But one of my roommates, he's as loaded as the rest of us, but at least has the smarts to run to the payphone on the corner and phone it in to the paper. Then he finds the bar's owner and phones in quotes from him and the fire department guy. He was working on the news copy desk, and about two months later he got hired by a metro, and now he's a news director for a TV station in a major market. I remember thinking, wow, this guy just has faster mental reflexes than the rest of us.

No, he was the least drunk

Or, maybe, the most ...

 

[deskslave]

Yeah, but he didn't tell you he set the bar on fire. It was all part of his plan.

 

[Terence Mann]

Is "all for not" one of those message board things, like looser and moran, or do some people actually write that instead of "all for naught?"