Interview duds

[Jeremy Goodwin]

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.

 

[mike311gd]

I once showed up at the airport for an interview, but the sports editor who was supposed to be picking me up wasn't there. I called the office, but they hadn't seen him, either. There was a rack card in the airport with his picture on it for some try-to-pick-football-games-better-than-the-sports-editor contest the paper was running, so I pointed and asked a lady if she had seen that guy around anywhere. She hadn't either.

Finally, the AME came over and picked me up, took me back to the office and pawned me off on a series of people while he tried to figure out where the SE was. I made chit chat with the sports intern, I sat in on the daily news meeting. While I was sitting with the HR manager, she got a call and excused herself.

They had found the sports editor. Dead in his recliner.

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.

 

[Bob Slydell]

I once showed up at the airport for an interview, but the sports editor who was supposed to be picking me up wasn't there. I called the office, but they hadn't seen him, either. There was a rack card in the airport with his picture on it for some try-to-pick-football-games-better-than-the-sports-editor contest the paper was running, so I pointed and asked a lady if she had seen that guy around anywhere. She hadn't either.

Finally, the AME came over and picked me up, took me back to the office and pawned me off on a series of people while he tried to figure out where the SE was. I made chit chat with the sports intern, I sat in on the daily news meeting. While I was sitting with the HR manager, she got a call and excused herself.

They had found the sports editor. Dead in his recliner.

Did you ask for HIS job?

 

[fishwrapper]

I once showed up at the airport for an interview, but the sports editor who was supposed to be picking me up wasn't there. I called the office, but they hadn't seen him, either. There was a rack card in the airport with his picture on it for some try-to-pick-football-games-better-than-the-sports-editor contest the paper was running, so I pointed and asked a lady if she had seen that guy around anywhere. She hadn't either.

Finally, the AME came over and picked me up, took me back to the office and pawned me off on a series of people while he tried to figure out where the SE was. I made chit chat with the sports intern, I sat in on the daily news meeting. While I was sitting with the HR manager, she got a call and excused herself.

They had found the sports editor. Dead in his recliner.

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

 

[Moderator1]

If you can without outing yourself *** who was the poor departed SE?

 

[Armchair_QB]

My old m.e. received a resume from someone who worked for AVN - Adult Video News. We joked at how he could make the council meetings sound interesting ...

Did he send clips?

 

[Ace]

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?

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.

 

[Diabeetus]

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

 

[Pilot]

I feel like an idiot posting after some of these stories, but:

We had a guy stop at our office once looking for a job. Small-town weekly, tiny little office, at most four people there at once. He was a recent graduate from Big University who specialized in logical argument, and he was looking for a full time position analyzing our paper, articles, columns and editorials to test their logic.

It was really hard to believe. First of all, his degree has to suck because logic should have suggested he was wasting his damn time. Second, logic should have suggested if you're going begging for a job that stupid, you should probably wear something besides ratty jeans and an old t-shirt.

But I don't have a logic degree, so what do I know?

 

[Damaramu]

I interviewed for the same job as intramurals. I never went and saw a baseball game but I was begged to go see a hair metal band.....yeah not quite as cool.

 

[Some Guy]

I once showed up at the airport for an interview, but the sports editor who was supposed to be picking me up wasn't there. I called the office, but they hadn't seen him, either. There was a rack card in the airport with his picture on it for some try-to-pick-football-games-better-than-the-sports-editor contest the paper was running, so I pointed and asked a lady if she had seen that guy around anywhere. She hadn't either.

Finally, the AME came over and picked me up, took me back to the office and pawned me off on a series of people while he tried to figure out where the SE was. I made chit chat with the sports intern, I sat in on the daily news meeting. While I was sitting with the HR manager, she got a call and excused herself.

They had found the sports editor. Dead in his recliner.

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 ****ING C**N".

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

That's pretty outlandish, too. Not as jarring as a dead SE, but still.

 

[jobu]

No, I didn't have the balls (much less the qualifications) to ask for the sports editor's position. I was so much in shock, it took me a while just to start thinking somewhat straight again, and when they offered me the copy editing job I had come to interview for, I had to go back home for a few days before I could give them an answer.

(Eventually, yes, I did take the job.)

 

[Tom Petty]

I would have written it in the future tense.

Wait, what was the question?

damn solid.

 

[Ace]

I feel like an idiot posting after some of these stories, but:

We had a guy stop at our office once looking for a job. Small-town weekly, tiny little office, at most four people there at once. He was a recent graduate from Big University who specialized in logical argument, and he was looking for a full time position analyzing our paper, articles, columns and editorials to test their logic.

It was really hard to believe. First of all, his degree has to suck because logic should have suggested he was wasting his damn time. Second, logic should have suggested if you're going begging for a job that stupid, you should probably wear something besides ratty jeans and an old t-shirt.

But I don't have a logic degree, so what do I know?

Is this the guy?