Current Events > Woman Goes On Job Interview. LEAVES DUE TO RUDE INTERVIEWER! WWYD?

(+) Yeah! (+)

Saw this post on R/Jobs and thought it was interesting. If you were in a similar situation or had a job interview and the interviewer started acting like this, would you have left as well? Or would you have still went through the interview and do your best to try to get this job? Basically, how would you have handled this?

So I applied for this social media/video editing job yesterday. I have some relevant background and skills (ex: internships + owning a YouTube channel with a decent amount of subscribers), and the job seems like a great fit for me. The recruiter emailed me back right away an hour after I applied, asking me to chat the following morning.
The interview was online. We said hello and asked each other how our mornings were. Then he started talking about how my resume looks good, but then the first question he asked me was, "So let me you ask you first of all. Are you just scrolling on LinkedIn and hitting the apply button? Or like what do you like about our company?"

Seems like very random first question to ask, but okay. I proceeded to answer his question, but he interrupted me "Okay, Jaline. Stop. Let's try this, I think you're being stiff right now." then "I've seen your YouTube channel and you seem like you have a great personality, but you're not showing that right now. Let's try this again, tell me about yourself."

Right after that, I had to end the interview right away with no hesitation. I'm sitting here crying because I'm so fed up and frustrated that I have been trying to find a job since I graduated from university in May, but so far I have had no luck. When I came upon this job opportunity, I was really happy about it because I seemed pretty qualified for it. I feel like I'm being too sensitive, but I don't think this is the type of work environment I would be working in.

I can definitely sympathize. Trying to find work after college can be very demoralizing and difficult

LiberalAgenda8 posted...

Saw this post on Reddit

Yeah this didn't happen

Seems like he was kind of being a dick on purpose to see how she'd react

Maybe since part of the job was social media?

So he was seeing how she'd deal with shitty people online

Not saying I agree with his approach. Just trying to understand.

An interview goes both ways. They find out if they like you, you find out if you like them.

She found out, dodged a bullet.

Interviewer is a douchebag. But I would have stuck with it.

Then, I would look for other jobs in the meantime and ditch him as appropriate.

I've seen your great personality on YouTube, show it to me

That's fucking creepy, never mind rude.

Lukey_Bug posted...

Yeah this didn't happen

it's on r/jobs, and it seems genuine. esp because many people go through similar situations

I'm sure it happened exactly as she wrote. Reddit never embellishes anything.

voldothegr8 posted...

An interview goes both ways. They find out if they like you, you find out if you like them.

She found out, dodged a bullet.

yeah, true

ai123 posted...

I've seen your great personality on YouTube, show it to me

That's fucking creepy, never mind rude.

BRO. Literally in the first bloody block of text.

LiberalAgenda8 posted...

So I applied for this social media/video editing job yesterday.

It's implied she showcased her Youtube channel in her resume.

Sad_Face posted...

BRO. Literally in the first bloody block of text.

It's implied she showcased her Youtube channel in her resume.

Then he can (and did) see her 'YouTube personality' on YouTube. Asking for her to demonstrate in a non-performance context is creepy.

She wasn't doing a screen test, just answering standard 'why do you want this job?' questions.

ai123 posted...

Then he can (and did) see her 'YouTube personality' on YouTube. Asking for her to demonstrate in a non-performance context is creepy.

No it's not. For an interview for a social media position, you can ask someone to showcase their Youtube personality to demonstrate how authentic they are (if you have to ask... probably not that authentic I guess) or what their onstage personality is like in person.

Yes, the interviewer came off as brash and rather unforgiving, but that question is acceptable to ask in the interview. Just not how he did it.

Sad_Face posted...

No it's not. For an interview for a social media position, you can ask someone to showcase their Youtube personality to demonstrate how authentic they are (if you have to ask... probably not that authentic I guess) or what their onstage personality is like in person.

No one is 'authentic' in front of camera. People in the industry know this and don't expect people to be 'on' all the time.

Yes, the interviewer came off as brash and rather unforgiving, but that question is acceptable to ask in the interview. Just not how he did it.

OK, yes. If he made it clear that this was a form of screen test for an in front of camera position, that would be fine.

But the way he did it came off as creepy to me.

Seems like very random first question to ask, but okay. I proceeded to answer his question, but he interrupted me "Okay, Jaline. Stop. Let's try this, I think you're being stiff right now." then "I've seen your YouTube channel and you seem like you have a great personality, but you're not showing that right now. Let's try this again, tell me about yourself."

Some of his comments kinda sounded like they were written for the casting couch

ai123 posted...

But the way he did it came off as creepy to me.

I'll meet you halfway in that he could have handled the interview better (if it was reported truthfully). However, people use and abuse the word creepy for every little innocuous thing that puts them off. Hence, halfway.

lilORANG posted...

Some of his comments kinda sounded like they were written for the casting couch

Hmmm

Notti posted...

Interviewer is a douchebag. But I would have stuck with it.

Then, I would look for other jobs in the meantime and ditch him as appropriate.

Yeah, I feel ya

Sad_Face posted...

I'll meet you halfway in that he could have handled the interview better (if it was reported truthfully). However, people use and abuse the word creepy for every little innocuous thing that puts them off. Hence, halfway.

Fair enough.

these recruiters are really pushing it...

I think HE was being stiff.....

LordMarshal posted...

I think HE was being stiff.....

In the pants

LiberalAgenda8 posted...

Saw this post on R/Jobs and thought it was interesting. If you were in a similar situation or had a job interview and the interviewer started acting like this, would you have left as well? Or would you have still went through the interview and do your best to try to get this job? Basically, how would you have handled this?

I can definitely sympathize. Trying to find work after college can be very demoralizing and difficult

Do most of you dislike this question that gets asked all the time? Tell me about yourself? You believe that in your experiences that most of your job interviewers have been nice...etc...?

Those both seem like fairly standard interview questions to me. When this lady gets an interview for another position at a different company they're just going to ask her those same questions again.

AirJordan2345 posted...

Do most of you dislike this question that gets asked all the time? Tell me about yourself? You believe that in your experiences that most of your job interviewers have been nice...etc...?

A_Good_Boy posted...

Those both seem like fairly standard interview questions to me. When this lady gets an interview for another position at a different company they're just going to ask her those same questions again.

It's probably also an accumulation of everything bad. You graduate college. You feel accomplished that you got your degree, and you feel like with hard work and putting yourself out there you'll get your desired job. You read someone's perfect post or story about how they instantly got the job because of a connection, or the right place and right time.

And then despair starts hitting you. You throw out dozens, possibly hundreds of resumes. You see job applications that require tons of experience that you as an entry level person either wont get or get rejected for . You try to improve your resume but just get rejection after rejection, or phone interviews that dont go anywhere. You start questioning if your degree even has worth, if you should have gone a different career path. You have inperson interviews. Some in which the vibe isn't there and you feel it didn't go well, or others where you thought you did good but turns out you weren't a great fit. Did I say something bad? Was it my resume? Did I lack a certain qualification? Did I look a certain way? Was someone just better? How am I supposed to compete when others who are apparently more qualified, are getting the job? What is the point?

and then you get this interview, and the person acts more blunt or "arguably rude", and then you just had enough. And you're back to square one questioning your experiences and what you're options are.

If you're someone who is in their early-mid 20's, it can absolutely be hell. If it's the first interview that happened during your first times of applying for jobs, then she may not have ended it instantly. Or if it was a situation where they have a full on skill set or backed up experience: Then they could probably take the questions more or leave without feeling bad. But when you're put out into the real world to hang and dry, getting constantly rejected and no luck finding the job of your degree: Then it can be a nightmare.

@Gladius_

the job market is tough, esp when you're young. And it's why some people change or go through certain situations.

I agree with that take. Navigating the job market is extremely taxing and demoralizing. Even though those questions are standard the interviewer asked them in a way that was so off-putting they'd be a huge red flag to most people anyways. He comes off as very high strung and brow beating right off the bat, and that's tough to deal with when you're already frustrated and doubting yourself right out of college. He was probably trying to help her relax and only did the exact opposite.

That interviewer exudes "you're not smiling and wearing enough flair" energy.