I work for a radio station that presents local news, with a little world news segment. We offer a summer internship for journalism students at the local university to come and see how radio news works, and even help put together the script for some stories. Part of this involves a quick test during the interview stage, asking them to write a quick headline and copy for made-up world news events.

Manager: “Why didn’t you put [Student’s Name] through to the consideration list?”

Me: “Oh, that guy? Look, we only have two intern spaces, so they need to go to the very best.”

Manager: “What’s wrong with [Student’s Name]? He’s the son of a friend, so I kinda wanted to give him a chance.”

Me: “On his newscast copy, he said guerrilla warfare was ‘monkeys with guns’.”

Manager: “…Never mind.”

An acquaintance of mine is looking for work. She’s good with table games, so I tell her the name of my manager at the casino where I work and say:

Me: “Go to the casino and ask for [Manager’s Name]. That’s the best way to start.”

A few weeks later, my manager stops me in the hall.

Manager: “Hey, do you know a woman named [Acquaintance’s Name]?”

Me: “Yeah, I do. Did she come in to talk to you?”

Manager: *Raising an eyebrow.* “Not exactly. She put your name and my name down on her application as personal contacts. Then, in her group interview, before she even introduced herself, I asked her, “So, how do you know [Manager’s Name]?”

I freeze. 

Manager: “She laughed and said, ‘Oh, I don’t. My friend, [My Name] told me to say I know you, so I’d get the job.'”

Me: “I… never told her to do that.”

Manager: “Yeah, I figured. Don’t worry. She didn’t get the job.”

She walks off, leaving me red-faced. Even though I think she believed me, I feel awkward every time I see her after that. That’s the last time I offer to help any of my acquaintances get a job here!

I’m a manager for a chain store, and we’re interviewing for staff for a new store opening. A number of people are waiting to be seen, so I call out the name of the next person on my list, who has applied to be a cashier.

A lady gets up, and so does the gentleman who was sitting next to her.

Me: “I’m sorry, I’m only ready to interview [Name]. You’ll need to wait for your name to be called.”

Man: “This is my wife. I’m here to help her.”

Me: “But she’s applying for the job, so I will need to interview her. You can have a seat in the waiting area until we’re done.”

Man: “She doesn’t speak any English, I need to translate for her.”

Me: “For this role, she will need to talk to customers.”

Man: “I will stand nearby and translate for her.”

Me: “I’m sorry, we can’t hire two people to do one person’s job.”

I was interviewing for a position in a factory. Had pretty good pay and benefits, and I’m a certified welder, so I was looking forward to starting.

I had one of those ‘panel’ interviews where you sit down across from three people: My actual to-be manager, someone from HR, and a bigwig.

However, during the interview, the fire alarm went off. The person who was supposed to be my manager, of course, stood up and started to leave, faster than I did, but the bigwig demanded that the manager (and I) sit down and that they finish the interview. The HR representative remained calmly sitting.

I was already by the door myself at this point, so I just shook my head and left.

I stuck around in the parking lot just long enough to figure out who the fire safety representative was, tell him my name and that I’d gotten out of the building safely, and then I drove home. I did hear fire trucks at some point as I was driving home, but I never saw them. They must have come from another direction.

I don’t know what happened to the three interviewers. I glanced behind me at the end of the hall and didn’t see anyone leaving the room, so I assume that the manager sat back down at the table, but why they would bother staying after the person they were supposed to be interviewing left is beyond me, especially during a fire alarm.

I later read in the news that there’d been a fire on the production line and several people had to be treated for smoke inhalation, so it wasn’t a false alarm.

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An Alarming Lack Of Alarm, Part 2
An Alarming Lack Of Alarm

I guess having a robbery happen during an interview isn’t that uncommon.

I was interviewing at a sub sandwich chain. They didn’t have a back room, so I was interviewing with the manager at a table in the customer area.

A man ordered a sandwich, and when it came time to pay, he pulled a pistol on the sandwich artist and said:

Customer: “I think you’ll find that there’s no charge for the sandwich.”

The worker looked at the gun, looked at the guy, looked back at the gun, sighed, and said:

Worker: “No charge for the sandwich.”

The guy walked out with his free sandwich.

The manager, who’d paused the interview to watch events go down like a hawk, clearly ready to do SOMETHING if anything went wrong, though what I have no idea, turned back to me and attempted to pick up the interview as though nothing had happened.

Finally, he asked me if I had any questions.

Me: “Does, uh, does that happen particularly often?”

Manager: “Not that often. Only about… five times since I started working here?”

Me: “How long have you worked here for?”

Manager: “Year and a half, about.”

Me: “Yeah, no. I’m sorry, I’m not comfortable with those odds.”

The manager seemed genuinely confused that I didn’t feel comfortable getting robbed at gunpoint once every three months.

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