Yesterday I had either the worst interview ever or I was pushed and tested hardcore. This is a long post but I'm curious to see what others think about it because my friends and family are divided into two camps: 1. It was a test. and 2. That guy sucks be glad you don't work there. Here's what went down...
I was originally contacted about a Search Engine Marketing Analyst position by a guy named Chad. He sounded very nice and we had a lovely phone interview so he set up a face-to-face with his manager Tom last Thursday.
That interview went *amazing*. We chatted for two hours about everything related to this position and I just felt great walking out of there. He assigned me a homework project and so I took it and RAN. I spent the whole weekend on it and emailed it to both Tom and Chad on Monday.
I instantly heard back from Chad. He wanted to set up a face-to-face with himself, so that was what I was going into yesterday morning.
I didn't do any more research because at this point I've worked for free for them a whole weekend and I really feel like I had a good idea of what they needed and where I could help them.
So I got there and met Chad. It was a *great* 30 minute interview but he stopped me to bring in his VP, the Director of Advertising and "everything else." This VP was there to "pick my brain and ask me questions and find out how I tick and solve problems."
Great! I'm a big girl and I feel confident that I can do this job, have done tons of research on their web presence and SEM opportunities and have had two really great interviews. They told me I was one of their two final candidates, so yay! Bring it on! This isn't scary - right?
Yeah it was awful.
VP comes in and tells me all about himself and how he has no background in advertising, he's all about analytics and number crunching and percentages and performance/results. (I majored in English. Yayyyyyyyy. not).
He tells me that SEM (Search Engine Marketing, the main task of the job I'm interviewing for and something I've been doing for two years), is NOT really marketing. Gives me a textbook definition of SEM and says that is not what it is. And when I gently say "but it is..." he says "no." So we move on, agreeing to disagree I guess...
Then he looks down at my resume and sees that I majored in English; emphasis in Technical Writing. This is within 5 minutes of meeting him. He says, and I quote: "Why would ANYONE on Earth want to major in Technical Writing? You took all the fun stuff; creative writing, literature, reading, and you went for the most bland, boring, dry, basic degree you could get."
I'm thinking "You've got to be kidding me. He just insulted my degree, something I worked my tail off for, something I actually *love* and am talented at. WTF?!"
I respond with "Well actually those other things aren't fun for me. I really enjoy technical writing, I have a strong voice and a good ethos. I enjoy researching my audience, compartmentalizing information and putting together a well-written document that is informative without waxing on."
The rest of the interview was him asking me some pretty ridiculous questions and then ripping my answers apart while I desperately tried to stay positive, upbeat and strong. Everything I said he spinned into a negative situation or a negative response. He called me "aggressive" because I had done so much research on their company and identified where I could help. He said I was "cocky" because I spoke about my experience with my current company. He said I was "opinionated" because I believed the things I said.
(Note: I even stopped to ask him twice "Please tell me what I've done to give you that impression because I would love to learn from this experience" and he said "no, we're certainly learning..." I also tried to defend myself saying "I'm a very open minded person." But he took that as "easy to influence" and called me "defensive.")
Where *I* come from those traits are called "proactive," "confident," and "convicted." He also said that I would rely on my past experiences to do the job for them. Uhh... duh.
So eventually he left and Chad came back. Chad kinda grimaced and asked how it went... I said "well it was okay, he said I was aggressive, I tend to describe myself as energetic and bubbly, sooo..." Yeah.
Anyway, Chad and I had a great conversation, lots of laughs, I hit all his SEM questions out of the park and he totally agreed with everything I said. He ended the interview with a "we'll be in touch, and if you aren't selected for this position it is by NO means because we aren't thoroughly impressed and I will keep you in mind for any future positions with us because I'd love to work with you."
Great.
So now I'm waiting for a call. My co-worker knows a girl in their advertising department and by 2:00 yesterday they were calling him for a reference for me (which is kinda weird b/c they asked me for no references and I didn't provide any... shady...).
So if you made it this far - what do you think?
Was this guy really that big of a prick or was he playing good cop/bad cop?
Was he really offensive or was he trying to put me on the spot and test my patience?
Should I imagine that he wouldn't really be that much of a prick to work for or be thankful that I found out what a meanie this guy is BEFORE I accepted the job?
Personally, from some of the things he said in the interview, I really believe that he totally hated me. So I expect one of two calls:
1. I'm sorry SC but we've decided to award the position to our other candidate. Thanks for playing and good luck. (This is the call I'm hoping for man, seriously, I am so turned off from this company now.)
or
2. Congratulations SC you passed our insane-highpressure-insulting-VP stress test and were successful despite his hardest efforts to throw you off and make you uncomfortable! Come work for us! (This is the only way I would accept this position. A mere "we decided to offer you the position" with no explanation of that guy's douchebaggery just isn't enough.)
Thoughts? Anyone else ever experience a negative interview like this? I really want to learn from this experience but mostly I just want to punch something.
I was originally contacted about a Search Engine Marketing Analyst position by a guy named Chad. He sounded very nice and we had a lovely phone interview so he set up a face-to-face with his manager Tom last Thursday.
That interview went *amazing*. We chatted for two hours about everything related to this position and I just felt great walking out of there. He assigned me a homework project and so I took it and RAN. I spent the whole weekend on it and emailed it to both Tom and Chad on Monday.
I instantly heard back from Chad. He wanted to set up a face-to-face with himself, so that was what I was going into yesterday morning.
I didn't do any more research because at this point I've worked for free for them a whole weekend and I really feel like I had a good idea of what they needed and where I could help them.
So I got there and met Chad. It was a *great* 30 minute interview but he stopped me to bring in his VP, the Director of Advertising and "everything else." This VP was there to "pick my brain and ask me questions and find out how I tick and solve problems."
Great! I'm a big girl and I feel confident that I can do this job, have done tons of research on their web presence and SEM opportunities and have had two really great interviews. They told me I was one of their two final candidates, so yay! Bring it on! This isn't scary - right?
Yeah it was awful.
VP comes in and tells me all about himself and how he has no background in advertising, he's all about analytics and number crunching and percentages and performance/results. (I majored in English. Yayyyyyyyy. not).
He tells me that SEM (Search Engine Marketing, the main task of the job I'm interviewing for and something I've been doing for two years), is NOT really marketing. Gives me a textbook definition of SEM and says that is not what it is. And when I gently say "but it is..." he says "no." So we move on, agreeing to disagree I guess...
Then he looks down at my resume and sees that I majored in English; emphasis in Technical Writing. This is within 5 minutes of meeting him. He says, and I quote: "Why would ANYONE on Earth want to major in Technical Writing? You took all the fun stuff; creative writing, literature, reading, and you went for the most bland, boring, dry, basic degree you could get."
I'm thinking "You've got to be kidding me. He just insulted my degree, something I worked my tail off for, something I actually *love* and am talented at. WTF?!"
I respond with "Well actually those other things aren't fun for me. I really enjoy technical writing, I have a strong voice and a good ethos. I enjoy researching my audience, compartmentalizing information and putting together a well-written document that is informative without waxing on."
The rest of the interview was him asking me some pretty ridiculous questions and then ripping my answers apart while I desperately tried to stay positive, upbeat and strong. Everything I said he spinned into a negative situation or a negative response. He called me "aggressive" because I had done so much research on their company and identified where I could help. He said I was "cocky" because I spoke about my experience with my current company. He said I was "opinionated" because I believed the things I said.
(Note: I even stopped to ask him twice "Please tell me what I've done to give you that impression because I would love to learn from this experience" and he said "no, we're certainly learning..." I also tried to defend myself saying "I'm a very open minded person." But he took that as "easy to influence" and called me "defensive.")
Where *I* come from those traits are called "proactive," "confident," and "convicted." He also said that I would rely on my past experiences to do the job for them. Uhh... duh.
So eventually he left and Chad came back. Chad kinda grimaced and asked how it went... I said "well it was okay, he said I was aggressive, I tend to describe myself as energetic and bubbly, sooo..." Yeah.
Anyway, Chad and I had a great conversation, lots of laughs, I hit all his SEM questions out of the park and he totally agreed with everything I said. He ended the interview with a "we'll be in touch, and if you aren't selected for this position it is by NO means because we aren't thoroughly impressed and I will keep you in mind for any future positions with us because I'd love to work with you."
Great.
So now I'm waiting for a call. My co-worker knows a girl in their advertising department and by 2:00 yesterday they were calling him for a reference for me (which is kinda weird b/c they asked me for no references and I didn't provide any... shady...).
So if you made it this far - what do you think?
Was this guy really that big of a prick or was he playing good cop/bad cop?
Was he really offensive or was he trying to put me on the spot and test my patience?
Should I imagine that he wouldn't really be that much of a prick to work for or be thankful that I found out what a meanie this guy is BEFORE I accepted the job?
Personally, from some of the things he said in the interview, I really believe that he totally hated me. So I expect one of two calls:
1. I'm sorry SC but we've decided to award the position to our other candidate. Thanks for playing and good luck. (This is the call I'm hoping for man, seriously, I am so turned off from this company now.)
or
2. Congratulations SC you passed our insane-highpressure-insulting-VP stress test and were successful despite his hardest efforts to throw you off and make you uncomfortable! Come work for us! (This is the only way I would accept this position. A mere "we decided to offer you the position" with no explanation of that guy's douchebaggery just isn't enough.)
Thoughts? Anyone else ever experience a negative interview like this? I really want to learn from this experience but mostly I just want to punch something.