Weirdest or Strangest Things heard at an interview
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teacherguy
- Posts: 37
- Joined: Sat Aug 18, 2012 11:11 am
UNI Fair, a long, long time ago:
I had a number of strikes against me at the time- just out of university so no experience, and a non-teaching spouse. There were very few schools even interested in interviewing me.
I walk into the hotel room for my interview. The room is FULL of shopping bags. And junk food. (I mean everywhere.) In the room is the director and her daughter. The first ten minutes are spent having them show me all the stuff they’ve purchased to take home with them. Five minutes is spent taking to her daughter while the director chats on the phone. The last five minutes are taken up by the director telling me about the school. The only question I was asked is, “do you have any questions?â€
I had a number of strikes against me at the time- just out of university so no experience, and a non-teaching spouse. There were very few schools even interested in interviewing me.
I walk into the hotel room for my interview. The room is FULL of shopping bags. And junk food. (I mean everywhere.) In the room is the director and her daughter. The first ten minutes are spent having them show me all the stuff they’ve purchased to take home with them. Five minutes is spent taking to her daughter while the director chats on the phone. The last five minutes are taken up by the director telling me about the school. The only question I was asked is, “do you have any questions?â€
Interesting
Wow, very interesting thread! Some stories gave me a chuckle. Thank you for sharing.
BKK job fair this winter, sitting at a table to book an interview with one of our top choices, the school director asks us, "what time is good for you guys?" We respond with 9:30am and she promptly says, "that won't work, I am getting my last fitting done during that time."
Thanks a lot...this is our life!!!
To finish it off, during the interview in her room the next day, a knock on the door came and she left her desk during my wife's mid sentence answer to get the door and gather her tailored goods.
Needless to say it no longer was one of our top choices after that interview.
Thanks a lot...this is our life!!!
To finish it off, during the interview in her room the next day, a knock on the door came and she left her desk during my wife's mid sentence answer to get the door and gather her tailored goods.
Needless to say it no longer was one of our top choices after that interview.
An admin told this story:
The candidate shows up a few minutes late for the interview, dressed horribly, hair's a mess, smells of alcohol. The interviewer turns away to get something, and when he turns back, the candidate is drinking the interviewer's coffee. When the interviewer points this out, the candidate says something like "is this going to hurt my chances of getting the job?"
I set up an interview after the recruiter emailed me about an elementary classroom position. The recruiter starts to interview with "so this position is for grade 5/6 English". Ok.. I'd consider that. The interview consists mostly of the interviewer telling my about how great the city is and how much money I can save. I try to squeeze in a few questions about school practices etc., with little luck. The next day, he offers the position. When I said I would consider an elementary position, "ya, no problem, you got it!". Desperation is not attractive in a school. I declined.
The candidate shows up a few minutes late for the interview, dressed horribly, hair's a mess, smells of alcohol. The interviewer turns away to get something, and when he turns back, the candidate is drinking the interviewer's coffee. When the interviewer points this out, the candidate says something like "is this going to hurt my chances of getting the job?"
I set up an interview after the recruiter emailed me about an elementary classroom position. The recruiter starts to interview with "so this position is for grade 5/6 English". Ok.. I'd consider that. The interview consists mostly of the interviewer telling my about how great the city is and how much money I can save. I try to squeeze in a few questions about school practices etc., with little luck. The next day, he offers the position. When I said I would consider an elementary position, "ya, no problem, you got it!". Desperation is not attractive in a school. I declined.
My principal was interviewing a young woman for a position that opened up mid year. The interview took place on a Saturday in the principal's office. It wasn't unusual for the principal to bring her dog in with her on the weekends when she worked and this Saturday was no exception. During the interview process, the principal decided to give a tour of the school to this young woman which is when I bumped into them in the hallway. While I was being introduced, the principal's dog ran up to the young woman and peed on her leg. Awkward. We all just stood there not quite believing what had just happened. The young woman, obviously grossed out, was at a loss for words. The principal, without missing a beat, said, "I guess I have to offer you the job now." The young woman accepted.
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Cindylouwho
- Posts: 12
- Joined: Sat Jan 05, 2013 8:02 am
I interviewed at a school in Las Palmas, Gran Canaria. The first question the director asked me was if I knew WHERE Las Palmas was located. I said yes, it is on the island of Gran Canaria. She said that she was just checking because the year before they hired a teacher who thought she accepted a job on mainland Spain, not an island off of Africa. I thought that was sort of random and funny.
This was from my previous life a year out of university when I was still in the corporate world. It is a story I tell my graduating seniors.
I go to the hotel door and was greeted by a Jerry Garcia look alike with a wrinkled suit and birkenstocks. I was in California (they flew me out) so ok. I was VERY prepared and had a great interview even with my limited experience. I go back to my room and get a phone call after an hour to meet again for lunch with 2 guys and another candidate. At the lunch the waiter asked me if I wanted a beer, I said "not right now". The other candidate said "NO!" , both of the interviewers had beers. I changed my order, and had one also. I was offered the position that evening. A few months later I asked my boss what got me the job? I was told that the job required me to go out with customers, and drinking was an aspect that needed to be considered. I assessed the situation and drank the beer. So drinking at a lunch interview got me the job. You must be able to - and take risk. Needless to say, I met a lot of alcoholics in that industry, and left to do my masters in education 2 years later.
I go to the hotel door and was greeted by a Jerry Garcia look alike with a wrinkled suit and birkenstocks. I was in California (they flew me out) so ok. I was VERY prepared and had a great interview even with my limited experience. I go back to my room and get a phone call after an hour to meet again for lunch with 2 guys and another candidate. At the lunch the waiter asked me if I wanted a beer, I said "not right now". The other candidate said "NO!" , both of the interviewers had beers. I changed my order, and had one also. I was offered the position that evening. A few months later I asked my boss what got me the job? I was told that the job required me to go out with customers, and drinking was an aspect that needed to be considered. I assessed the situation and drank the beer. So drinking at a lunch interview got me the job. You must be able to - and take risk. Needless to say, I met a lot of alcoholics in that industry, and left to do my masters in education 2 years later.
I was giving an interview. I was a VP at the time and my Principal was there, but he had told me to basically run the interview. I was interviewing an older Australian gentleman for a position as a chemistry teacher. Right as I was about to finish the interview I asked if he had any questions, and he said, "No questions, but I just want you to know that if I get the job; I don't want to work hard, and I probably won't. I sat there dumbfounded for a minute, and just as I was about to say ok next; my principal perked up and said your hired. The interviewer left and I looked at my principal and said what the ____ was that. He said it doesn't matter we need a butt in the seat for the Chemistry position and now we have one. Needless to say that teacher left during the mid-term break. I also left after that year as I wanted a job that wanted more then just a warm body in the classroom.
Top 3 Weird Interviews
1. This was on of my first interviews fresh out of university. I was interviewing for a entry level position with a large international bank and there were two people conducting the interview (a man and a woman). The man asked all the questions I expected. I asked my questions about bank. So far so good. The woman then smiles and says that everything looks great. She then says "Are you pregnant or do you have any intention of planning a family within the next six months?"
I was gobsmacked. The woman keeps smiling and the man is ticking off boxes on his sheet This was the sort of question you could sue a company for in the US or UK. In my head I was fuming! I was also ticked as hell because no one would ask a man if he had impregnated or had plans to impregnate someone.
After speaking to a few other other people, I learned it was a fairly standard question in the Asian country I was living in. They didn't want to hire people who would be on mat leave during or right after the probationary period. I got the job but declined.
2. Recruiting Fair- The principal of a South American school was my last interview of the day. I was pretty beat. He seemed nice enough and the interview went well, standard questions. However after we finished up with that he moved on to talking about his past as PE teacher in the US. He talked my ear off. I tried to excuse myself on several occasions but I was in there for 1.5 hours and was mercifully saved by a knock on the door. I felt even worse getting the stare of death from three other candidates waiting outside. Staff meetings at that school must be hell on earth- the man loves the sound of his own voice!
3. Recruiting Fair- The same school interviewed my friend and I for different positions. She said it was a terrible interview and that she was asked several intense question about some obscure theory in an academic text. I went in and they talked to me about my childhood and near death experiences. It was very relaxed. Go figure. We both got offered jobs. Neither of us took them up on it.
I was gobsmacked. The woman keeps smiling and the man is ticking off boxes on his sheet This was the sort of question you could sue a company for in the US or UK. In my head I was fuming! I was also ticked as hell because no one would ask a man if he had impregnated or had plans to impregnate someone.
After speaking to a few other other people, I learned it was a fairly standard question in the Asian country I was living in. They didn't want to hire people who would be on mat leave during or right after the probationary period. I got the job but declined.
2. Recruiting Fair- The principal of a South American school was my last interview of the day. I was pretty beat. He seemed nice enough and the interview went well, standard questions. However after we finished up with that he moved on to talking about his past as PE teacher in the US. He talked my ear off. I tried to excuse myself on several occasions but I was in there for 1.5 hours and was mercifully saved by a knock on the door. I felt even worse getting the stare of death from three other candidates waiting outside. Staff meetings at that school must be hell on earth- the man loves the sound of his own voice!
3. Recruiting Fair- The same school interviewed my friend and I for different positions. She said it was a terrible interview and that she was asked several intense question about some obscure theory in an academic text. I went in and they talked to me about my childhood and near death experiences. It was very relaxed. Go figure. We both got offered jobs. Neither of us took them up on it.
Response to Lightstays on Syria
I was recruited to work in Syria for the 2010/2011 and spent a wonderful year and a half working there. The security situation was very much under control and never did I felt threatened or in danger. It has since deteriorated but still many parts are safe and life goes on somewhat as normal for a large number of people. I met many Syrians who did support the government and the frequent mass demonstrations of support that often paraded by my home reinforced that.
What was told to you was not weird or strange but the truth as many of the other teachers working there would also tell you. I am glad you can find some positive out of not receiving the job but to consider the director speaking to you truthfully weird or strange did not sit well with me. I loved Syria and should the school reopen I would gratefully go back.
What was told to you was not weird or strange but the truth as many of the other teachers working there would also tell you. I am glad you can find some positive out of not receiving the job but to consider the director speaking to you truthfully weird or strange did not sit well with me. I loved Syria and should the school reopen I would gratefully go back.
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PrettyExpatriate
- Posts: 5
- Joined: Sat Dec 13, 2014 8:41 pm
Re:
Canada11 wrote:
> My principal was interviewing a young woman for a position that opened up
> mid year. The interview took place on a Saturday in the principal's
> office. It wasn't unusual for the principal to bring her dog in with her
> on the weekends when she worked and this Saturday was no exception. During
> the interview process, the principal decided to give a tour of the school
> to this young woman which is when I bumped into them in the hallway. While
> I was being introduced, the principal's dog ran up to the young woman and
> peed on her leg. Awkward. We all just stood there not quite believing
> what had just happened. The young woman, obviously grossed out, was at a
> loss for words. The principal, without missing a beat, said, "I guess
> I have to offer you the job now." The young woman accepted.
The dog marked its territory, chose her well I suppose. Wonder if she's still there. Ha ha!
> My principal was interviewing a young woman for a position that opened up
> mid year. The interview took place on a Saturday in the principal's
> office. It wasn't unusual for the principal to bring her dog in with her
> on the weekends when she worked and this Saturday was no exception. During
> the interview process, the principal decided to give a tour of the school
> to this young woman which is when I bumped into them in the hallway. While
> I was being introduced, the principal's dog ran up to the young woman and
> peed on her leg. Awkward. We all just stood there not quite believing
> what had just happened. The young woman, obviously grossed out, was at a
> loss for words. The principal, without missing a beat, said, "I guess
> I have to offer you the job now." The young woman accepted.
The dog marked its territory, chose her well I suppose. Wonder if she's still there. Ha ha!