Thread: interviews

It wasn't an overly interesting interview, but the one I did for my academic job had a weird moment or two.

I was in the UK, the job was in Australia so we arranged a video-conference interview. For me that meant getting up at 5:30am and cycling 20 minutes on a freezing late November morning to the vid-conf centre for a 6:30am 2 hour interview.

The vid conf tech set it all up and left us on our own. After the pleasantries the first thing I had to do was present a 45 minute lecture. So I stood up, turned to the whiteboard and started delivering.

About 4 minutes into the lecture they interrupted me. Apparently the videoconference camera wasn't panning out and so when I was facing them to speak they were getting a crotch shot. And when I was turning around to write on the board they were getting an arse shot!

So I had to give the lecture sitting down, newsreader style. Every time I needed to show a formula or whatever I had to draw it on a piece of paper and hold it up to the camera in front of my face while I spoke to it. Kinda a nightmare but I bumbled through.

They told me later they were impressed that I was able to adapt and see it through. But in all honesty, what choice did I have? lol.

James.

Yep,,,blame it on the camera,, ,,,,the things we are will to do, to get that job,,,,


Like I've said,,,you gotta know your target audience,,,,

I've found that excusing oneself to the restroom when feeling threatened is frowned upon.

Perhaps, that was because I felt it necessary to re-introduce myself to all in the room and pretend the interview had just started.

The 4th time was the charm.

Two interview stories: I applied in high school for a job in what was then the fanciest restaurant in town, in a fine old house. The owner was interviewing in a the bar area. There must have been a couple dozen black men in that room. The other white guy and I got the job after a perfunctory interview-I've never forgotten that lesson in the way the world worked...

2nd story: I interviewed 14 years ago for my current position on the faculty of a large suburban high school, where I''ll probably retire from. Anyway, after some more perfunctory professional questioning, the principal got sidetracked on running down a local, rival school, and local history, and I just went with the flow,being something of a history buff myself. Long story short, I got the job at one of the top high schools in the state, and I love it.

And when Jimbo got there they were impressed he had lost 10Lbs!

I've had a lot of interviews. Some good, some bad. Always got the job if I needed it. But the best interview wasn't even an official interview. It was one of intuitively recognizing someone and shocking that person into granting a cross country trip for the "official" interview. I was at a national convention for my field and I had posted on the job board my qualifications and desire for employment. I had gone to the message board, pushed my way through a thick crowd, found a message for me, read it and immediately turned around and introduced myself to the imposing figure behind me. And no, I did not see a name tag, nobody had a name tag on. And yes, it was the writer of the message to me. We had a good talk and the formal interview came two weeks later.

Originally Posted by Jimbo

They told me later they were impressed that I was able to adapt and see it through. But in all honesty, what choice did I have? lol.

You could have stuck to the original shots, not unimpressive either

Originally Posted by gugi

You could have stuck to the original shots, not unimpressive either

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
Consider yourself Hirlau'd

Heard by way of the grapevine that an old hard case with REALLY nice trucks and good pay was looking for a driver. I knew the company and thought I'd see about gettin a seat in one of his big shiny, hard charging, Peterbilts. I drove into the parking lot in my pick up slow and easy so as not to stir up a bunch of dust. Went inside and asked if they were still looking for a driver. Dispatcher pointed at a door and told me Jimmy, the old man, was in there. I knocked, stepped in, introduced myself and told him what I was there for. He looked me up and down and said. "Can you run a pair of boxes?" I answered, "does a fat dog fart?"

He grinned and said, "Well, let's see what ya got. Follow me." I followed him outside to one of the best looking, extended hood Petes I's seen in a long time. He allowed as this was HIS truck. He pitched me the keys and said, "Let's go." I caught the keys, shoved 'em in my pocket, and opened the hood, checked the oil and water on that V-8 Cat, looked her over real good front and back, closed her face and unlocked the doors. Fired it up and made sure it had oil pressure and stepped down and lit up a smoke. The old man never said a word while all this was going on. I listened to that Cat rattle for a bit, finished my smoke and climbed in. The old man got in on the passenger side. I cogged it up, released the brakes and started creepy crawling out toward the street at an idle. Got her on the pavement and started going through the gears. we went about half a mile and he said, "turn this sumbitch around and take it back to the yard."

I did, pulled it up within inches of where we left from, set the brake and shut it down. He fiddled around with something for few minutes and said. "When do you want to start?" Told him I could leave right now as I had all my gear with me. He said be ready to go on Monday. I asked him what truck I'd be driving so I could throw my gear in it. He grinned and said, the one you just got out of. It's yours til you screw up."

I drove for him for 6 months, then the old goat had the nerve to up and die on us. His kid was a punk and I wasn't gonna work for him. Had three job offers from owners before the week was over when they found out I wasn't working for Jimmy anymore.

Originally Posted by gugi

You could have stuck to the original shots, not unimpressive either

Well, the lecture I gave was on "Big Data", so ...

James.