Dear All,
Can anyone share his/her bad experiences while facing an interview, especially those experiences that provided valuable learnings? What are the pros and cons of mentioning the same?
Please answer.
Regards,
Nishu
From India, New Delhi
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6Can anyone share his/her bad experiences while facing an interview, especially those experiences that provided valuable learnings? What are the pros and cons of mentioning the same?
Please answer.
Regards,
Nishu
From India, New Delhi
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Hi Nishu,
My opinion... Only if you are asked. For instance, the interviewer may ask questions like:
- What was the most difficult assignment you've done?
- What was the most challenging situation you've faced? How did you handle it?
- How do you handle differences of opinion?
These questions are an opportunity to show that you can face workplace challenges (bad experiences) and can be innovative and flexible to tackle these situations. Remember, it's not an opportunity to crib or backbite!
Hope this helps.
Thanks,
Shikha
From India, Mumbai
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My opinion... Only if you are asked. For instance, the interviewer may ask questions like:
- What was the most difficult assignment you've done?
- What was the most challenging situation you've faced? How did you handle it?
- How do you handle differences of opinion?
These questions are an opportunity to show that you can face workplace challenges (bad experiences) and can be innovative and flexible to tackle these situations. Remember, it's not an opportunity to crib or backbite!
Hope this helps.
Thanks,
Shikha
From India, Mumbai
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If one can afford to be honest, then nothing like it. Any workplace, if worth it, will throw challenges and that's where you learn from. So one must be prepared to say that from every experience, say every moment, I learn. So one needs to be analytical of every experience. Learn to reflect on all experiences, some call it good, some bad. Shikha's questions, and many more, not only help in interviews but self-assessment at all times. Keep answering such questions to yourself: My challenging moments, memorable experiences, that changed my life, my idol, my embarrassments, successes, what gives me happiness, why I lost my previous job, whom I hurt/made happy today, what I did that made me proud...answer these to yourself.
From India, Nasik
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From India, Nasik
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Hi Nishu,
I would suggest people to talk only when asked for!
Recently, we conducted an interview for a very senior role. We have a set of forms that we would want candidates to fill. During one such interview yesterday morning, a candidate started boasting about himself, saying, "Look, I am a senior. Why should I fill this? Why should I take up psychometric tests?"
The worst part was when he started comparing himself with the other candidates and suggested to me that a few people he knows in the list are actually lying about their profession.
This candidate, the so-called senior candidate, came wearing low-waist jeans that would fall any minute. Yes, we could see the innerwear, and a tight-fitting white shirt.
All I had to advise him at the end (of course, he overdid the technical interviews and was only boasting, just plain boasting) was, "Please talk only when invited to, at least during interviews, else you may not end up with a good job."
This person did not even let a few other candidates take the tests. They voluntarily asked me to change his room! I felt bad for this person; he was making a fool out of himself.
From India, Madras
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I would suggest people to talk only when asked for!
Recently, we conducted an interview for a very senior role. We have a set of forms that we would want candidates to fill. During one such interview yesterday morning, a candidate started boasting about himself, saying, "Look, I am a senior. Why should I fill this? Why should I take up psychometric tests?"
The worst part was when he started comparing himself with the other candidates and suggested to me that a few people he knows in the list are actually lying about their profession.
This candidate, the so-called senior candidate, came wearing low-waist jeans that would fall any minute. Yes, we could see the innerwear, and a tight-fitting white shirt.
All I had to advise him at the end (of course, he overdid the technical interviews and was only boasting, just plain boasting) was, "Please talk only when invited to, at least during interviews, else you may not end up with a good job."
This person did not even let a few other candidates take the tests. They voluntarily asked me to change his room! I felt bad for this person; he was making a fool out of himself.
From India, Madras
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Hey, I also have experience in conducting interviews for a Site Incharge position. It so happened that we organized a walk-in event at my office for various positions in a steel manufacturing unit. The job opening was for Manager - GM of the unit.
One person arrived, expressing a desire to be interviewed first. During the interview, he began talking about other candidates. Subsequently, he was requested to stay for a second round of interviews scheduled for after 2:00 PM.
He then asked for lunch. We advised him to go to the local market. However, he started shouting, questioning the company's provisions, claiming there was no food provided. His behavior seemed aimed at demotivating others.
It was one of the worst experiences I have ever had in my life.
From India, Guwahati
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One person arrived, expressing a desire to be interviewed first. During the interview, he began talking about other candidates. Subsequently, he was requested to stay for a second round of interviews scheduled for after 2:00 PM.
He then asked for lunch. We advised him to go to the local market. However, he started shouting, questioning the company's provisions, claiming there was no food provided. His behavior seemed aimed at demotivating others.
It was one of the worst experiences I have ever had in my life.
From India, Guwahati
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Your enthusiasm is appreciated.
Most of the questions asked by the interviewer are related to finding a suitable candidate. If it is an HR interview, consider the following typical questions:
- What about yourself?
- What are your strengths?
- What are your weaknesses?
- What were your achieved targets in your previous company and life?
- What was your most challenging task?
- What is your department hierarchy?
- How will you make decisions?
- How do you handle stressful situations?
- How will you interact with employees?
- How will you manage day-to-day activities?
- Why do you want to leave your current company?
- Why should we hire you?
As the interview progresses, more questions are likely to arise for the interviewee.
Regards,
Krishna
From India, Hyderabad
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Most of the questions asked by the interviewer are related to finding a suitable candidate. If it is an HR interview, consider the following typical questions:
- What about yourself?
- What are your strengths?
- What are your weaknesses?
- What were your achieved targets in your previous company and life?
- What was your most challenging task?
- What is your department hierarchy?
- How will you make decisions?
- How do you handle stressful situations?
- How will you interact with employees?
- How will you manage day-to-day activities?
- Why do you want to leave your current company?
- Why should we hire you?
As the interview progresses, more questions are likely to arise for the interviewee.
Regards,
Krishna
From India, Hyderabad
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I remember one such incident where one of my friends was asked in the interview, "why should we reject you?" She couldn't say anything at that time. But I think the interviewer indirectly wanted to know the weakness of the candidate!
Ensure proper paragraph formatting with a single line break between paragraphs.
From Canada, Sutton
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Ensure proper paragraph formatting with a single line break between paragraphs.
From Canada, Sutton
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Good and Bad experience teaches us how to be better in life.. take a minute for good exprerience but 10 for bad ones because nobody wants to experience bad ones from us. take care
From Maldives
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From Maldives
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Hi everyone
all above mentioned quest are very helpful and something exactly what an interview can ask but i have some different experience .
it was the time when i joint my first company and my first job as well.
my first interview took by company secretary and he did not any quest tht i couldn’t ans.and he took me in company director cabin ,where i said for sit i was quite and afraid .but Directer of Company, My new interviewer asked me only one question
"write down 1 to 10 in numerical" it was very easy and i was selected but i m still don't know why he asked me such question. Whether I don’t know anything or he wanted to see my confidence
From India, Delhi
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all above mentioned quest are very helpful and something exactly what an interview can ask but i have some different experience .
it was the time when i joint my first company and my first job as well.
my first interview took by company secretary and he did not any quest tht i couldn’t ans.and he took me in company director cabin ,where i said for sit i was quite and afraid .but Directer of Company, My new interviewer asked me only one question
"write down 1 to 10 in numerical" it was very easy and i was selected but i m still don't know why he asked me such question. Whether I don’t know anything or he wanted to see my confidence
From India, Delhi
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Well, I wouldn't call my experience a bad one as such. This issue may sound trivial, but I just want to understand the practice in other companies. I had been for an interview to a well-known organization which apparently has also been recognized as one of the best companies for HR practices. I was called for the interview at 12:00 noon and was made to wait for over 2 hours for my first round of interview. For the second round, I was again made to wait, but fortunately, that got over by 3:00 pm. I understand this happens in most places, but my concern is that although the HR coordinator knew that I had traveled for more than 1.5 hours to reach the venue and considering that normally people have lunch between 12:00 - 3:00, I thought that some arrangements should have been made for interviewees to at least get access to some drinking water. However, I learned my lesson to carry a bottle of water for any future interviews that I attend. In my organization, we follow the practice of offering water, tea/coffee, and if the interviewee happens to be around during lunchtime, we offer lunch as well. I obviously do not expect all companies to offer lunch, but can any of you please share the practices in your company.
From India, Mumbai
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From India, Mumbai
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Dear Sia,
It depends on the interviewer/employer. For instance, we have two of our units based out of a very remote area. So, we don't prefer our candidates to struggle by going and searching for places to have lunch.
As far as our Corporate Office is concerned, we prefer candidates to have lunch from outside - we mostly do not let them be around with our employees and have lunch or even be disturbed by asking for what position they are being interviewed.
From India, Madras
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It depends on the interviewer/employer. For instance, we have two of our units based out of a very remote area. So, we don't prefer our candidates to struggle by going and searching for places to have lunch.
As far as our Corporate Office is concerned, we prefer candidates to have lunch from outside - we mostly do not let them be around with our employees and have lunch or even be disturbed by asking for what position they are being interviewed.
From India, Madras
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I was gone for the post of Relationship Officer at Kotak Direct, and I had not worn formal attire as well as shoes. So, HR told me to come with shoes on the next day. When I went back the next day fully uniformed, HR was wearing jeans, and the job was for marketing. Consequently, I did not join. If HR had conducted my interview on the first day, then I wouldn't have needed to go again.
From India, Pune
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From India, Pune
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I guess it does depend on the company. When I read your post, I was upset thinking how a company can act so unprofessionally. But as I was reading the other comments, I kind'a started thinking... There are actually two sides to it.
Firstly, how a company treats their potential employees shows (or at least makes one wonder) how they would treat their employees. Making a candidate wait for 3 or 4 hours for an interview shows complete disregard and disrespect to the candidate's time and personal needs. I may have an emergency doc's appointment at 4 and would've thought I will attend my interview (because I need that job) from 1 to 2, and go to the doc. But because of the wait, I miss my doc's appointment. I may be a diabetic who requires food or medication every hour or two hours. Any number of such situations could happen. It is important to keep an appointment. If you cannot due to a last minute emergency, then make arrangements for an alternative interviewer or contact the interviewee, apologize for having to reschedule the interview, and set up a different time, before the interviewee shows up.
Secondly, how an interviewee takes this whole wait thing, I suppose, also depends on how the company treats the interviewee during wait time. Allowing the interviewee to socialize with the employees shows trust – we trust our employees to give you a good feeling about the company. We trust you to be a positive force among our employees, learn about our work life, and how we are with each other on a day-to-day basis. After all, if you are selected in this interview, you will be one of us. Letting the interviewee participate in such activities (not some math exercises or quizzes etc., but real) “a day at our company being an employee” kind of activities (nothing company confidential, but very general) would make the interviewee not mind the wait – because then (s)he is not waiting. It would be a part of the interview process – because, you can also analyze if he/she is a good cultural fit in your company. In this case, regardless of how the “actual” interview goes, the candidate will take away a good feeling about the company.
Just sharing my thoughts.
Thanks,
--Som G
From United States, Woodinville
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Firstly, how a company treats their potential employees shows (or at least makes one wonder) how they would treat their employees. Making a candidate wait for 3 or 4 hours for an interview shows complete disregard and disrespect to the candidate's time and personal needs. I may have an emergency doc's appointment at 4 and would've thought I will attend my interview (because I need that job) from 1 to 2, and go to the doc. But because of the wait, I miss my doc's appointment. I may be a diabetic who requires food or medication every hour or two hours. Any number of such situations could happen. It is important to keep an appointment. If you cannot due to a last minute emergency, then make arrangements for an alternative interviewer or contact the interviewee, apologize for having to reschedule the interview, and set up a different time, before the interviewee shows up.
Secondly, how an interviewee takes this whole wait thing, I suppose, also depends on how the company treats the interviewee during wait time. Allowing the interviewee to socialize with the employees shows trust – we trust our employees to give you a good feeling about the company. We trust you to be a positive force among our employees, learn about our work life, and how we are with each other on a day-to-day basis. After all, if you are selected in this interview, you will be one of us. Letting the interviewee participate in such activities (not some math exercises or quizzes etc., but real) “a day at our company being an employee” kind of activities (nothing company confidential, but very general) would make the interviewee not mind the wait – because then (s)he is not waiting. It would be a part of the interview process – because, you can also analyze if he/she is a good cultural fit in your company. In this case, regardless of how the “actual” interview goes, the candidate will take away a good feeling about the company.
Just sharing my thoughts.
Thanks,
--Som G
From United States, Woodinville
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But I have seen in most of the companies, there is a practice to give an appointment and then make one wait. I do not understand why they give an appointment instead of opting for walk-ins. If you are giving an appointment, then one should keep the time. A delay of 15 minutes can be well understood, but I do not know why people do not place any importance on keeping time.
From India, Pune
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From India, Pune
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Hi! This is GS Swami, who joined the group today.
I would also like to share a few of my personal experiences that I faced during interviews. Once in an interview, I was asked, "How did I land here?". I was confused by this question as I was not able to understand whether they wanted to know about my suitability for the position or how I arrived at the interview location. It was a tricky question, so I asked the interviewer to clarify, allowing me to respond appropriately.
Sometimes during interviews, we encounter candidates who ask questions before the interview formally begins. I recall an instance where a candidate started questioning us about job responsibilities, location, office hours, etc., before the interview had even started. This individual was very talkative. We often come across such candidates during interviews.
From India, Pune
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I would also like to share a few of my personal experiences that I faced during interviews. Once in an interview, I was asked, "How did I land here?". I was confused by this question as I was not able to understand whether they wanted to know about my suitability for the position or how I arrived at the interview location. It was a tricky question, so I asked the interviewer to clarify, allowing me to respond appropriately.
Sometimes during interviews, we encounter candidates who ask questions before the interview formally begins. I recall an instance where a candidate started questioning us about job responsibilities, location, office hours, etc., before the interview had even started. This individual was very talkative. We often come across such candidates during interviews.
From India, Pune
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Hi GS Swami,
What they meant about how you landed there was definitely not about how you reached there. It's about how you chose to be in that profession, reached that stage, and what made you choose to attend that interview.
In the second scenario:
It is always better to educate the candidate about the position, responsibilities, job location, and gauge their understanding/interest before proceeding with the interview. This helps in assessing their suitability for the role and can also increase their interest level if they are a perfect match.
From India, Madras
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What they meant about how you landed there was definitely not about how you reached there. It's about how you chose to be in that profession, reached that stage, and what made you choose to attend that interview.
In the second scenario:
It is always better to educate the candidate about the position, responsibilities, job location, and gauge their understanding/interest before proceeding with the interview. This helps in assessing their suitability for the role and can also increase their interest level if they are a perfect match.
From India, Madras
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I agreed with Asha, we also do the same thing, yes we also offer tea/coffee and water obviously. regards, Nishu
From India, New Delhi
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From India, New Delhi
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Hi Sarmaneesu,
The typical questions are:
- How differently do you work?
- How soon do you get angry?
- Do you believe in philosophy?
- Rate your skills from 1 to 10.
- Stress interviews sometimes become haywire.
So-called management consultants are indulging in a spoil game because he or she has limitations. They cannot think beyond a point and will indulge in unnecessary arguments, thereby spoiling the whole concept of the interview.
From India, Bangalore
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The typical questions are:
- How differently do you work?
- How soon do you get angry?
- Do you believe in philosophy?
- Rate your skills from 1 to 10.
- Stress interviews sometimes become haywire.
So-called management consultants are indulging in a spoil game because he or she has limitations. They cannot think beyond a point and will indulge in unnecessary arguments, thereby spoiling the whole concept of the interview.
From India, Bangalore
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