That Awkward Moment When.... (Interview Fails)

[TXInstrument11]

Inspired by a sister thread in the Waiting-It-Out forum and after bombing an interview spectacularly just now, I thought the time was ripe to kick this topic up. What are your most notable interview failures?

 

 

 

Naturally, I'll start.

 

That awkward moment when.....

 

You answer the question, "What would be your ideal experiment?", with a crack about the Hunger Games and Lord of the Flies (I study aggression).

 

 

 

---------- As anyone but me would suspect, this was not the ideal response.  

[.letmeinplz//]

I think that would be a good experiment to learn about real human behavior, I know ethics is an issue for psychology these days though. Maybe studying the effects of being stuck in a war-torn country (like Syria or Iraq right now) would have similar implications. Or maybe use mice since apparently scientists can do anything to them and not draw ethics complaints.

 

Also what do you know what they call the Hunger Games in Paris?

Edited February 10, 2015 by <ian>

[poweredbycoldfusion]

An interviewee said something super racist. I don't care *what* stereotypes your friends who are already in grad school told you...just don't.

[lxwllms]

One of the people who I met during an interview weekend was asked about diversity. His response was something like "I've had to deal with diversity a lot in my life, so I'm used to it". Oof.

 

As for me, I was asked how my parents feel about my applying to graduate school. For some reason I wasn't expecting this question... and so I said something like well, they're excited I guess, but neither of them went this far in school so they don't really get it. Nice one.

[nuih]

He asked why I didn't go to the school I was applying to for undergrad...

Real answer: I had low confidence in myself so I didn't want to bother with the 99% chance of rejection

Answer I actually gave: ... I don't remember why *awkward nervous laugh*

 

He also asked me what highschool I went to :s why does that even matter ...

[TXInstrument11]

I think that would be a good experiment to learn about real human behavior, I know ethics is an issue for psychology these days though. Maybe studying the effects of being stuck in a war-torn country (like Syria or Iraq right now) would have similar implications. Or maybe use mice since apparently scientists can do anything to them and not draw ethics complaints.

 

Also what do you know what they call the Hunger Games in Paris?

  

Nah, what is it called over there?

An interviewee said something super racist. I don't care *what* stereotypes your friends who are already in grad school told you...just don't.

  

Ouch. What the heck did they ask?

He asked why I didn't go to the school I was applying to for undergrad...

Real answer: I had low confidence in myself so I didn't want to bother with the 99% chance of rejection

Answer I actually gave: ... I don't remember why *awkward nervous laugh*

 

He also asked me what highschool I went to :s why does that even matter ...

Those are weird questions. Was that for an Ivy? Besides UPenn, I've never applied Ivy. Like you, my reasons for not applying in undergrad were a bit sad, lol.

[.letmeinplz//]

  

Nah, what is it called over there?

A Battle Royale with cheese

[nuih]

  Those are weird questions. Was that for an Ivy? Besides UPenn, I've never applied Ivy. Like you, my reasons for not applying in undergrad were a bit sad, lol.

 

I guess you can call it that in Canada.

Yeah what would you have done lol, just curious @_@ say the real reason, or you don't know? Or make up an answer?!

[TXInstrument11]

A Battle Royale with cheese

Wow, I walked right into that one. 

[TXInstrument11]

I guess you can call it that in Canada.

Yeah what would you have done lol, just curious @_@ say the real reason, or you don't know? Or make up an answer?!

I'd like to think that I would be able to answer straight, as I have actually done a lot of thinking on the very issue, but I can't guess how I would have actually held up in the moment. 

 

At the time, my family was going through some very real financial struggles and I (perhaps wrongly) felt like I would be abandoning them if I just took up and left. That, combined with me being an anxiously uncertain first-gen, made me jump at the opportunity when my local university offered me a full ride. 

 

A lot of successful people really look for and respect that single-minded ambition some folks have young and I get that, but I did what I thought was necessary. 

 

Knowing what I know now about the competitiveness of my HS stats and my older brother's success keeping my parents afloat, would I have made the same decision? Probably not - but I didn't know then what I know now. 

 

I think the best way to answer that question would actually have been to own up to the scared, intimidated high schooler you were and explain that you have since grown and moved on. In real life, I probably would have answered the question a bit too strongly ["If you don't understand, doc, then you're a narrow-minded elitist!"] or too timidly ["I kinda sorta maybe made a bad decision and haven't really moved on....please don't judge"]. 

Edited February 10, 2015 by TXInstrument11

[Amayan]

I've been in several situations of being interviewed and being asked something illegal.  For example: "Are you married?" "Do you have any children?"  "Do you attend church on a regular basis?"

 

Though I'm not personally offended - and I don't mind answering - I can recognize that these questions are not ones which should be asked.  But I never know what to say!  If I answer honestly, I don't mind.  But maybe it's my responsibility to point out that I shouldn't answer.  But pointing out a fault in the interviewer seems like an awful choice!  Or what if they know it's an illegal question, and they know I know, and they're testing me to see if I am the type of person who sticks to their guns or lets people walk all over them?

 

It's a tricky situation, and I wish it weren't such a common problem for me.  I just don't want to accidentally offend or put someone on the defensive.

[ImHis]

The professor who interviewed me forgot about our meeting. It's very distressing.

Edited February 24, 2015 by Articklish

[beccamayworth]

A Battle Royale with cheese

 

thanks for this.

[scarvesandcardigans]

The professor who interviewed me forgot about our meeting. It's very distressing.

 

Oh no they didn't....What did you do? I'm so sorry to hear that! (And kudos on the IPA for your program. ) 

[stayandsea]

I had a pretty ridiculous interview at CUNY Grad Center for doctoral psych. I was applying to three profs, 2 of whom were on different campuses, so that was awkward enough, but the one PI I hadn't met/didn't know well walked over to me and demanded me to "tell him about the interesting lego task." I worked at a lab last summer where we used a lego task so I described it, putting in jokes like the time a kid broke a table during the task because he was so excited and one parent who chewed out her kid for giving inadequate directions. Then he goes, "Oh. You're clearly not the person I wanted to talk to. I was thinking of another applicant." WHAT? I was his only applicant there! Then it got worse...this was during the "fun mingling" lunch stage (in which another lady said I shouldn't go because they had trouble recruiting subjects), the actual interview consisted of me, ushered in and out within half an hour, staring at EIGHT professors. This same guy started his one and only question after everyone else seemed impressed by my research, "So, I have a silly question, it might be kind of tough, but it's really just silly..." IS MY FREAKING FUTURE FUNNY TO YOU? A SILLY INSIGNIFICANT MATTER? And I responded a little defensively. And thus, got waitlisted by my absolute dead-last choice school and accepted to 7 others. 

[.letmeinplz//]

This same guy started his one and only question after everyone else seemed impressed by my research, "So, I have a silly question, it might be kind of tough, but it's really just silly..." IS MY FREAKING FUTURE FUNNY TO YOU? A SILLY INSIGNIFICANT MATTER? And I responded a little defensively. And thus, got waitlisted by my absolute dead-last choice school and accepted to 7 others. 

I don't think silly questions are a reflection of what he thinks of your future. During an interview to be a software developer I was asked a few "silly" questions that I probably wasn't supposed to be able to answer (I got one right and knew enough about the other to have satisfied the 'silly' question portion), but it showed my thought process which is important when you have to solve problems daily.

[braindump]

When everyone tells you, "you don't need to read your interviewee's papers, that's over-preparing." Being my over-prepared self, do so anyway. Finally start to slack off/have less time, so I skip a professor (one!). This professor just so happens to be the only one who asks, "which of my papers have you read?" I successfully circumvent the question - quite well, I think. Until the professor asks again! This would happen to me at my top choice..

 

Oh well, got accepted anyway! Somehow.