Bad Interview Moments Forum

[Babum]

It kinda sucks being stigmatized for something pretty much everyone in Europe was involved in. We blame Germany basically because they lost the war and it was politically convenient.

I feel like we took two different history classes

[LaLiLuLeLo]

I VILL HEAR NO MORE INSINUATIONS ABOUT ZE GERMAN PEOPLE!

NOTHING BAD HAPPENED!

Sie werden sich hinsetzen. Sie werden ruhig sein. Sie werden nicht beleidigen Deutschland!

[Wipfelder]

I mean, Germany was clearly the antagonists in the Second World War, but to say that Germany was solely responsible for the devastation of WW2 is silly. Germany did initiate the holocaust, but Poland, Czech, Austria, Italy, Hungay, France, Romania and the Baltic states were enthusiastic, willing participants.

Many of these countries treated minorities just as badly as the Germans, and then treated the Germans worse; perhaps three million German Civilians died in 1945-48 as the Soviet and partisan armies established control in Eastern Europe. They also estimate roughly 100,000 women were raped on the first day of the Soviet occupation of Berlin, was their rape their own fault for allowing their men to commit war crimes on the Eastern Front? Kill the terrorists and their families, right guys!?

In my personal experience, Europeans (outside of Germany) are absolutely unapologetic about their actions in the war, I've seen a few old SS/Party propoganda proudly displayed by Hungarian and Austrian families over the family hearth. It just seems like a cruel and counter-productive irony that children have to accept that the suffering of an entire generation was due to their own culture's inherent flaws. I'd argue the reasons for WW2, and the actions of the people who fought in it, were much more nuanced.

Maybe we could even learn from it and apply it to our current situation?

[pancakes3]

bro, stop.

[Winter is Coming]

Can we keep this thread on topic, it should be getting good right now and people are spamming it with their historical hot takes.

[Anonymous User]

I don't know if I've told this story before; apologies if I have.

It's not about the interview itself, precisely. At OCI, I landed an interview with a top firm known for its crustiness and cantankerous atmosphere. From my perspective, the screener interview went swimmingly. My grades were decent; my transcript, while lacking an emphasis on tried and true "corporate" classes, at least had the litigation standbys and was not all "Law and Corn." So I thought I had it in the bag.

My interview was the second to last of the day. Upon giving closing pleasantries and opening the door to leave, I realized that the person behind me in line was one of my class's superstars. Definitely top-flight material, although at the time (beginning of 2L year) that was just a hunch, and not something born out by the crazy number of honors listed next to her name in the convocation booklet the year following.

Anyway, I'm the conscientious sort, and instead of letting the door slam, I closed it gently as she walked into the room. Which means I was still well within earshot when the interviewer barked:

Finally! A real candidate. I couldn't sit through one more hour with those fucking jokers I've been seeing all day.

I didn't get a callback. She did, and still works there today, as far as I know.

But what a way to end OCI, right?

[omar1]

I mean, Germany was clearly the antagonists in the Second World War, but to say that Germany was solely responsible for the devastation of WW2 is silly. Germany did initiate the holocaust, but Poland, Czech, Austria, Italy, Hungay, France, Romania and the Baltic states were enthusiastic, willing participants.

Many of these countries treated minorities just as badly as the Germans, and then treated the Germans worse; perhaps three million German Civilians died in 1945-48 as the Soviet and partisan armies established control in Eastern Europe. They also estimate roughly 100,000 women were raped on the first day of the Soviet occupation of Berlin, was their rape their own fault for allowing their men to commit war crimes on the Eastern Front? Kill the terrorists and their families, right guys!?

In my personal experience, Europeans (outside of Germany) are absolutely unapologetic about their actions in the war, I've seen a few old SS/Party propoganda proudly displayed by Hungarian and Austrian families over the family hearth. It just seems like a cruel and counter-productive irony that children have to accept that the suffering of an entire generation was due to their own culture's inherent flaws. I'd argue the reasons for WW2, and the actions of the people who fought in it, were much more nuanced.

Maybe we could even learn from it and apply it to our current situation?

Are you a troll or just that ignorant and uneducated?

[A. Nony Mouse]

Can we keep this thread on topic, it should be getting good right now and people are spamming it with their historical hot takes.

I love a good WWII debate as much as the next person, but this is correct - please don't derail this thread, which provides so much worthy entertainment.

[dixiecupdrinking]

I dunno, maybe everyone should get their "the Nazis were scapegoated" arguments out of their system before OCI.

[rpupkin]

I dunno, maybe everyone should get their "the Nazis were scapegoated" arguments out of their system before OCI.

I think it would make a great line on a resume, under Interests: "Defending Hitler from Unfair Attacks"

[fauxpsych]

I had an interviewer razz me so much about the tie I was wearing I just angrily offered to swap with him.

Offer.

[Babum]

I had an interviewer razz me so much about the tie I was wearing I just angrily offered to swap with him.

Offer.

What type of knot were you wearing?

[Bach-City]

.

[PennBull]

I don't know if I've told this story before; apologies if I have.

It's not about the interview itself, precisely. At OCI, I landed an interview with a top firm known for its crustiness and cantankerous atmosphere. From my perspective, the screener interview went swimmingly. My grades were decent; my transcript, while lacking an emphasis on tried and true "corporate" classes, at least had the litigation standbys and was not all "Law and Corn." So I thought I had it in the bag.

My interview was the second to last of the day. Upon giving closing pleasantries and opening the door to leave, I realized that the person behind me in line was one of my class's superstars. Definitely top-flight material, although at the time (beginning of 2L year) that was just a hunch, and not something born out by the crazy number of honors listed next to her name in the convocation booklet the year following.

Anyway, I'm the conscientious sort, and instead of letting the door slam, I closed it gently as she walked into the room. Which means I was still well within earshot when the interviewer barked:

Finally! A real candidate. I couldn't sit through one more hour with those fucking jokers I've been seeing all day.

I didn't get a callback. She did, and still works there today, as far as I know.

But what a way to end OCI, right?

damn, that's some cold shit

[Anonymous User]

I arrived more than one hour late for an in-house counsel position interview.

Context:
I was in private practice and wanted to move in-house. I applied on a job offer and got an interview scheduled with their HR recruiter and the company's GC.

In mid-afternoon, about half an hour before I planned to leave the office for the interview, the managing partner comes and tells me that one of the senior attorneys just realized that the limitation period to file a motion for one of his clients was expiring that day, and so I had to urgently go to the court to file it. The problem was that the said senior attorney had to draft the motion, so we had to wait for him to complete it before I could leave for the court, file the said motion and then, hopefully make it to the interview.

Since I was the only junior associate in the office (summer vacations...), I had no choice but to go file that motion. I was freaking out : could not conceivably tell managing partner I had scheduled an interview for an in-house gig (politics); one of our client was about to lose his right to file a motion; I was clearly going to be late to the said interview; plus, it was end-afternoon when the attorney finally completed the motion, so there was lots of traffic on the way to the court, and also on the way to the interview.

Anyways, I called the HR recruiter and the GC to tell them I would not make it on time for the interview. They seemed comprehensive and accepted to postpone an hour.

I headed to the interview after filing the motion, but traffic was way worse than expected. Had to call a second time the HR recruiter and the GC to postpone again a few minutes.

Finally, I arrived at the interview at 4:50 PM (initially scheduled for 3:30). I was sweating like there is no tomorrow and running headless when I got out of the elevator, since receptionist had already left for the day and I had to find my way through the building. I finally found the HR recruiter, which was already in a conference room with the GC, both waiting for me since around 4:30 PM. I managed to calmly explain why I was late, and that I was urgently requested to go to court for one of the office's client, since he was about to lose his right to file a motion, and blah blah blah. Interview lasted about an hour and ended around 6PM.

When I got out, I was sure they would never hire me... After all, arriving (more than an hour) late and around 5PM at an interview is one of the (and probably THE) worst things you could to.

Conclusion : I inexplicably landed the in-house job * and couldn't be happier than I am right now. Seems like they appreciated my dedication to this client I had to run to the court for and the fact I called in advance to announce I'd be late and postpone. GC later told me references from former employers were very good too.

Tips : 1- If you expect to be late at an interview, call in advance. 2- good references are paramount and can save your life.

[Anonymous User]

The above reminds me of this one. It's anonymous cause it could out me. Happened to a friend in my office.

He was one week out from taking the bar exam, in full-blown study frenzy panic mode. He gets a callback for our government law job.

It's stifling out. He gets to the office late and he's completely drenched in sweat, shirt has bled through.

He sits down at the panel table and starts going over things. All the top brass are there -- the chief of the office, his second in command (and now our current office chief), and a bunch of supervisors. The main chief abruptly gets up and leaves during his interview. He's sitting there thinking, "Oh.... This is just not going well..." Chief comes back a minute later with a paper towel and hands it to friend. He wipes his face nervously.

Second in command peers at him. She has a diet Coke next to her. "Would you like to have my diet Coke?" Friend guffaws. "No, no, that's fi--"

She pushes it into his hands. "Have. The diet. Coke."

He works there currently. They loved him. These things happen all the time and I think it more commonly causes people to feel sorry for you rather than hate you.

[El Pollito]

yeah i had to reschedule my interview at my current firm at 2 a.m. the night before / morning of because i had too much caffeine traveling cross country and couldn't sleep, which required shuffling 8 people around. i was pretty certain that fucked me but no one cared and it was prob the best decision i've ever made.

[Anonymous User]

We had OCI at a hotel. In one screener the partner was interviewing me and the other partner went to the bathroom and took the loudest shit ever for the entire 20 minutes

I couldn't focus on my answers. I didn't get a callback but thought it was pretty unfair. Maybe it was a test but shit... come on.

[RaceJudicata]

We had OCI at a hotel. In one screener the partner was interviewing me and the other partner went to the bathroom and took the loudest shit ever for the entire 20 minutes

I couldn't focus on my answers. I didn't get a callback but thought it was pretty unfair. Maybe it was a test but shit... come on.

[Anonymous User]

We had OCI at a hotel. In one screener the partner was interviewing me and the other partner went to the bathroom and took the loudest shit ever for the entire 20 minutes

I couldn't focus on my answers. I didn't get a callback but thought it was pretty unfair. Maybe it was a test but shit... come on.

That is incredible. Shitting partner must be a rainmaker.

[Anonymous User]

We had OCI at a hotel. In one screener the partner was interviewing me and the other partner went to the bathroom and took the loudest shit ever for the entire 20 minutes

I couldn't focus on my answers. I didn't get a callback but thought it was pretty unfair. Maybe it was a test but shit... come on.

That is incredible. Shitting partner must be a rainmaker.

I'm thinking beershits.

[PennBull]

We had OCI at a hotel. In one screener the partner was interviewing me and the other partner went to the bathroom and took the loudest shit ever for the entire 20 minutes

I couldn't focus on my answers. I didn't get a callback but thought it was pretty unfair. Maybe it was a test but shit... come on.

180 interview

[Anonymous User]

We had OCI at a hotel. In one screener the partner was interviewing me and the other partner went to the bathroom and took the loudest shit ever for the entire 20 minutes

I couldn't focus on my answers. I didn't get a callback but thought it was pretty unfair. Maybe it was a test but shit... come on.

Had a very similar experience once. Interview in a hotel room with a rainmaking partner and senior associate. The partner steps into the bathroom, and comes out five minutes later trying to suppress a huge grin. A minute later I smell the most incredible wave of shit wash over the entire room. I remember seeing the associate's expression change in slow motion as she smelled it and the partner trying to suppress giggles the entire time. I did my best to ignore it, but I'm sure I wasn't able to hide it completely.

Offer.

[Anonymous User]

Got dinged at a firm that I really wanted to work at. Then received an email from the interviewing partner a month later. He asked if I could watch his kids over the weekend or something like that. He sent the email to the wrong person.

[TEM]

Earlier this week I was in a screener with a larger local shop. I got the last interview of the day (5pm start time - not my choice). One of the interviewers was a huge goof, but the first fifteen minutes of the interview seemed to be going fine. Towards the end of the interview, the goofy interviewer looks behind me through the glass wall and (apparently) sees the lady that needs to validate his parking. He quickly walks out the door, leaving the door open, while the other interviewer then proceeds to ask me if I have any questions about the firm. This was OCI week at my firm, so there are a number of other students just outside the door. I continue to talk with the interviewer that is still in the room, while I hear the other interviewer outside chit-chatting with our career services director. He sticks his head back into the room a few minutes later and says "We need to wrap this up now." The interview then ends. Apparently, according to one of my friends who was sitting outside, the interviewer who left the room was telling the career services director (a female) how women just talk and talk (the other interviewer in the room was a female) and how they need to get better at listening.

No CB, and frankly I'm glad. Also, I'm a male.