Difficult Interview – Overall Neutral Experience – No – Sun, 3 Sep 2017
Interviewed Sep 2,017 in Thousand Oaks, CA
Applied online and received an email three weeks later inviting me to join a group interview that would be held in two weeks.
Including me there were four interviewees, we sat in a corner of the store on stools facing the manager. Interview lasted an hour. I did my best to be vocal from the start and went first for the introductions. We were encouraged to talk about our passions and what we would do if we had unlimited cash and free time. I had a sense it was going great for the first 10-15 minutes until he asked the first question.
"When was a time you helped someone close to you through a tough time?"
I've never had a question like this in an interview before, particularly in a group. I was trying desperately to remember anything else, but all I could think about was something I didn't particularly want to share. I was the last to respond and it was still all I could think about so I went ahead. Is this supposed to be an interview or a therapy session? I did my best to move on from that question and not let it get to me, but I felt super awkward for the rest of the interview.
There were four questions in total, and at the end he asked if we had any questions for him. I recommend thinking carefully about this. Unfortunately I think I was mentally checked out at this point as he had been making strong eye contact with everyone but me for the last 20 minutes of the interview. If I could do it again I would go prepared with as many great questions as I could think of. This seemed like a great way to end the interview on a strong note.
I received an email 24 hours later saying thank you, but they had decided to move on with other candidates.
Interview Questions
When was a time you helped someone close to you through a tough time?
Answer Question
When was a time you encountered what you thought was an unreasonable customer and how did you deal with it?
Answer Question
When was a time you got results that exceeded everyone's expectations?
Answer Question
When was a time in your work that you experienced the most developmental progress and what did you take away from it?
Answer Question
Other Details
The interview consisted of Group/Panel Interview and IQ/Intelligence Test