Job Interviews

[Thumper]

For some unknown reason, I woke up during a dream this morning. I can't even remember the details of the dream, but just remember it was at a Los Angeles Cadillac dealership I once worked at back in the late 80's. My GM factory rep, out of Detroit, asked me if I had any interest in leaving the dealer I was at and possibly moving to a different dealership as they had problems and needed a Service Manager. I figured, if the pay was worth the move, I'd certainly consider it. He couldn't get personally involved, but told me who to call to set up an interview with the GM.

I went in for the interview and met with the GM, then before the interview process started, he informed me that the dealer had told him he wanted to "sit in" during the interview. The owner of the dealership came down, we were introduced, then he took a seat on one side of the office while the GM began interviewing me. It started out with my previous work experience in the industry and my qualifications, etc. The interview had barely gotten started when the GM asked me what my goals would be with the company if I decided to take the job. Without hesitation, I pointed and said, "Your desk ... I'd like to work up to General Manager!" TBH, I actually answered before really thinking about what I was saying and I probably could have reworded my answer, but what was done, was done.

The owner (who'd remained totally silent while there) jumped up, said, "I LIKE him!", then pointed at the GM and said, "Hire this guy!" He then shook my hand, said he hoped I'd consider the offer and left the office. I ended up working there 3-1/2 years, until I decided I wanted to start my own business and relocated to Florida.

On the flip side, while employed there, I ran an ad for a position in the Service Dep't. and set up a few interviews. One guy came in for his scheduled interview and I had him take a seat in front of my desk. I noticed he was carrying a McDonald's bag, which seemed a little odd, but I didn't think too much of it. I excused myself to step into my secretary's office (I guess the P/C term now would be "office assistant"?) to retrieve this guy's application and when I walked back in, he was eating a frigging hamburger and had his drink and French fries sitting on the edge of my desk in front of him! I gave him a look like "WTF???" and he stated that it was almost lunchtime, so he stopped for a bite to eat before coming in for the interview. Needless to say, there was no interview! I told him I had his application and I'd be calling him if I had anything for him, then told him he could leave and take his lunch with him. I don't know how it works these days, but at that time, if you were drawing unemployment, you had to turn in a list of X-number of job applications/interviews per week in order to prove you were actively looking for work to keep your benefits coming in. I never knew if he was just a total dumb-fuck, or if he just needed to fill in a blank on his unemployment report and really didn't give a shit, but no, he didn't get hired.

I've got more, but those two are my best. Any of youse dufes have any exciting job interview stories? Sorry, I just thought it odd to dream about that interview after 37 years and thought I'd post it here.

[Hombre]

At least the interviews that I've done these days are a bit different than when I started working. In the early days you went in and did an hour interview with the manager, and the manager made the decision go/no-go. Interviews now days are a bit different, at least the ones that I've been through. Most of my recent interviews have been in a loop format. You go in and have 6-8 interviewees that cover different areas of the business. Interviewers may cover cultural, technical, market knowledge or other areas. These interviews generally last 5-7 hours depending on how many people there are.

When I was an interviewer at Microsoft their loop had a twist that most others I've worked at our interviewed for didn't have. A candidate came in and was given their loop schedule (again 6-8 interviewers) and then taken to the first interviewer. Everywhere else I've been through or interviewed for the candidate went through the entire loop regardless of signal. Microsoft was different, they didn't want to waste anyones time if you were sure a candidate wasn't a signal. If you were sure then you just put a absolutely confidant NO in the tool and then told the candidate their interview loop had concluded. I was only the 2nd interviewer on a loop once and I was an absolutely confidant NO. I walke d the candidate down to the front door, thanked him for his time and said the loop was over. He just looked at me and said, no I have 4 more interviews, i explained he didn't....but it was super ackward.

[quercus alba]

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[Thumper]

Yep, I'm waaay old school when it comes to job interviews. Probably one of my most "interesting" was for a Cadillac Dealer in downtown Los Angeles. It was the largest and oldest dealership in L.A. at the time. In fact, it was a seven story building. The service and parts departments were located on the ground floor ... sales in the front and parts/service in the rear. All the business offices were on the second floor. The body shop was on the 3rd floor and there was a big freight elevator that transferred wrecked cars from the ground floor to the body shop. Of course there was a "ramp" to drive up, much like a large parking garage, that accessed all floors. Parts storage was on the 4th floor, again, serviced by the freight elevator. Parking was on the 5th and 6th floors and the owner had a private, multi-bazillion dollar antique car collection on the 7th floor. It was a huge operation.

They didn't have actual job interviews until a written test was taken. This was a major deal and was something like a 5 hour test. My test was scheduled for my birthday, January 18,1982! As luck would have it, I came down with the flu the previous Friday and was sick as a dog all weekend. On Monday morning (the day of my test) I felt like shit ... like I'd been run over and dragged down the road by an 18-wheeler! To make matters worse, I had to fight L.A. freeway traffic to get downtown for the early morning test time. Not a good day.

I arrived and the office manager was the one who administered the multi-part test (I think each part was timed, can't remember). Well, she (the office manager) was SUPER hot! Older, it was on my 30th birthday and she was 40 years old. Man-o-man, she was NICE and dressed to the nines. She'd grade each level as I'd finish the previous level. At the end of the day, I felt like total crap until she came in the office and said I'd passed the test with flying colors ... in fact, she said I had the highest test scores ever recorded at the company! (man, they must have had a bunch of dumbasses working there!) Anyway, I was hired as the Service Manager and started work that same month. I saw and spoke to the OM quite often while there, but since we worked on different floors, there wasn't a lot of personal contact unless I had some sort of business on that floor (rarely). On St. Patrick's Day, she came down to my office and invited me to go out for a St. Paddy's Day celebration after hours and said all the office girls would be there and it would be a good chance to meet all of them since I really hadn't had a chance to work or meet with them yet. I accepted and she said it would be easier if I just left my car in the employee parking lot and she'd drive me since I was new to the area and parking was very limited downtown. (made sense to me) I was a little bit nervous as this lady TOTALLY outclassed me in about every way imaginable. To add to the touch of class, her personal car was a brand new Cadillac.

We showed up at the little bar/pub type place and I felt like I was in heaven. I was the only guy there and it's then I noticed that 95% of the office gals were 20-somethings ..... mostly 9's and 10's (and I was SOBER)! We were all seated at a large table and I was next to the off. mgr., who performed the introductions. As the evening progressed and a few green drinks were consumed, two of the gals were obviously interested in me and the feeling was mutual. A lot of flirting ensued and toward the end of the evening, it was TOTALLY obvious, I was going to end up with one of them that night, I just wasn't sure of how to work out the logistics. Once it came time to wind things down and break up the party, the two gals suggested we go to a different place (bar/club?) afterwards to continue our St. Patties Day celebration. I agreed, but let them know I had to retrieve my car from the company parking lot. One of them said not to worry about it, they'd get me back to my car. As we all headed out, the two gals had to make a last minute potty break and I was waiting at the door for them. The office manager grabbed my arm and told me we need to leave as those gals were just giddy little girls and I was "above that"! She pretty much led me out the door. DAMN! I didn't really want to show my disappointment and wanted to appear professional, but damn, damn, damn!! She drove me back to the employee lot to retrieve my car, but as soon as we got there, she started acting like the alcohol was really getting to her. We talked a bit and every time I thought about getting out to leave, she'd mention feeling pretty "messed up". It finally got to the point she told me to go ahead and head home, but she was going to sit there for a while until she sobered up a bit. Now for the dilemma, this was the unlighted, employee parking lot in downtown L.A. NOT the safest place to be at night, especially for a single female. I had no idea where she lived, but asked if I could drive her home (still not knowing how I'd get back to my car ... or home even). Did I mention the next day was a work day? Add THAT to the confusing mix. Anyway, we headed toward her place with her giving me directions (pre-GPS days). DANG! As it turned out, she lived over an hour away (50 miles) in San Dimas! (it was probably quicker at night, just don't remember, but normally about a 1hr. 15min. drive!) I lived 1hr. 15mins the OPPOSITE direction! It was obvious I wouldn't be making it home that night.

Wow! Once we got to her place, the fact I was totally outclassed was verified. She had a very large, beautiful, 2-story house on top of a frigging mountain in the San Gabriel Mountains! Probably a 2M house in 1980's dollars! She had a huge 3-car garage with a boat in one stall, a Corvette in another and we pulled the Caddie into the other. I asked what she towed the boat with and she pointed to a pad built on one side of the garage that had a Class-A motorhome parked on it. We entered the house and went up stairs to a deck that completely surrounded the house. The back of the deck was located over the pool/hot tub/patio area and the view spanned out over the L.A. (?) Valley. The front of the deck looked out over the San Gabriel Valley. The views alone were to die for! It's then I found out she had been recently divorced from a very wealthy dude who owned a chain of high-end grocery stores. That explained the huge, WALK-IN refrigerator in her equally huge kitchen! Ok, she was obviously on the rebound! Needless to say, there were plenty of fireworks that night and returning to work was a bit tricky the next morning, but one of my service advisors did catch on and I was busted ... plus I was wearing the same clothes from the day before. Not exactly the preferred look of a new manager! Ha! My SA just shook his head and grinned, then told me I'd just scored the hottest chick in the history of that dealership! Chick? She was 40 years old, I was 30 and normally dated 20-somethings. Oh well, I had no complaints and she and I had a "thing" going for a few months. Then she asked if I'd be interested in going into business with her. Huh? Heck, I was ALSO recently divorced, in the middle of an alimony battle and definitely didn't have the money for a new business venture. I was assured I had to make no cash outlay, that she'd handle that, but she needed help and she'd make me a partner in the business. Ok, she had my attention.

I asked her to explain and she told me she wanted to start a video store. HUH? You mean selling tv's, stereo equipment ... audio visual kind'a stuff? No, she wanted to RENT out VCR tapes to people ... like borrowing books from a library. WTF woman?? Have you lost your frigging mind? How many dumb fucks do you actually believe would fall for something that stupid. I told her, thanks, but no thanks. She quit her job at Cadillac and we pretty much went our own ways, but remained friends and kept in touch. I'd also head over for the occasional "weekend visit". On one of these visits, she told me how successful her business was and she was getting ready to open a second store. Then, she told me to hop in the car and took me on a ride to see the new house she was building on top of a BIGGER mountain! WTF? Ok, so I'm a loser. Missed opportunity and all that crap. She ended up dating my body shop manager and I was always invited to their parties. I had a new girlfriend, I was 30, she was 20 and I'd take her along with me, but with the distance I lived from their place, it was always made known to me that I'd be expected to spend the night there. I took Miss 20-year old to a 4th of July party there and as usual, spent the night. Ok, (count the months from July 4th), my son was born the following April 8th. I "think" somebody fibbed to me about being on "the pill". We remained on again/off-again until we officially threw in the towel and the child custody/support b/s kicked in. I met Lynn at a swanky night club in Beverly Hills, in June 1985 and the rest is history.

And to think, all of that started with that one job "interview"!