The ad called for someone "fun" and "dramatic," so she applied for a lark. When they called her, it turned out they wanted a receptionist at an "adult entertainment spa" -- read massage parlour/escort service.

She went to the interview, also for a lark. It turned out she wasn't meant to just answer the phone as usual, but answer it as if was she one of the girls. Apparently some of them don't give good phone, and in theory they're supposed to be busy anyway.

The woman who runs the place gave an example which Maria mimicked, something she has a talent for. Iimagine a breathy Barbie-doll voice saying things like "well, we have a special this week on a Swedish massage that many of our clients find quite... ssstimmmulating..." etc. & so forth.

I was late for the interview. I wasn't chatty with the hiring committee. I downplayed my skills. Finally, when they said they wanted someone full time, I told them that I was going to school and could only work part-time. Instead of giving me the boot, they told me that they admired my committment to my education and how many hours did I think I'd be able to work without infringing upon it?

At that point, I decided that I was the most ungrateful person in the world and that if I didn't take the job, I might never be offered another one. Thank heavens it was only a 6 month contract.

It was SO ODD. The guy was really weird. The interview lasted over an hour. I wasn't really qualified for the job he wanted me to do, but what I didn't know is that he wanted to hire me through EI (hoping I was eligible) and train me on the job for the stuff he wanted.

But that's not what was weird. He would ask way out of left field questions, and stare at me while I answered - and then continue to stare at my face for about a minute after each answer. It was unnerving. He offered me the job at the end of the interview, and I took it, but when I moved and started working there, he kept calling me into his office and being weird like that. I only worked for him for two weeks, because I found out after a week that he wanted me to collect EI and work for cash while he was getting the EI subsidy in place with the bureaucrats. (You're not supposed to do that ). So I worked the next week and quit on pay day (I wanted to be sure I'd be paid), and stopped my EI claim before the waiting period was even up so that it wouldn't be cheating.

(What do I hear, 'Lance, is that WingNut's throne shaking?

Andrean, you lucky creature...

Michelle, that is weird)

Here's what happened to me not so long ago. I finally get an appointment to "discuss employment opportunities" after trying several unsuccessful strategies (no personal referrals whatsoever, so you have to be imaginative). Anyway. I am very nervous; the night before and the whole morning I've been going over the introductory speech that I prepared, you know, the usual self-promoting crap, why-am-I-so-great and why-you-absolutely-need-me kind of BS. You don't wanna be too pushy, nor too timid. It's ridiculous how much time I spent thinking about "the right approach". So I arrive there, meet the Big Guy and sit down. And I start the drill. Blah, blah, blah, I-messiah, I-the-saviour, I-the-Chosen. I must have been near my 10th entry when my future boss managed to interrupt me: "Could you just wait for a second! I have to put my hearing aid on. (So he did) Now, that's better. What were you saying?..."

I think his office assistant had a few extra laughs that day.

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He would ask way out of left field questions, and stare at me while I answered - and then continue to stare at my face for about a minute after each answer.

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Sounds like he'd read some wacky book about how to suss out an interviewee's psychology.

A guy who did interviews at a place I used to work said he'd run little tests on people. He'd put the chair a little too far back from the desk, or at a slightly odd angle. If the person moved the chair, it'd be a point against them. They were malcontents, or something.

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"we can't just hire people from the street, somebody that we don't even know"

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It's interesting. According to The Death of Common Sense by Philip K Howard, in the US bureaucrats aren't allowed to hire people they already know. That's considered favouratism. They can't hire any contractor that they've had previous dealings with, and have had good experiences with. "I hired them before and they did a good job, so I should hire them again," isn't good enough.

I've received plenty of jobs with no references. I had one $35'000 a year gov't job where they didn't even interview the candidates. All applicants took an aptitude test, and the top 14 people got jobs. It was ludicrous because much of the job required good inter-personal skills!!!

I landed my current job through a temp agency. After my temp contract was up they hired me on full time. I think temp agencies are a great way to get your foot in the door. You just have to be careful that you don't become a "permatemp".

First of all, I'm really not the talkative sort, and therefore hate job interviews with a passion. Anyway, I had applied to a record store, and things were actually going pretty well, considering my frazzled nerves. I wrote this quiz type thing testing my knowledge of all genres of music and, lo-and-behold, recieved a perfect score (sometimes music geekery has it's perks). My method of blurting stream-of-consciousness responses to any queries had actually made me come off as sufficiently charming. The interview was nearly complete, and I was responding to some question regarding my qualifications, when the Baha Men's "Who Let The Dogs Out" came on over the store's loudspeakers. Lest anybody forgets, this was the ubiquitous tune of 2000, it's tinny beats and spasmodic cacophonies of bad man-made woofing showing up everywhere from sporting events to car commercials. Right in the middle of my response to the aforementioned question, in a spectacular example of knee-jerk reaction, I interrupted my answer with "Oh Jesus" in a strained tone. So much for decorum, right? To this day, I can't explain what the hell came over me. Anyway, the interviewer looked a bit stunned, but then actually laughed. Apparently she thought it was funny.