Unrelated To Anything
A young man interviewed recently for an entry-level position with a company I know. During the course of his day he met with several people, all of whom asked him some variation of this standard interview question: Please share with us a success you have had when dealing with a challenging situation in a previous job.
Everyone received the same reply, proud told.
"Well, for a couple of summers I worked at the concession stand of a movie theater. One night it was really busy and there were a lot of people waiting but the guy in front just couldn't make up his mind. He asked me a ton of really stupid questions and you could tell that everyone behind him in line was getting pissed. Finally the guy says he wants some popcorn with butter. So I get it for him as fast as I can and I hand it over. Then he says he DOESN'T want butter in it, like he wants me to make it all over again or something. Well, as you can imagine, I fucking, excuse me, I totally lost it and reached over the counter for him. I grabbed him by his shirt and said, 'This is the way you ordered it and this is the way you are going to eat it!' And sure enough he left with the popcorn and I was able to help the next person in line."
Shockingly, this candidate was not offered the customer service position for which he was applying. This struck me as a trifle exacting of the hiring company, don't you think? Sure, the man he assaulted was probably a little unhappy but think about all the people who had been waiting behind him. They must have been thrilled to finally get some Junior Mints. You can't please all of the people all of the time...
More later, 'vators.
God, I hate the service industry.
Posted by:Melissa Summers | July 09, 2005 at 01:45 PM
Priceless.
Posted by:Brooklyn Girl | July 09, 2005 at 01:46 PM
And he saved the guy from being beaten up by the people behind him in line.
Love that story. And I hate the service industry. Worked at a movie theatre when I was 15. Had to work Christmas Day.
Posted by:Scully | July 09, 2005 at 02:54 PM
I think we all dream of doing that to dumb-ass customers!
Posted by:Barbara | July 09, 2005 at 07:08 PM
Classic!
Posted by:T | July 09, 2005 at 09:23 PM
I dunno why they didn't hire him. He sounds perfect for the job.
Posted by:Jessica | July 09, 2005 at 10:57 PM
Oh my. I interviewed his sister once, apparently. She worked at the JC Penney catalog desk, and we asked her to describe a time when she had handled a stressful situation. She told us about a very busy day right before Christmas when everyone was picking up their catalog orders. The line was long and slow, and people were complaining. She finally yelled at them that she wasn't very happy about it either, and they just needed to get over it. And she was proud of that moment.
Sad thing is, another interviewer said "Well, it couldn't have been that bad. She said none of them left." And I'm like, she worked at the JC Penney CATALOG DESK. They *had* to pick up their orders there. There was no place else they could go!
Posted by:tracy | July 10, 2005 at 08:18 PM
My sister works in human resources and she has a ton of these. Her last one was she was working at a job fair and an applicant asked her if they drug tested. She said, "yes", and he said, "Well, I'll have to find a way to get around that because I smoke a lot of pot. Do you have any ideas?"
Another was a woman put that she left her last position because she was wrongfully terminated. Her reasoning as to why it was "wrongful" is classic. Explanation: "I didn't go into work on a Tuesday and I didn't call in. Then I was going to go into work on Wednesday a couple of hours late but my boss was there and I knew I would get into trouble. So I decided to go home. I went on Thursday and they just told me I was fired with no explanation. I don't think I should've been fired because they got someone to cover for me."
Posted by:Shelley | July 11, 2005 at 08:20 AM
That story is hysterical and made me realize I've been going about the interview process all wrong for years.
Posted by:Debe | July 11, 2005 at 11:09 AM
These stories are too funny!!!
Posted by:Denise | July 11, 2005 at 02:33 PM
Love the stories...once I was on a committee evaluating college students for a major national scholarship. When asked to describe a time when they had to solve a serious problem, the student (maybe 19 years old?) wrote about a time when he was in kindergarten. It seems that he and his fellow kindergarteners were in a museum on a field trip. They got separated from the teachers. This student suggested that all of them just stay where they were and wait for a teacher. Sure enough, the teachers returned and the kindergartners were safe, thanks to him! (No, he didn't get the scholarship. So sad that his problem-solving abilities peaked at age 5.)
I couldn't believe an almost-grown man would answer an interview question with a story from kindergarten. But yet...
Posted by:Maddy | July 11, 2005 at 03:37 PM
oh, I'm sure he has a good heart. ha.
Posted by:Mollie | July 11, 2005 at 05:48 PM
The guy may not be have the best customer service skills, but you've got to admit, he's a great interview.
Posted by:Karla | July 18, 2005 at 08:17 PM
Damn, I hate when I see a typo AFTER I've posted a comment. Duh.
Posted by:Karla | July 18, 2005 at 08:19 PM