Interview questions bombed or big bang

This wasn't for a job, but I definitely wanted an interview do-over:

Year's ago, a neighbor convinced me to lead a neighborhood society - not an HOA since it was an apartment complex.  So, my soon to be wife and I walked around flyers and got everyone together and we did nice neighborly stuff.

One day, the newspaper somehow got my number and called me at work.  (Shows you how long ago it was).  They asked me a bunch of questions - I was a little preoccupied in thought being that I was at work on the phone while on the clock.  I was giving very quick, brief, and uninspiring blowoff answers to the guy's questions not thinking about where it was heading.

Then the guy asked "Why the passion?".  Suddenly it hit me like a ton of bricks - this is for a story in the newspaper!

Luckily, there was a meet up a few days later and by then, I had my head on straight.  25 years later, my wife and I still walk off and joke "Why the passion?" when someone blitzes with a bunch of questions.

-Sean

I was being interviewed for a job driving elderly and disabled people to the shops, or to see their friends. The rather posh elderly woman interviewing me asked me what I had done for the three years after I left University as there was a gap on my employment record. I had left it blank because I thought it wasn't relevant to the job I was applying for (plus I was slightly embarrassed at having been a lowly dustman).

I replied "I was a dustman" (note for non-British readers - I was a refuse/garbage collector). I expected to be shown the door but instead the woman roared with laughter and said "It's admirable that you did such a socially-useful job that most people wouldn't want to do". After that, she was really friendly to me and I got the job. Since then, I learned to be proud of the fact that I was a dustman for three years.

It has happened to me once when I went for an HR department job in a company. I got suddenly blank when they ask about what CGP. Even I was aware of the answer but don't know what happened to me at that time. Anyways, experiences either they are good or bad, they always teach us. 

I remember my last interview where my boss put an org chart in front of me and asked which job I wanted.

I replied that since I could do every job on the chart including his, where did he need me most.

After that I ended up with an entire group.

DAB

I had a similar experience with a recruiter that came to our electronic college. The interviewers questions was "What do you want to do for us?" In my research I had discovered the company had a teaching branch. The recruiter would have reported to that branch. I responded, "I kinda like your job or maybe a career in teaching."

A few weeks later I received a phone call with an offer to follow in the mail. I told my roommate, the company must have been desperate to select me. There were 106 applicants for 6 positions. Or a lot of people turned the job down in order for the list to get to me.

What is worse than blowing a key question in an interview? Not knowing that you blew it is worse....

I have had a long engineering career so far (4 decades). During that time I've been job hunting 7 times (including the first time). I only quit once, but jobs still have a way of evaporating. I went for a total of 11 interviews and got 10 job offers. For 5 of the jobs I only went for one interview and took the job offered. My first job was good, but I had been promoted as high as I could go and I wanted to see if I could go higher so I started looking around. My first interview in that process was the one that did not result in a job offer. That interview took place at a giant conference table with 18 scientists and directors asking me rapid fire questions for a couple of hours. I must have flubbed something although I have no idea what. I know the guy who got that job and I should have been able to run circles around him, but he must have had better answers than me.

At my next job interview there were only 8 scientists in the room in a similar format, but afterward I knew I had nailed every question. Apparently I learned something from the failure, even though I didn't know what I did wrong.

I don't recall an interview question that I bombed, but i do recall that after I got one job, i was told by a colleague who was on the interview panel that my answer to one particular question separated me from the other candidates and got me the job! It was a question that I didn't even give any thought to; just answered it honestly!

There is a key question from my distant past, which I think was very important: In the mid 1960's, I was very keen on HiFi systems, and I built several amps and pre-amps, based around the published Mullard designs. I was also very keen on rock climbing and mountain walking. Both of these interests were known to the person who interviewed me for my place at university.

At the end of the interview he said  "If I gave you £200 and told you it could be spent on putting together the best HiFi system, or funding an expedition to, say, the Swiss Alps, what would you choose?" My heart said "HiFi", but my brain said "Expedition". I answered with my head and he smiled and told me he was offering me a place. I believe the smile meant that it was a good answer. I'll never know

Neil

I wonder if many organisations do not interview in person unless they're fairly confident they will be hiring (or will find an alternative job if they can).

I cannot think of any majorly bombed questions as an interviewee or interviewer.

Rarely I've had to interview people, and there was a time when a new engineering centre was being opened in Shanghai, and we had to interview (in pairs) over the phone to decide who to choose for an in-person interview.

That was a lot of pressure.. the interviewees were all young kids, it was likely to be their first job after uni. Some tried really hard, but English was a requirement, and I remember one applicant who just repeated the same sentences regardless of what was asked, as if it was being read out : (

Also there were lots of awesome engineers, and one (as we found out later) who cried on the phone after being told her interview had gone well. It was only after hiring, we realised how important these first job were, so that some of the kids could send money home to support their families.

I always held to power of an interview panel in high regard. The decision of the panel had the potential to change the course of someone life. I never took that responsibility lightly.

The one that stands out the most was during my interview for element14, the question was (hopefully) less about right or wrong answers and more about how I answered.

"Star wars or Star trek?"

... keep your answers to your self, I don't want to start a civil war