Monday, January 14, 2008

Stuck up, pretentious, and difficult.

On my round robin of interviews, I have been away from home since December 28th, with only a one day stopover. I finally returned home last night, and today it's back to the full semested grind. During my travels I have met some really wonderful professionals and fellow applicants who made my experiences enjoyable, informative, and energizing. On the other hand, I have had some bizarre and odd encounters that made me wonder if I am all the things that I titled this post. A sampling:

*An applicant who wore a sequined top to interviews. A handful of people who did not wear a suit to the interviews.
*An applicant in a gray skirt suit and knee boots at an interview at a psychodynamically oriented site.
*An applicant who fell asleep and snored on a drive out to a remote office at one site.
*The same applicant did not wear a suit, criticized the meal we were offered, and called vegetarians "weird" in casual conversation.
*Taken to lunch by a site with current interns and another applicant where separate checks were requested and we had to pay for our own meals.
*Been told many, many times "I haven't had time to read your (30+ page required) application, so tell me what's important from it."
*In one interview with a training director, "Wait, I want to grab my cigarettes, so I can grab a smoke break when I walk you back."
*Been asked, "So, how many interviews do you have?" by internship faculty in front of the people who will be ranking me.
*Been told by a chief psychologist that "I stop and ask about Lois the office worker's hip, not because I care, but because it makes her a better worker."

And that is a mere sampling of the unprofessional behavior that I have encountered. I'm beginning to think that I might just be too uptight. Are these behaviors not as inappropriate as I think they are?

2 comments:

Becca said...

I think those are very unprofessional! I hate the way the interviewers for this sort of thing act like this is no big deal when it is a HUGE deal to the applicants. Not reading the application? Unacceptable. Also, why would anyone not wear a suit? And SEQUINS??? A job interview is not the time to test out your "day-to-evening" wardrobe choices. ;)

Streak said...

*The same applicant did not wear a suit, criticized the meal we were offered, and called vegetarians "weird" in casual conversation.

My personal favorite.

:)