A Tale of 'Merica and Milk - I just walked out and abandoned a job interview. FML.

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Man his response to you just seals it. He's embarrassed. You called him out on his unprofessional shenanigans and he had no real excuse, so he wrote you that clearly made-up account of their interview process to make you feel bad, even though you were in the right.

One day it will be you running a company, and his unprofessional ass will be waiting on you for an interview. Make sure you make him wait an eternity. Like an hour at least.
 
I like how you, the OP, and everyone who agrees with him all seem to be drawing conclusions from very little information.

It's a common thread.

The ones doing it second hand, from a conclusions jumper who is probably giving a biased portrayal are even more interesting.

Generally I assume the OP isn't lying. If you think he's lying the whole conversation is moot. If he's telling the truth and it played out like he said then he was right to be offended with the way the people there handled his interview, though certainly he shouldn't have just walked off.
 
And, while I don't believe it's happened here, I've been shit on from other message boards about the fact that I had cancer and a stroke.
People on message boards say and do stuff. It happens.
Well that's a shitty excuse to act like an ass. If your attitude is it doesn't matter because forums, then why being up what other people said about your medical history?

Well, hey, if I'm just imaginary to you, I guess none of this really matters then.
And, heck, if GAF isn't part of real life, none of this should matter for the OP's real life either.
If you really don't see the difference between doing this over some argument about a banal topic like games or movies to prove a point, and doing it to try and shame someone or revel in the schadenfreude of someone's personal problems, then that's kind of sad.
 
No, sweat this OP. Not only did you tell off a guy with potentially dozens of managerial connections in the area, you put it in writing.


Seriously reassess your professional demeanor if you think this in any way acceptable, ever.
*nod* I'm with you on this. I feel the need to rescind my previous post now, heh.

Thacker, lots of good advice in this thread. Please heed it.
 
Most employers that expect you to fill out paperwork, take tests, etc. will build that into the interview schedule. He expected your paperwork and tests to begin at the time he asked you to arrive.

You need to recognize the following as take-aways from this incident:

1) You should get rid of the pride to a reasonable extent. Don't be afraid to ask questions or cut the interviewer a bit of slack.
An acceptable period of time to wait for an interviewer where paperwork and tests are involved is 45-60 minutes. The interviewer isn't snubbing you by making you wait, he's simply scheduled other tasks to be completed while you're testing. If it seems like things are taking too long, you need to ask why.

B) Don't burn bridges that haven't even been finished.
This interviewer has likely labeled you as a flake, and with good reason. You flaked out in the middle of his process. Did he document and communicate the process properly? Maybe not -- but you admitted that you didn't ask. If you don't want people to flake out on you, don't flake out on them.

III) You are not special. You're not a beautiful and unique snowflake.
Your email reply to his "Where are you?" message betrayed more than a bit of self-importance. It betrayed that you believed your time to be more precious than his; that you believed your presumption of how the interview should go to be more important than the process that he set up and expected candidates to follow; that he was snubbing you by not greeting you or personally explaining the way he wanted to conduct the interview.

Let's look at Point III another way:

- He gave you a dedicated and substantial period of time to fill out paperwork and take his tests.
- He tasked his admin with assisting you in this process.
- He trusted his admin to represent his company by greeting you and taking care of you while he wrapped up other tasks.

You, an unemployed tech worker, are no more special than this business owner. He's recognized this on some level, as he's trusted his admin with some stuff that's pretty important to his business. He might have trusted you to take care of some stuff that's important to his business if you had stuck around a bit longer. He may not be that great a guy, or he could be the greatest man to walk this earth -- who knows? -- but he's doing something right, seeing as he's making enough money to pay a few people pretty well.

He also told you off in a diplomatic manner after you showed your ass. Maybe you should emulate his example.
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Nothing more needs to be said here.

I do hope after you calm down a bit (I'm sure you're as frustrated with this thread as we are with you, Thacker) and have some time to absorb the essence of what people are trying to tell you, you'll do better the next time around.
 
Man his response to you just seals it. He's embarrassed. You called him out on his unprofessional shenanigans and he had no real excuse, so he wrote you that clearly made-up account of their interview process to make you feel bad, even though you were in the right.

One day it will be you running a company, and his unprofessional ass will be waiting on you for an interview. Make sure you make him wait an eternity. Like an hour at least.

OP will make that guy his office gimp.

ZUo3BEP.jpg
 
Man his response to you just seals it. He's embarrassed. You called him out on his unprofessional shenanigans and he had no real excuse, so he wrote you that clearly made-up account of their interview process to make you feel bad, even though you were in the right.

One day it will be you running a company, and his unprofessional ass will be waiting on you for an interview. Make sure you make him wait an eternity. Like an hour at least.

Your username should be changed to "Lies4Thackerz"; I think he will honestly believe you LOL
 
I would say if you badly need a job, you shouldn't allow a rude boss to stop you from landing a job. A career is bigger than your boss/potential boss.
 
Generally I assume the OP isn't lying. If you think he's lying the whole conversation is moot. If he's telling the truth and it played out like he said then he was right to be offended with the way the people there handled his interview, though certainly he shouldn't have just walked off.

I didn't say he was lying or that I think he was lying.

But you have to take into account his repeated attempts to claim he was in the right and at least consider he may be giving a biased portrayal.
 
What did you think was going to happen when you made this thread Thacker? More annoying than your whole attitude towards waiting for this job interview is your apparent shock that GAF isn't being more supportive of you overreacting without asking one question to confirm any of your assumptions because your time is apparently so precious to you. It's pretty astounding to me that the interviewer replied very professionally to your aggressive and pointless email, and you try to insinuate he's some kind of jerk because of it? You're on such a high horse GAF can't even see you right now.
 
I knew something was odd when I got contacted the morning after he posted the job. Honestly, any company in a hurry to hire like that is in a bind.... and is always short staffed. It's obvious that the two techs left without explanation otherwise this job would have been posted for two weeks, not waiting until the day the techs walked out to start the interview process.

Your rationalizations won't keep your name from being brought up to others in the field as rude and difficult to work with. Even if you had just left, that would've been better than sending that stupid-ass email.
 
Most of the interviews for my type of job/position take a half a day to a full day. So when I read you left after 45 minutes of waiting, I was taken aback. Didn't you get all dressed up? Took the time to look sharp? Go to sleep early the night before? Drive across town?

I generally have to fly to another city for interviews. Do you think it'd be reasonable if I packed up and headed back to the airport if I was left hanging for 45 minutes?

No way. You commit to the interview. How you present yourself and respond to ever changing situations - all of this influences the person/people that are thinking about working with you. Being available is one of the most important assets you can provide. Patience and active listening are a couple of other big ones. Another important one is the ability to adapt to your new work environment.
 
I know people are looking at this like I am totally the problem... but if you look at the things he said and did you'll understand a lot better the situation I was put in.
I don't think I was totally right, but I don't think I was totally wrong either.

Sadly, you're most likely totally wrong. You're not even self-centered enough to see it from your proper perspective lmao. I mean, what possible good reason did you have for leaving the interview?

Did you have to go back to wor- Oh.
Did you have another job intervi...Oh.

Maybe you don't really need the job. That's probably okay then. It's entirely possible that he would have been a shitty boss if you did get hired and that the organization of the company is way out to lunch. And yet they're the ones who will pay you for your time and presence there, they have the money.

But I guess you're looking for confirmation that you dodged a bullet. Hey, you might have! Feel free to celebrate at home, with your lack of work and similar lack of prospects.
 
No I wouldn't leave, but I was responding to people giving me shit for saying I was assuming the worst and that people quit unexpectedly from companies all the time.

You ARE assuming the worst. Your phrasing is supportive of jumping out of the interview process at an inappropriate* time, because of one red flag. You have also disregarded all info showing the OP has not got the right handle on things - specifically the start time of the appointment. You seem to be listening to Thacker and disregarding what the interviewer has to say, and since his email was posted here you are deliberately excluding one side of the story.

So, yes, you are assuming. It just seems odd to have so much faith in one side of the story, when the other is actually here for once.

*based on normal accepted business etiquette
 
Most employers that expect you to fill out paperwork, take tests, etc. will build that into the interview schedule. He expected your paperwork and tests to begin at the time he asked you to arrive.

You need to recognize the following as take-aways from this incident:

1) You should get rid of the pride to a reasonable extent. Don't be afraid to ask questions or cut the interviewer a bit of slack.
An acceptable period of time to wait for an interviewer where paperwork and tests are involved is 45-60 minutes. The interviewer isn't snubbing you by making you wait, he's simply scheduled other tasks to be completed while you're testing. If it seems like things are taking too long, you need to ask why.

B) Don't burn bridges that haven't even been finished.
This interviewer has likely labeled you as a flake, and with good reason. You flaked out in the middle of his process. Did he document and communicate the process properly? Maybe not -- but you admitted that you didn't ask. If you don't want people to flake out on you, don't flake out on them.

III) You are not special. You're not a beautiful and unique snowflake.
Your email reply to his "Where are you?" message betrayed more than a bit of self-importance. It betrayed that you believed your time to be more precious than his; that you believed your presumption of how the interview should go to be more important than the process that he set up and expected candidates to follow; that he was snubbing you by not greeting you or personally explaining the way he wanted to conduct the interview.

Let's look at Point III another way:

- He gave you a dedicated and substantial period of time to fill out paperwork and take his tests.
- He tasked his admin with assisting you in this process.
- He trusted his admin to represent his company by greeting you and taking care of you while he wrapped up other tasks.

You, an unemployed tech worker, are no more special than this business owner. He's recognized this on some level, as he's trusted his admin with some stuff that's pretty important to his business. He might have trusted you to take care of some stuff that's important to his business if you had stuck around a bit longer. He may not be that great a guy, or he could be the greatest man to walk this earth -- who knows? -- but he's doing something right, seeing as he's making enough money to pay a few people pretty well.

He also told you off in a diplomatic manner after you showed your ass. Maybe you should emulate his example.

George-Costanza-clapping.gif
 
Ive interviewed a bunch this year so far for our office, and many had to wait. Why? Because sometimes shit happens, I get busy, and the business is priority. If I have to take care of a customer or work issue, it gets priority over someone for an interview.
Yes, that's why I usually schedule when I know I won't be too busy, either Wed or Fridays. What I do is rather predictable so I can afford to do that.
Actually took a day off today because I know things would be a bit slow at the office. And it's hot especially in manhattan.
I do understand some people are busy all week depending on what kind of field they're in, so making interviewees wait a bit could be unavoidable.
 
I need a job... but I can't help but feel how extremely unprofessional this was... and a complete waste of my time.

I feel as if my time was unvalued... and completely wasted.

How was your time wasted? What much more productive thing could you have been doing instead of waiting in an office?
 
Great job, OP, great job.

Now at least some other person, who has the initiative maybe to ask about the interview process and patience to wait until the process is done will get the job.

That is your only good deed in this saga.

I suspect that in the city of Atlanta, people with a few MS certs, a couple of CompTIA and one Cisco cert grow on trees, especially in this employers economy.

You blew it. Completely. And it's all down to you. You will do well not to cross paths with the interviewer, the secretary or the company in the future.


Most employers that expect you to fill out paperwork, take tests, etc. will build that into the interview schedule. He expected your paperwork and tests to begin at the time he asked you to arrive.

You need to recognize the following as take-aways from this incident:

1) You should get rid of the pride to a reasonable extent. Don't be afraid to ask questions or cut the interviewer a bit of slack.
An acceptable period of time to wait for an interviewer where paperwork and tests are involved is 45-60 minutes. The interviewer isn't snubbing you by making you wait, he's simply scheduled other tasks to be completed while you're testing. If it seems like things are taking too long, you need to ask why.

B) Don't burn bridges that haven't even been finished.
This interviewer has likely labeled you as a flake, and with good reason. You flaked out in the middle of his process. Did he document and communicate the process properly? Maybe not -- but you admitted that you didn't ask. If you don't want people to flake out on you, don't flake out on them.

III) You are not special. You're not a beautiful and unique snowflake.
Your email reply to his "Where are you?" message betrayed more than a bit of self-importance. It betrayed that you believed your time to be more precious than his; that you believed your presumption of how the interview should go to be more important than the process that he set up and expected candidates to follow; that he was snubbing you by not greeting you or personally explaining the way he wanted to conduct the interview.

Let's look at Point III another way:

- He gave you a dedicated and substantial period of time to fill out paperwork and take his tests.
- He tasked his admin with assisting you in this process.
- He trusted his admin to represent his company by greeting you and taking care of you while he wrapped up other tasks.

You, an unemployed tech worker, are no more special than this business owner. He's recognized this on some level, as he's trusted his admin with some stuff that's pretty important to his business. He might have trusted you to take care of some stuff that's important to his business if you had stuck around a bit longer. He may not be that great a guy, or he could be the greatest man to walk this earth -- who knows? -- but he's doing something right, seeing as he's making enough money to pay a few people pretty well.

He also told you off in a diplomatic manner after you showed your ass. Maybe you should emulate his example.

That is a fantastic post.
 
How was your time wasted? What much more productive thing could you have been doing instead of waiting in an office?

No shit, if anything that gives you plenty of time to think about appropriate responses to questions you might be asked.
 
This thread annoys me because my boyfriend is trying hard to get a job and would kill for any interview. Unprofessional MESS.

I am unemployed, and would kill for any interview. Hell after 100 resumes and applications in three weeks this was one of the only people to call me back.

But I do have dignity and pride, I guess GAF thinks I have too much of it. Working in an environment you are made to feel shitty and inferior is not a place I want to be. Best of luck to your boyfriend, he may like getting walked on but I don't.

And yea, I do feel the world is out to get me. You can think a fucked up justice system and legalized discrimination for that. It's shook my confidence and given me extreme anxiety in situations like this.
 
How was your time wasted? What much more productive thing could you have been doing instead of waiting in an office?

Very important question.

If the first thing you did with your time after this whole ordeal was make a thread on GAF..
 
You ARE assuming the worst. Your phrasing is supportive of jumping out of the interview process at an inappropriate* time, because of one red flag. You have also disregarded all info showing the OP has not got the right handle on things - specifically the start time of the appointment. You seem to be listening to Thacker and disregarding what the interviewer has to say, and since his email was posted here you are deliberately excluding one side of the story.

So, yes, you are assuming. It just seems odd to have so much faith in one side of the story, when the other is actually here for once.

*based on normal accepted business etiquette

What the heck are you talking about. I have said repeatedly that I think Thacker made a mistake in leaving without asking for more information, I only said that hearing about people leaving unexpectedly is a really bad sign about taking a position there.

And I'm not discounting the owner's email, I even quoted it to highlight how shitty and dismissive his attitude was.
 
And yea, I do feel the world is out to get me. You can think a fucked up justice system and legalized discrimination for that. It's shook my confidence and given me extreme anxiety in situations like this.

Though they might have been joking, someone suggesting you should see a doctor might be right. I mean if you're suffering from stuff like that.
 
Yes, that's why I usually schedule when I know I won't be too busy, either Wed or Fridays. What I do is rather predictable so I can afford to do that.
Actually took a day off today because I know things would be a bit slow at the office. And it's hot especially in manhattan.
I do understand some people are busy all week depending on what kind of field they're in, so making interviewees wait a bit could be unavoidable.

I told him I was available any time after two. After business hours would have been fine as well. GAF's insane mentality and love for corporations and the bullshit that we put up with is hilarious to me.

But hey... you guys are making a paycheck and I'm not.
 
I am just trying to show that I already had red flags and a bad feeling in my gut when I went up there to begin with. Then the actual experience soured me in a way and my previous feelings were "validated" which lead me to act how I did. No one is too busy to shake someones hand and tell them they are running behind. You can read the mans email back to me and get a good gauge of the type of person he is. I know people are looking at this like I am totally the problem... but if you look at the things he said and did you'll understand a lot better the situation I was put in.
I don't think I was totally right, but I don't think I was totally wrong either. It was the job of the receptionist to inform me of the interview process, yes.
The nearly objective fact of the matter is that you made a terrible mistake here. Let's assunme that all of your anecdotal assumptions are correct here. Lets assunme the job is shit, and the boss was a really shitty guy (ignoring the possiblity that the head of a tech company might not have the best social skills but at a fundamental level is a good guy). So what? You have a shit (from your perspective) job. I used to stack pallets in Columbus, GA (not to far from you) for 12 hours a day. THAT's a shit job. Its much, much easier to turn a shit job into a good job than it is to turn no job into a good job. I just did that when I moved to Auburn and parlayed the pallet stacking job into a waiter job in Auburn. This is what you have to do to make it in life. Make the best of a bad situation. Instead you closed the door on a potential opportunity. By giving up on this opportunity, you've almost certainly delayed the acquistion of the good job you were seeking. Reading the first intial posts of this thread, it seems as though you've been searching for a job for sometime. Frankly (and stats bear this out), the longer you are unemployed, the harder it becomes to actually become employed.

Furthermore, your anecdotal assumptions about the chaos at the company could have been an opportunity. Let's assume there was chaos within the company. What a great opportunity for you to parachute in and help right the ship! The fact the boss contacted you the day after you filed your application may have indicated that you were greatly qualified for the job. Imagine if you and he worked together to make things right again at the firm. Not only is the a great reccomendation for another potential position in the future, the company might not be shit, and all of a sudden you're in an excellent position to advance. Even if the comapny is shit, and none of this pans out, the first paragraph still applies.

But seriously, 45 minutes? I've waited at restuarants longer than that... for something I've paid for (not seeking to get paid). Finally, in the boss' eyes, the longer you wait, the better candidate you are. Going by the description, you would have almost certainly gotten the job had you waited. A shame.
 
One hot summer's day a Fox was strolling through an orchard till he came to a bunch of grapes just ripening on a vine which had been trained over a lofty branch. "Just the things to quench my thirst," quoth he. Drawing back a few paces, he took a run and a jump, and just missed the bunch. Turning round again with a One, Two, Three, he jumped up, but with no greater success. Again and again he tried after the tempting morsel, but at last had to give it up, and walked away with his nose in the air, saying: "I am sure they are sour."

Aesop.
I approve.
 
I am unemployed, and would kill for any interview. Hell after 100 resumes and applications in three weeks this was one of the only people to call me back.

But I do have dignity and pride, I guess GAF thinks I have too much of it. Working in an environment you are made to feel shitty and inferior is not a place I want to be. Best of luck to your boyfriend, he may like getting walked on but I don't.

And yea, I do feel the world is out to get me. You can think a fucked up justice system and legalized discrimination for that. It's shook my confidence and given me extreme anxiety in situations like this.

...then turn down the job AFTER the interview. Yes, you can still do this! And you can do it without assuming, burning bridges, or acting unprofessionally! All we're asking is that you just go through the process to make sure you understand everything 100% correctly.
 
I am unemployed, and would kill for any interview. Hell after 100 resumes and applications in three weeks this was one of the only people to call me back.

But I do have dignity and pride, I guess GAF thinks I have too much of it. Working in an environment you are made to feel shitty and inferior is not a place I want to be. Best of luck to your boyfriend, he may like getting walked on but I don't.

And yea, I do feel the world is out to get me. You can think a fucked up justice system and legalized discrimination for that. It's shook my confidence and given me extreme anxiety in situations like this.

Sorry, but no. If you would kill for any interview and 100+ resumes, any normal person would have waited way longer than you.

All you had to do was ask questions about the process. One simple question. And you would have been ok.
 
I am unemployed, and would kill for any interview. Hell after 100 resumes and applications in three weeks this was one of the only people to call me back.

But I do have dignity and pride, I guess GAF thinks I have too much of it. Working in an environment you are made to feel shitty and inferior is not a place I want to be. Best of luck to your boyfriend, he may like getting walked on but I don't.

And yea, I do feel the world is out to get me. You can think a fucked up justice system and legalized discrimination for that. It's shook my confidence and given me extreme anxiety in situations like this.

would you kill time?
 
I am unemployed, and would kill for any interview. Hell after 100 resumes and applications in three weeks this was one of the only people to call me back.

But I do have dignity and pride, I guess GAF thinks I have too much of it. Working in an environment you are made to feel shitty and inferior is not a place I want to be. Best of luck to your boyfriend, he may like getting walked on but I don't.

And yea, I do feel the world is out to get me. You can think a fucked up justice system and legalized discrimination for that. It's shook my confidence and given me extreme anxiety in situations like this.

This isn't a justification, this is a problem. Handle it, or you'll continue to have trouble. You sound like my sister, and no one likes my sister because she always assumes everyone is out to get her. The more she assumes this, the more people dislike her, and the more people dislike her, the more it validates every cockimaney idea she gets in her head. It's not a good thing to do, and it will destroy your life if you let it.

'Get help' is not something to say lightly, but at the very least, stop. Focus on taking the steps you need to take to be happy, instead of taking the steps that will only give you more to be miserable about.
 
Holy shit, I work in HR and it just disgust me that you feel so entitled Thacker. Just wow!!! Good luck with the hunt. LOL!!!
 
Would kill for an interview but WILL NOT wait longer than 45 minutes.

Given OP's past threads and posts it's no surprise he thinks the problem lies everywhere else but him.
 
I told him I was available any time after two. After business hours would have been fine as well. GAF's insane mentality and love for corporations and the bullshit that we put up with is hilarious to me.

But hey... you guys are making a paycheck and I'm not.

And we did had to do interviews, also. No different.

Also, i know this is a dumb question and i might offend you, but, are you what is considered a "millenial"?

Just claryfing: i mean no offense. It's just that i'm starting to notice a pattern.
 
I told him I was available any time after two. After business hours would have been fine as well. GAF's insane mentality and love for corporations and the bullshit that we put up with is hilarious to me.

But hey... you guys are making a paycheck and I'm not.

You think GAF loves corporations? Have you posted on GAF before? This whole post is dripping with misery and you are painting yourself out like some... valiant victim of an unjust world. Stop that shit, for your own good, I'm begging you. It's a terrible thing to see someone just... ruin themselves like that.
 
Holy shit, I work in HR and it just disgust me that you feel so entitled Thacker. Just wow!!! Good luck with the hunt. LOL!!!

I am also assuming you don't hire people with misdemeanors or small problems from their past as well like every other HR department that rejected me in the past and lead me to this shitty situation I am in now.

No, scratch that. I did a crime, I was punished and it's my fault, but people in positions like yours made sure I felt it for years after.
 
People piling on the OP are fucking harsh. I would have walked out too, call it a gut feeling. The two other people leaving with no notice given and the interviewer not even acknowledging you and asking you to wait give me a bad vibe.

I mean maybe you should have stuck around if you absolutely need the job, but if other options are coming down the road (and they should in the tech field) you should find a place to work at that isn't so off putting from the get go.
 
Sorry, but no. If you would kill for any interview and 100+ resumes, any normal person would have waited way longer than you.

All you had to do was ask questions about the process. One simple question. And you would have been ok.

Not to mention you can actually also walk out with some professionalism. Ask first.
 
I told him I was available any time after two. After business hours would have been fine as well. GAF's insane mentality and love for corporations and the bullshit that we put up with is hilarious to me.

But hey... you guys are making a paycheck and I'm not.

Man, at this point I really hope you're trolling. If not, well I guess all I can say is good luck with your life man, I already know it's going to turn out like shit.
 
I don't think it was a good idea to leave in the least.

You should have stayed the job clearly isn't very important if you felt the need to leave just for the interviewer being tardy.
 
You said it yourself: everyone else makes a paycheck and you don't.

Have you ever thought about why?

Edit: You did a crime and thats why most people won't hire you? What crime was this and are you sure it is to blame?
 
I told him I was available any time after two. After business hours would have been fine as well. GAF's insane mentality and love for corporations and the bullshit that we put up with is hilarious to me.

But hey... you guys are making a paycheck and I'm not.

Don't diminish yourself.

One of the better decisions I've made was leaving an interview halfway through. Some guy thought it was a good idea to conduct an interview with both his feet posted up on his desk, like a couple feet away from my face, pointing his dirt shoes at me while he yawned very loudly in between questioning. This wasn't some screwball operation - it was a multimillion dollar engineering firm.

I excused myself in the middle of it and told him this is not the way I do interviews. That might sound very prude or uptight, but fuck it. I'm better than that and I got a way better opportunity down the line.

Sometimes you have to leave your pride at the door but other times you don't.
 
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