Horrible Job interview?

Question

I had a horrible job interview for a working professional position.
They paid for the airfare and hotel. When it came down to lunch,
they took me to a taco stand. Food was put on paper plates, plastic forks etc.

This type of job that I have been looking elsewhere, I was taken out to fine dining/fine restaurants.

What do you think of this place? I am turning down the job.

What did I think of the people?
They know their field of work. I only met a total of
7 professionals even though the department has 25 professionals working. The department director did not show up to work so I could not meet him.

As for the people, no one to dream about or sleep with.

The salary is less than the other places.

Answer 1

Follow you inner voice, your gut, on this one.

There is no true correct or incorrect choice on this dilemma.

Read into it, yes, to discern both the gross and subtle meanings, but do not stare at it.

This experience can mean all or can mean nothing at all.

Yet do not expect all prospective employers to coddle you with dining and other perquisites. This is not solely the measure to use.

Use a perspective on both of your behalves; it is this -- ever considered that they may be a young, start-up business and cannot extend such gratuities?

Primarily, look to the people as people as your best read and measure. If you do not get a good feel, then that is probably close to what you want to use as a barometer, say. And from that, you can volley questions their way given your level of experience in that respective field.

The field itself, your interest and passion in it, and finally the people with whom you will be working all must import to your decision.

As to perquisites, that can come once working, and you can address that right at the start if they have already extended a generosity. Don't deduce that that was a deception, either.

Don't have this reservation about them and not ask about what you just addressed with us on Yahoo, else that would be a commentary on you, not them. See?

Answer 2

Oh I've had many horrible hob interviews lol. They are never something anyone looks forward to are they, always nervous and so intense! I had a job interview for a hair salon and my mother died, The interviewer started quizzing me on who i lived with and about my mums death as i was a teenager at the time and he didn't want a "problem child" working in his salon. In the end i cried and walked out! Another 1 was when i stopped the interview half way and said i wasn't interested and walked out, it was 1 of those interviews where you have to give an example of a situation like you said.I was giving my answer and he was saying what would you do next... What would you do next until the point of there was no what would you do next left and i just felt like an idiot! Ah i'm so glad to be on maternity leave and don't have to go back to work for a while haha

Answer 3

They may have taken you there because the food rocks even if it's a taco stand. (Where I come from that's where the absolute best tex-mex is.)

They may have taken you because they have a low per diem budget, and reserve their money for other operations.

They may have taken you to a fast food stand to see how well you do in an unusual or annoying situation. It is a ploy in job interviews to try to get the subject to lose their composure, because it tells them something about your professional behavior when the going gets tough.

If they deal with a lot of clients in the field you might have to get used to that and for that reason they may have especially wanted to know what eating on the cheap would do to you.

They may also be testing you to see if you are more interested than m-o-n-e-y than in being a productive team member.

That they paid for your hotel and airfare shows that they are serious about finding the right candidate. For a lot of companies these days, they just can't throw down a lot of swag in the process. Most can't even pay to fly people in. The dot-com boom is over. Re: salary, if their offer was only slightly lower than the next one, make a counter-offer and see if they meet it.

There are a lot of metrics to make the decision on, but this isn't one of them in my opinion.

If your gut tells you this is the wrong company, move along.

Answer 4

I agree with the other answers. You don't say what general industry this is, they might have been testing you to see how you deal with unexpected situations, and if you think on the quick. Or to put you more at ease during an interview, a high class restaurant is not the most relaxed atmosphere.

Accept or turn down the job based on much more than the taco stand. And good heavens, do not accept a job based on someone being there who you want to sleep with. That is for your free time.

Answer 5

I've interviewed many people for high-end tech jobs. There are two possibilities for including in an interview a situation such as you describe:
1) They have a casual work environment;
2) It was a test.

You are describing a classic "see how he responds" scenario. It's designed to get a feel for your personality, to see if you'll fit in or if you'll be a royal pain in the behind to be around. I'm guessing you flunked this part of the interview. If you're good enough at what you do, they may offer you the job anyway, but they'll keep an eye on you.

I think you are right in turning down the job. Please spare these good people the self-centered, spoiled, ungracious, elitist conceit that you might bring to their fine workplace.

Answer 6

I wouldn't jump the gun on this based on the food. Friends have gone to really nice places to eat during an interview and the job ended up being really horrible. Take into consideration the fact that they paid for airfare and lodging. What did you think of the actual people that you would potentially be working with? Once you get the job, you can eat wherever you want.

Answer 7

Did they offer you the job? If not, maybe the taco stand was their way of not throwing good $ after bad (since they had paid for the airfare, etc). If they did offer the job, maybe they are really proud of their tacos....I don't know. It just seems like a crazy way to decide if you like a potential employer or not. I think I would worry more about things like salary and health plans thans taco stands.

Answer 8

Well, I find it interesting that you felt the need to add that there was no one to sleep with or dream about.
Is that all you are looking for in a job?
Though I must say, a taco stand for lunch is pretty tacking, unless they were really outstanding tacos.
Its probably just as well that you are turning the job down.
If you are really a professional you need to find a place that better fits your goals.

Answer 9

How is this horrible?

They paid for your hotel, for your airfare!!!!

They didn't HAVE to do that, they just did!

HOW is taking you to a taco stand a horrible job interview????????

If you turn them down because of a taco stand lunch they are much better off not having you work for them.

Answer 10

Maybe they wanted to see how you handled a surprise? Some employers want to know how their employees handle a difficult situation.

Look at everything else they're offering and decide on that if you want the job or not.

If you do take the job, then you can educate them on where to take prospective employees to lunch!