Can you learn anything from bad job interviews?
In my last post I briefly mentioned about bad experiences that I have had on my journey to become a Video Editor. Well, today I felt it was time to delve into this topic and explore it.
Hello, my name is Holly and I am a Video Editor and Motion Graphics Designer who has been working in the media industry for over ten years. In the early part of my career, there were some experiences I had that will always stick with me.
In the early 2010s, trying to get into the television industry was difficult - most people I knew only got in because they knew someone on the inside or had relatives. For someone who was completely on the outside, it was like hitting a brick wall that if you hit it hard enough it may start to crack and eventually if you have not run out of steam it would break.
The issues I had was that job applications and interviews were not the standard process, instead there was lots of new techniques tested to try and make applicants stand out but they were awful and I experienced some really bad ones that when I tell people about them today they look at me shocked at what I had to endure - so lets take a look at some of the worst ones.
The Talent Show Format
The worst interview I ever had was for a really well known company, they decided to take inspiration from shows like The X Factor and do an interview process in a similar format. There were around 10 of us all wanting the same job, they made us all turn up at the same time to the same location to firstly meet one another and then to know that we were competing against one another. Eight of these candidates knew each other, then there was another candidate and myself, the outsiders.
For the interview we had to prepare a presentation to talk about one of the company's most popular shows and how we could personally produce creative ways to promote it on television and online. This part of the interview happened in private. After each of us had done our presentation (and there was one person who kept saying they had no presentation as they were not aware) we were all forced to sit together and have lunch as a group whilst they decided which two of us would get to the ‘final’.
After one of the weirdest lunches I have experienced, the person who had the job came down and was going to tell us who was staying and who was going. I managed to beat 7 of the 8 friends and make it to the ‘final’. Me and the person who came to the interview with no presentation or knowledge of the job made it to the top two. There was now a formal interview. Did I get the job? After all the in depth research I did and all the time I spent animating a presentation? No, of course not, the best friend of the person who already was in the position and who had prepared nothing for the interview got the job.
The Party Trick
In the early 2010s, companies thought it was acceptable to make candidates record themselves on camera and submit answers to the silliest questions that were not relevant to the role.
One particular well known magazine was advertising for a video editor and they wanted a video of the candidate performing a party trick (yes really this was a thing and no it was completely irrelevant to the content this magazine produced).
I decided that I wasn’t going to be the ‘norm’ as I didn’t agree with it. Instead I asked my up and coming presenter friend to dance in all various locations in London whilst popping the side of his cheek. I then made a music video to the song ‘Hot Right Now’ by Rita Ora to connote Pop Right Now.
I got an interview, I aced it, the reason I didn’t get the job? - they showed me a photo of one member of a reality show and I didn’t know who it was. They even stated in my rejection letter I had all the skills they wanted. From working in journalism I know now for a fact that even well established people always Google search celebrities like this and I bet members of that team did not know all the casts of TOWIE or MIC.
Working in the media, especially television, there is also a procedure if you become a runner that you are on a trial period for up to 3 months. Whilst this may be common in most jobs, this felt more cutthroat as it was so in demand. So let me tell you about the one and only time I did a Runners job and refused to ever do it again.
Toiletgate
I got fired from my first and only runner job because I refused to professionally clean a toilet. The whole time I was at University, I worked in a cafe at the Oceanarium in Bournemouth, we had a few customers leave really bad ‘dirty protests’ on the wall or floors and in my three years of working there I was never expected to professionally clean the toilet even on a good day because I wasn’t trained in it. So why is it ok for someone working in a field that has no relevance to cleaning, have to professionally clean a toilet to prove that they could edit? I felt this was morally and professionally wrong, I declined, they let me go.
This is my horror story as a Runner but I have heard other peoples that were just as bad or even worse in some cases and no I don’t feel it is ‘character’ building.
Whilst these are terrible experiences in television and the media, it is not the only field where bad practices are happening. I have spoken to people who work in the public and private sectors in all various different roles and here are some of the stories I have been told by them.
One company decided it was ok to allow one of their employees to eat their breakfast whilst interviewing a candidate. The whole interview the employer, who was in a high role, was distracted by their bacon sandwich and did not pay attention to the interview at hand.
Another time they were offered an interview, they turned up at the offices and then the company forgot about them. Left them in the lobby for absolutely ages - the candidate had no option but to walk out due to bad treatment.
At another interview for a well known company, they thought it was acceptable to allow a CEO visiting from America into the meeting as they were in the area for just that day where they started to ask the candidate questions that were not relevant and were not given any warning. It also distracted and veered the interview off track
Lastly, another incident a candidate was forced to take a personality test in their interview to see if they were a ‘loner’ at work
In a time when jobs are becoming like gold dust, I wouldn’t be surprised if these sort of things start happening. The employer has the power. I read horror stories all the time on LinkedIn about people experiencing similar things at job interviews. Literally yesterday, I read a strangers account that came up in my feed of a job interview experience that mirrored one of the ones listed above.
These experiences have stuck with me and I am appalled that I put up with the way that I was treated because I was desperate to break that wall into television.
All is not negative with these experiences though - it has taught me to never give up and keep pushing for the right job for you.
I wouldn’t take this sort of abuse now, I understand my worth but when you are at the beginning of you career you look through this as you see a dream, you want to pursue.
I am proud that I refused to clean a toilet - proud I knew my worth back then. It was a horrendous experience because I felt like I would never get a chance to work in television again. I felt like I was going to be blacklisted. Not cleaning a toilet should never of made me feel like this.
Wherever you are in your career, no matter how hard life gets - remember your worth and that you should not be treated in a such ways because how will they treat you if you got the job?