I have had a lot of unreasonable interviews in my day, but this experience still takes the cake. I was sent to this place by a recruiter. I was going from one big money manager to another. My current firm was more successful than the one I was going to interview at (my reasons for looking elsewhere had to do with the expectation that I be on call 24/7). I have a good first round with the COO of this new place who is dying to know inside strategy of my present firm which surpassed them in 1/5th the time. He plays quickfire questions about my work before slipping in questions about my current boss' strategies in the market. I clarify that I have a contract not to give proprietary details about my firm but can talk about my work and he backs off. Then, I am called to a second round and I am given the impression that it is with the CEO of this company. I get there, there's no one at reception, I quickly freshen myself in the bathroom as this is my second time there and wait in the reception area. Someone finally passes by 10 minutes later and shows me into the conference room saying that the CEO's wife is going to interview me before I am allowed to meet the CEO.
This was an office job by the way, not a personal assistant role. In any firm, my role would never cross over to the boss' personal life. The wife did not work for the company – I checked later and confirmed that she had a different employer. Anyways, I am too surprised to speak and sit down. She comes in flashing diamond rings in every finger and tapping on the table so I look and she is immediately upset that I was “late.” I explain that I was in the waiting area where there was no one present and I did not want to barge into the office area without permission. She is asking various questions and wants to know about my present firm – not my work there, she wants to know how my firm grew so fast, what my boss does every day, etc (competitor research basically). I tell her I can speak about my work there and what I am able to do, but my contract does not allow me to speak about my present CEO's growth strategy ( I mean, he's not interviewing, is he?). She stands up, offended, and storms out of the room. Then an older lady who is supposed to be the receptionist comes in and rushes me out of the office while I am reeling.
Needless to say, I was not permitted by the wife to even meet her husband. Left that humiliating experience thinking what a bullet I dodged and told the recruiter as much. The guy can't hire someone for his office without his wife's permission and she doesn't even work there. I have worked in financial services companies for a while, but never have I ever seen such unprofessional behavior. This was not a small, family business, it was a legit office where professional behavior could be expected. The wife was so insecure about women working at his firm as his subordinates that she personally interviewed people and thought that this okay. I am pretty sure I was being judged on my looks that day too. Seeing the other women working there, I realized that you had to be over 50 for the wife to approve you to work there with her husband and I did not qualify anyway cause I was in my 20s. If this ever happens to you, walk out and don't stand for it. I wish I had never given that interview and walked out before being treated that way.