I just had my first job interview related to my college major and I absolutely BLEW IT.
The interview was with four co-founders/creative directors of a marketing agency. When I joined the call, however, there was only one of them present. He quickly said hello, and then told me to wait for the other interviewers to show up. I thought he wasn't going to ask me any questions until all of them showed up, but he immediately started the interview and told me to tell him about my work experience. All the while, he was still the only interviewer present. I was a bit thrown off, but I briefly told him about myself and my work experience. He then asked about a specific job I had and my responsibilities in that job. While I was answering, the rest of the interviewers showed up; one didn't have their camera on, and the other looked like they were shuffling things around at their desk. This was incredibly distracting, and I was starting to lose focus on what I was saying.
After somehow managing to answer the question, he continued to ask more questions. Not once did he stop to introduce the other interviewers, which other companies I've interviewed with do before the interview even starts. I felt like all he cared about was what I had to offer as a worker, and not a human being. I was already very anxious to begin with, but the fact that I did not feel welcome during this interview made me incredibly uncomfortable and I started to panic. Not even 5 minutes into the interview, he asked me a tough scenario question. I answered with “So basically–” and I hung up the video call and shut my laptop. After this, the interviewer called me and I didn't pick up. He then texted me asking if I had lost connection. I didn't respond, and I blocked his phone number and email so that I could just forget about the whole thing; I was pretty embarrassed and ashamed. After 5 minutes of sitting on my chair trying to comprehend what had just happened, I went to the living room and told my girlfriend about it. She was understanding and cuddled with me on the couch.
I know that employers don't owe me anything, but I just felt like the interviewer didn't even care about who I was as a human being. He told me to wait until everyone else showed up, but started the interview anyways. He didn't introduce himself to me, nor did he introduce the other interviewers, which all other companies I've interviewed with have done. I just felt incredibly uncomfortable and unwelcome, which triggered my anxiety and led me to panic.
Regardless of whether or not I'm in the wrong, I just wish we didn't live in a society where we have to prove our worthiness of a living wage to random strangers we don't care about. I'm so tired of faking my personality and pretending to love a company just to make it in this world. As someone who struggles severely in social situations, this just makes me feel like I'm not normal and incapable of getting a job. I hope I'm not the only one that feels this way or has been in a situation like this.