TL;DR: I went through three interviews (about seven hours of engagement total) for a $16/hr part time data entry and analysis over two and a half months only to be told that I wasn’t getting the job because they didn’t want to “trap” me in it.
This year has been the first time I’ve ever been unemployed for longer than a few weeks in my life. After the office I worked for closed for good in December, I decided to take a full month off to treat myself.
I submitted an application in mid January and heard back by the 21st. The company liked my resume and application answered and wanted to book an interview. The earliest opportunity was on February 14th, and as much as I hated to wait that long, I did. I did other interviews in that time for jobs that I wouldn’t be able to afford working at (due to transportation costs) and found one company locally that wanted me to work for them, but that I found to have kind of a stuffy and harsh atmosphere. I put that position on hold because I knew I would be miserable working there, and wanted to give my Valentine’s day zoom interview a shot.
At that interview I was given an absolute rave review. I was told there would be a follow up interview where I would present a small project they asked me to create in tune with the job. This seemed like everything I want in a job right now so I was thrilled. I completed the project in about three hours and had it ready to present the next day. I sent it back to my interviewer and he scheduled me for a follow up interview more than a week later.
Annoyed, but still interested, I waited. I did my presentation to some of the most scathing feedback I’ve ever received, actually sweating through the back of my shirt. At the end, the one of my two interviewers who had been sort of harrying and harassing every statement I made in my presentation called me “brilliant” and commended me on the ways I had rebutted him. The other one was practically glowing about how great I was.
To my complete dismay, they scheduled me for a third interview. To contextualize the absurdity here, it was a $16/hr job set for about 20 hours a week. A third interview. When the day came, they rescheduled. On my rescheduled date, I joined another 3 way zoom call and was peppered with alternating compliments and arguments about my answers to vague personal attitude questions. At the end of this, the two interviewers agreed that I was delightful, clever, hilarious and “too nice to trap in this sort of position.”
Of course the position I had on hold is filled, because it’s been a month.
Was the point of all of this to find someone capable but dislikable enough to pile shit on? What the fuck. I don’t even truly have a point here, there’s no big lesson I’ve learned and can impart, I’m just floored that this happened.
How do y’all avoid having your time and energy wasted?