Comments on: I am the worst interviewee in the world. http://www.wesoteric.com/blog-archives/02-26-2008/i-am-the-worst-interviewee-in-the-world/ The eldritch domain of Wes Fri, 23 Jul 2010 14:33:27 -0400 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=8926 By: De http://www.wesoteric.com/blog-archives/02-26-2008/i-am-the-worst-interviewee-in-the-world/comment-page-1/#comment-18352 De Sat, 01 Mar 2008 01:20:11 +0000 http://www.wesoteric.com/blog-archives/02-26-2008/i-am-the-worst-interviewee-in-the-world/#comment-18352 I'm told there a few agencies that handle staffing English teachers for Japanese schools. No doubt you'll land a spot eventually. I'm told there a few agencies that handle staffing English teachers for Japanese schools. No doubt you'll land a spot eventually.

]]> By: Wes http://www.wesoteric.com/blog-archives/02-26-2008/i-am-the-worst-interviewee-in-the-world/comment-page-1/#comment-18312 Wes Fri, 29 Feb 2008 06:04:57 +0000 http://www.wesoteric.com/blog-archives/02-26-2008/i-am-the-worst-interviewee-in-the-world/#comment-18312 Jax: I'm not sure what they were looking for, but it felt like the interviewer's approach was to draw blood and then go relentlessly on the attack with Killer Instinct-style ultra combo questions. I mean, considering how Americans are apparently perceived in Japan, it's entirely possible that turtling during the interview was more helpful than not. Then again, it's entirely possible for one to be confident and not arrogant (potential cultural interpretations notwithstanding), so I'm assuming that's what they were looking for. I don't know, but we'll find out the results of that brutal interview in a little over a month. And I don't know -- if I'd been beheaded by a samurai, at least maybe I could've been resurrected and hooked up with a cute goth girl with a thing for dead guys. Hey, it happened in <a href="http://www.livelihoodmovie.com/" rel="nofollow"><i>Livelihood</i></a>! Jax: I'm not sure what they were looking for, but it felt like the interviewer's approach was to draw blood and then go relentlessly on the attack with Killer Instinct-style ultra combo questions. I mean, considering how Americans are apparently perceived in Japan, it's entirely possible that turtling during the interview was more helpful than not. Then again, it's entirely possible for one to be confident and not arrogant (potential cultural interpretations notwithstanding), so I'm assuming that's what they were looking for. I don't know, but we'll find out the results of that brutal interview in a little over a month.

And I don't know -- if I'd been beheaded by a samurai, at least maybe I could've been resurrected and hooked up with a cute goth girl with a thing for dead guys. Hey, it happened in Livelihood!

]]> By: the Jax http://www.wesoteric.com/blog-archives/02-26-2008/i-am-the-worst-interviewee-in-the-world/comment-page-1/#comment-18293 the Jax Thu, 28 Feb 2008 20:59:56 +0000 http://www.wesoteric.com/blog-archives/02-26-2008/i-am-the-worst-interviewee-in-the-world/#comment-18293 What a bizarre experience. What was the interviewer looking for? Someone who would get in a shouting match with her? Guess what, all Americans are uninformed, but at least we can speak English! It could have been worse. You could have been beheaded by a samurai. What a bizarre experience. What was the interviewer looking for? Someone who would get in a shouting match with her? Guess what, all Americans are uninformed, but at least we can speak English!
It could have been worse. You could have been beheaded by a samurai.

]]> By: Wes http://www.wesoteric.com/blog-archives/02-26-2008/i-am-the-worst-interviewee-in-the-world/comment-page-1/#comment-18292 Wes Thu, 28 Feb 2008 20:27:37 +0000 http://www.wesoteric.com/blog-archives/02-26-2008/i-am-the-worst-interviewee-in-the-world/#comment-18292 Dave: It was worse than a lot of things -- even poor Human Dalek Sec has nothing on that interview. I wouldn't be working with them if I got the job. And really, two of the interviewers were nice enough; it was the lead one that really seemed to have it out for me -- I think the prevailing idea was that living in a foreign country is difficult, so she wanted to try to make me as uncomfortable as she could to see if I could take it. Thing is, the situations are entirely different, and I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have Japanese people bombarding me with questions about American policy and then essentially shouting, "WRONG! UNINFORMED AMERICAN!" if I hesitated to answer in the face of the barrage. What's most frustrating about the interview is that I <i>do</i> know the answers to many of the questions that the interviewer asked, but I was completely thrown off by the tone/rapidity with which she asked them. And I'm aware that the Japanese tend to view Americans as arrogant, know-it-all bastards, so even when I did answer the questions "correctly" I found myself backpedaling and saying things like, "But I'm no expert on the subject" or "But I'm not a politician; I don't have all of the answers" to try to preserve a certain humility and get the woman off my back. I don't think I did very well in any respect, though. Dave/Mickey: And even though I wouldn't be working with those people, your point may stand given that a good chunk of the interview involved them telling me just how much Japanese people dislike black people. I mean, they're generally distrustful of foreigners anyway, but are (typically) even less accepting of dark-skinned foreigners. I'm pretty sure I could handle it, but hearing them go on about this didn't make the interview any easier or make me any more comfortable. In fact, if I get the job, I'll be convinced that it in large part has to do with the color of my skin (assuming that the applicants to the program this year aren't terribly diverse). There was one point where I responded to their comments about this by saying, "That's why it's so important that Japanese interact with black people who are not, ah, thieves... so that maybe, someday, hopefully... those stereotypes can be overcome." I don't think I <i>sounded</i> all that confident and convincing when I said it, but I think all parties recognized the validity of the point. Given how poorly the bulk of the interview went, though, I still remain doubtful. Sarah: Well, you're doing pretty well now -- what with the fun teaching job and the world travels and whatnot! -- so I guess things have worked out fairly well for you since then. And the story about the glasses is definitely pretty impressive -- given how crowded and busy NYC can be, I'm surprised anyone even noticed the falling glasses! Dave: It was worse than a lot of things -- even poor Human Dalek Sec has nothing on that interview. I wouldn't be working with them if I got the job. And really, two of the interviewers were nice enough; it was the lead one that really seemed to have it out for me -- I think the prevailing idea was that living in a foreign country is difficult, so she wanted to try to make me as uncomfortable as she could to see if I could take it. Thing is, the situations are entirely different, and I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have Japanese people bombarding me with questions about American policy and then essentially shouting, "WRONG! UNINFORMED AMERICAN!" if I hesitated to answer in the face of the barrage.

What's most frustrating about the interview is that I do know the answers to many of the questions that the interviewer asked, but I was completely thrown off by the tone/rapidity with which she asked them. And I'm aware that the Japanese tend to view Americans as arrogant, know-it-all bastards, so even when I did answer the questions "correctly" I found myself backpedaling and saying things like, "But I'm no expert on the subject" or "But I'm not a politician; I don't have all of the answers" to try to preserve a certain humility and get the woman off my back. I don't think I did very well in any respect, though.

Dave/Mickey: And even though I wouldn't be working with those people, your point may stand given that a good chunk of the interview involved them telling me just how much Japanese people dislike black people. I mean, they're generally distrustful of foreigners anyway, but are (typically) even less accepting of dark-skinned foreigners. I'm pretty sure I could handle it, but hearing them go on about this didn't make the interview any easier or make me any more comfortable. In fact, if I get the job, I'll be convinced that it in large part has to do with the color of my skin (assuming that the applicants to the program this year aren't terribly diverse). There was one point where I responded to their comments about this by saying, "That's why it's so important that Japanese interact with black people who are not, ah, thieves... so that maybe, someday, hopefully... those stereotypes can be overcome." I don't think I sounded all that confident and convincing when I said it, but I think all parties recognized the validity of the point.

Given how poorly the bulk of the interview went, though, I still remain doubtful.

Sarah: Well, you're doing pretty well now -- what with the fun teaching job and the world travels and whatnot! -- so I guess things have worked out fairly well for you since then. And the story about the glasses is definitely pretty impressive -- given how crowded and busy NYC can be, I'm surprised anyone even noticed the falling glasses!

]]> By: Sarah http://www.wesoteric.com/blog-archives/02-26-2008/i-am-the-worst-interviewee-in-the-world/comment-page-1/#comment-18286 Sarah Thu, 28 Feb 2008 14:36:39 +0000 http://www.wesoteric.com/blog-archives/02-26-2008/i-am-the-worst-interviewee-in-the-world/#comment-18286 I once had an interview where my ability to speak the English language went completely out the window. In retrospect, it was pretty funny. Especially considering that the interview was for a teaching position at a special ed school. The principal must of thought I had all sorts of speech delay disorders and that I would be more suited *in* the special ed class rather than teaching it :) That was really nice of you to return the glove. I was once on a non air conditioned bus in the middle of July and all of the windows were open. I leaned to one side and my sunglasses (which were on the top of my head) fell off and out the window. Because this was near 34th Street and there were tons of people and traffic, a guy on the street literally chased the bus a few paces, yelling, and he picked up my glasses, got on the bus and returned them to me! That is good karma! I once had an interview where my ability to speak the English language went completely out the window. In retrospect, it was pretty funny. Especially considering that the interview was for a teaching position at a special ed school. The principal must of thought I had all sorts of speech delay disorders and that I would be more suited *in* the special ed class rather than teaching it :)

That was really nice of you to return the glove. I was once on a non air conditioned bus in the middle of July and all of the windows were open. I leaned to one side and my sunglasses (which were on the top of my head) fell off and out the window. Because this was near 34th Street and there were tons of people and traffic, a guy on the street literally chased the bus a few paces, yelling, and he picked up my glasses, got on the bus and returned them to me! That is good karma!

]]> By: mickelodeon http://www.wesoteric.com/blog-archives/02-26-2008/i-am-the-worst-interviewee-in-the-world/comment-page-1/#comment-18281 mickelodeon Thu, 28 Feb 2008 12:27:05 +0000 http://www.wesoteric.com/blog-archives/02-26-2008/i-am-the-worst-interviewee-in-the-world/#comment-18281 I'm with Dave, Wes. Imagine if you actually did work with those people!? =( I'm with Dave, Wes. Imagine if you actually did work with those people!? =(

]]> By: dave http://www.wesoteric.com/blog-archives/02-26-2008/i-am-the-worst-interviewee-in-the-world/comment-page-1/#comment-18266 dave Thu, 28 Feb 2008 00:43:57 +0000 http://www.wesoteric.com/blog-archives/02-26-2008/i-am-the-worst-interviewee-in-the-world/#comment-18266 Was it a worse experience than sitting through the Dalek/hybrid episode of Dr. Who last year? BTW, if it's any consolation, they're jerks for making an interviewee feel that way. Imagine if you worked there? You're definitely not a terrible person (I think. I mean, I've never interviewed you for a job, so I might be missing something. jk) Dave Was it a worse experience than sitting through the Dalek/hybrid episode of Dr. Who last year?

BTW, if it's any consolation, they're jerks for making an interviewee feel that way. Imagine if you worked there?

You're definitely not a terrible person (I think. I mean, I've never interviewed you for a job, so I might be missing something. jk)

Dave

]]> By: Wes http://www.wesoteric.com/blog-archives/02-26-2008/i-am-the-worst-interviewee-in-the-world/comment-page-1/#comment-18264 Wes Wed, 27 Feb 2008 23:58:42 +0000 http://www.wesoteric.com/blog-archives/02-26-2008/i-am-the-worst-interviewee-in-the-world/#comment-18264 Well, it's sort of a given that it'd be worse than a thousand ninja bobblehead incidents -- because anyone who endured that would at least come out with a thousand ninja bobbleheads, which would be totally awesome. With this interview, I gained nothing (except perhaps the experience of being humiliated and some ideas for avoiding said humiliation in the future, which I suppose is worth something) but totally lost my dignity and pride. :| Well, it's sort of a given that it'd be worse than a thousand ninja bobblehead incidents -- because anyone who endured that would at least come out with a thousand ninja bobbleheads, which would be totally awesome. With this interview, I gained nothing (except perhaps the experience of being humiliated and some ideas for avoiding said humiliation in the future, which I suppose is worth something) but totally lost my dignity and pride. :|

]]> By: Ro http://www.wesoteric.com/blog-archives/02-26-2008/i-am-the-worst-interviewee-in-the-world/comment-page-1/#comment-18252 Ro Wed, 27 Feb 2008 19:31:32 +0000 http://www.wesoteric.com/blog-archives/02-26-2008/i-am-the-worst-interviewee-in-the-world/#comment-18252 Yikes, worse than a thousand ninja bobble head incidents?!? That's brutal. I'm sorry you had to go through that. I hope you are feeling much better now. Yikes, worse than a thousand ninja bobble head incidents?!? That's brutal. I'm sorry you had to go through that. I hope you are feeling much better now.

]]> By: Wes http://www.wesoteric.com/blog-archives/02-26-2008/i-am-the-worst-interviewee-in-the-world/comment-page-1/#comment-18226 Wes Wed, 27 Feb 2008 07:45:19 +0000 http://www.wesoteric.com/blog-archives/02-26-2008/i-am-the-worst-interviewee-in-the-world/#comment-18226 If it sounds like you've been through worse, TAB, it's because I'm withholding details -- there's seriously almost no possible way you could've had a worse interview than this one. (It was worse than a thousand ninja bobblehead incidents!) I was applying for a position as an assistant English teacher at a Japanese school. If it sounds like you've been through worse, TAB, it's because I'm withholding details -- there's seriously almost no possible way you could've had a worse interview than this one. (It was worse than a thousand ninja bobblehead incidents!) I was applying for a position as an assistant English teacher at a Japanese school.

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