The worst moments of job interviews

A group of jobseekers wait for an interview at a company in Seoul in this undated file photo. Job applicants sometimes experience embarrassment due to unexpected questions during job interviews. / Korea Times

By Kim Bo-eun, Jung Min-ho, Bahk Eun-ji

Kim Jeong-yeon, a 26-year-old graduate student, still shudders every time she recalls a job interview she had two years ago.

Kim, who studied French for several years, stated on her resume that she had intermediate skills in the language.

At the job interview, which required strong skills in foreign languages, she was first asked several questions in English which Kim answered confidently.

Then one of the interviewers asked in impeccable French, a question she could not understand.

"I did the only thing one could do in such a situation ― I honestly responded, in French, that I did not understand the question," she said. "The interviewer looked dumbstruck," Kim recalled.

Kim, who remembered the words in the sentence she was asked, later looked them up after the interview, only to find that the question had been "Can you introduce yourself?"

"After that incident, I stopped writing on my resume that I speak French," she said.

Dumbfounded

A job interview can be a nail-biting experience especially when you are not properly prepared for it. Interviewers might ask you a question that you don't know the answer to but your competitors do. The worst part is the knowledge that you will have to attend more interviews if you fail.

"I knew, as the interview went on, that I wouldn't get the job. It was obvious that the CEO was quickly losing interest in me because I failed to answer the questions that he asked," said Park Jae-hyun, a 27-year-old job seeker.

After graduating from college with an applied chemistry degree last year, Park was full of hopes for his career. However, it didn't take long for him to realize the harsh realities of the job market.

"I applied for a job in a plastic pipe manufacturing company where I had a job interview this May," Park said. "After the resume weed-out stage, the hiring process was twofold: an interview with staff and another interview with the CEO."

In a comfortable interview atmosphere, Park performed satisfactorily in the first interview.

"The staffers were very friendly. I think they valued my social skills which I believe will be critical for interaction in the work environment," Park said. "A couple of days later, for the CEO interview, I headed to Seoul where the headquarters of the company is located, and I faced the old kingpin there."

For the second interview, Park wasn't well-prepared because, according to staff and random Internet sources, it was supposed to be a "simple test about general knowledge."

"I wasn't even that nervous especially after I saw the ramshackle building in the middle of other cool ones," Park said. "As soon as I stepped into the room, the CEO said that I was handsome. Good start, don't you think?"

"And then, he suddenly took off his pants which shocked me especially after the compliment," Park said. "Mercifully, it was to show scars on his legs, and he started talking about how hard he worked for the company since he established it, a long time ago."

After the CEO put his pants back on, a really difficult time began with tough questions.

"He asked me questions about calculus and trigonometric functions. Of course I didn't know the answers," Park said. "He also chided me for not possessing any certificates in my field."

Bombarded with unexpected questions, Park remained dumbfounded until he was finally told that he wouldn't be suitable for the position after he failed to answer the final question, "Do you know how to make dynamite?"

"The interview was tough and somewhat ridiculous, but it still taught me the lesson that I have to be prepared for whatever comes up in any interview," Park noted.

Ending up in tears

Some job interviews are too harsh for frail-minded job seekers. Park Ji-young, a-25-year old college student, went through a nightmarish interview several months ago.

It was the final interview with the head of a company she had applied for. As she had taken a semester off when she was a sophomore, it was written in her school documents. Taking off one or two semesters is nothing peculiar among Korean college students these days, because they usually go abroad to sharpen their foreign language skills or do internships at companies.

Park's reason was more private, because she had some family issues.

"Suddenly, the CEO asked me why I took a semester off. I didn't want to give a detailed explanation, so I just said that I was sick," said Park.

She thought that the questions would stop there, because it was a somewhat private issue that she didn't want to share with others.

"But the owner didn't care whether I wanted to talk about it or not. When I answered that I was sick, he asked what kind of illnesses I had. After I answered truthfully that I had been under a lot of pressure from a family issue at that time, he went on to ask me about what kinds of issues I had," Park said. "You know what happened? I ended up bursting into tears. I was so humiliated."

Park said she cried even though she didn't want to, because she was overwhelmed by a complex sense of powerlessness and helplessness that had arisen between the interviewer and herself.

"It was because he was obviously superior to me, in other words, he was the employer and I was just one of many job seekers."

Park said she felt like she had been under pressure to reveal private matters in order to get the job, and this made her feel frustrated.

"Later, I realized that he wanted to test how much I could put up with in a pressured situation, but it took several days for me to get over the interview," she said.

Although it became a harsh memory, she considers it as an experience that toughened her up for future interviews.

"I ended up failing to get the job, but I decided to apply again next time. I'll give better answers and be braver when handling such a situation, if one ever comes up again," Park said.

Honesty is best policy

A survey by JobKorea, an online job placement portal and publisher Chungrim conducted on 694 job seekers last October to November showed that 24 percent considered their worst interview moments to be when they gave irrelevant answers after failing to grasp what interviewers asked them.

The second most widely cited answer, by 22 percent, was when the interviewers did not pay enough attention to them, only asking important questions to other interviewees.

Another 21 percent responded that it was when they continuously made blunders, resulting in them becoming nervous wrecks.

Rhee Choong-sub, a human resources manager at POSCO, says a positive mindset helps in getting over distressing job interview experiences and preparing for future interviews.

"Those unpleasant experiences can serve as groundwork for better performances next time," said Rhee.

He also added that when faced with unpredictable situations during interviews, it is best to be honest. "They say ‘honesty is the best policy.' I wholeheartedly agree. Rather than pretending to know what you don't know, it's a lot better to be honest when you do not know the answer."