I had a terrible interview experience yesterday

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So, I got a call to come in for an interview, and that's all I was told. When I get to the place it is a group interview. The entire time from morning, till I got to the place I was extremely stressed. When I'm stressed I can't eat, so I had to force myself to eat, which made me want to vomit. I was faint feeling and well... going through anxiety.

So I get to the place and I am there with about 20 people. In this process I learned, group interviews are firstly BS and secondly extremely unfair if you are on the spectrum, or have any social issues. I couldn't prepare for it, it just came as a sudden shock. I get there expecting a 1 on 1 with a manager, as I was told to ask for one, and it's a giant group.

This group interview had three stages. First stage is asking you soft questions, and a small group exercise. Second stage of role play trying to sell something, and third stage is a one on one. I didn't get past stage one. You have to vie for attention and it just seemed all silly to me. If a person asked a question, and it was the question I wanted to ask, what then? I don't ask my question and now it looks like I have nothing to say and therefore not interacting.

They ask no questions that deal with the actual job but it's all odd soft questions like what do you do on the weekend, and what movies do you like. I can't act a role that I don't have, if I were to be interviewed 1 on 1 I can be more prepared for that, and if given the job, I can act the part of the job that is expected. To act that all out before I actually have anything is just odd I had to wrap my head around that and by the time I did stage 1 was over and I was out.

So many people watching you trying to one up you. The guy who would take what someone else said and just paraphrase it got through to stage 2, and why?

I don't envy you. I hate salespeople-type jobs.

Did you get the job? Or get another interview?

Group interview? Holy cow Why not just put everyone on the rack and see who lasts the longest.

I'm glad I've never had to endure that kind of torture.

It sounds like they just wanted to hear people speak and decide whose personality they liked the best.

I think I would take this as a sign that it wasn't the right job for me.

I had a similar situation over the summer that actually prompted me to get a diagnosis. I had applied for a job as an Oracle PL/SQL developer at a major university. The first interview as a formal group interview where several people were asking me job related questions. It went really well because I was on familiar territory.

I got called back for a second interview. I thought it was going to be one on one with the manager. It wasn't. I was completely surprised by an informal social group lunch and another candidate for the same job was there also. I was completely unprepared and unable to function. I couldn't make small talk. Couldn't answer questions, etc. I was shaking so bad that I dropped my fork and spilled my drink when one person asked me a question. Needless to say I didn't get the job.

I don't even understand why such a thing was necessary. It was a code-monkey job. I'm not a people person, that's why I got in to computers in the first place.

My wife and I had been talking about the possibility of ASD, but I was so shaken by this experience that I decided to see a psychologist and got a diagnosis.

I had an interview once (at about 6 pm on New Year's Eve, no less) in which the entire company, except for the receptionist, showed up to interview me as a group! The president of the company was throwing a party that night and he even stayed for the interview.

That was the only place I ever worked where I wouldn't have been the only person still working that time of the day.

You are way better off not getting the job if the interview process is like that.

They wanted an outgoing, stubborn, loud person who is not afraid of talking in front of strangers and is able to fight for their right of voice for a reason - it was a job like that. It was a work in sales. The worker will have to talk to customers all the time and has to be effective. Can you imagine a salesperson who shyly asks "Can you buy it, please?" and after hearing single "No, thank you." walks away? It doesn't work that way. Salespersons are a pain in ass when you are a customer. They will ask you "Are you sure? See? It is a new collection. You won't buy it anywhere else! Its promotion today! No, really? Oh, is that so? Then maybe you are interested in our new product..." and you won't be able to escape. Someone who is not good with people just won't be able to act this way.

It wasn't a job for you. That's all. It wasn't discrimination. You just failed because you were not the kind of person who they were looking for. If they made just 1v1 interview you would get fired soon anyway because you couldn't do the job properly due to your social issues. They were saving themselves from hiring an incapable person and you from wasting nor time than necessary. By doing the group interview they choosed people who were social and confident enough to pass it. Even the guy who paraphrased wasn't that bad - he had no idea what to say but he was confident enough to use someone else idea and say it out loud as his own. That kind of attitude is actually common among salesperson. Some of them even paraphrase what customer says and make it sound like the product is just as the customer wants it even if the customer actually said the opposite. Its called distorting the facts.

Scanner, I am really sad to hear of that horrendous experience.

Things will not change much unless these ignorant employers/companies are educated. Even then, some bigots will never change, though that's part of the human condition. I posted the following article in the hope that some may use it for educational purposes - for example:

people could print off a copy and send it wherever they felt it would helpful: HR departments, newpapers, schools, career consultants etc. You could pin a copy up to noticeboards in your workplace, school or library. You could give a copy to every faculty head in your university. Use your judgment about whether the place you choose is friendly or hostile to minorities, and if the latter, don't put it out there in ways that might identify you.

I am not saying this is a solution, but it could be a start toward a solution. We could also write our own stuff and use it, which I would prefer. However meantime this article is all there is.

http://www.antiochne.edu/wp-content/upl ... pGuide.pdf