Interview with a madwoman!

by Roger Parminter
(Chicago, IL)

My first interview out of college was with a firm in Chicago that offered internships with guaranteed positions for virtually all applicants. The pay was good and company was well respected.

The human resources person- I'll call her Dana- brought in 20 applicants on the same day, at the same time. Once all the applicants had arrived at the proscribed time and stood milling around the waiting area with freshly pressed suits, briefcases and high hopes afoot, Dana comes bursting out of her office, directs everyone to leave the building and meet her at the park across the street.

Confused, we all obliged. Dana beat us over to the park where she already had a number of "props" set up. For the next two hours, we all participated in classic "team building exercises" with other applicants (and competitors) under Danas watchful eye. Catching tossed eggs, pretending that the grass was lava and we had to get across without touching our feet...

A surprising number of people simply refused to do it and left. Others were so bashful that they waited on the sidelines and watched the others. About ten of the original twenty applicants played along and oddly enough, we had a great time! You sure get to know someone when you're trying to balance next to them while standing on a 2X4 board!

After it was over, everyone who stuck around and played along was hired on the spot.