Have you ever had a phone/video interview go wrong?

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GammaRayBob
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27 Feb 2020, 10:33 pm

I recently had what was supposed to be a video conferencing interview for an entry level, two year leadership position at an undetermined university campus. The person who contacted me initially emailed me that they were impressed with my application (a resume plus several essays related to the position) and wanted to set up an interview.

However, I had been having some audio problems with my phone in regards to the speaker, wherein it's sometimes difficult for people to hear me due to muffled sound quality. During the video call, the interviewer kept saying she could barely hear me half the time, to the point where she asked if we could switch to a standard call. Unfortunately, but not surprisingly, it was the same situation and she eventually said we might have to reschedule the interview for another time. But, knowing that the same issue would occur and not wanting to push it off any longer, I told her that I would just speak much louder.

I only ended up answering one question from her about how I felt about the job and why I wanted to apply for it before she told me that she thought that, due to my experience level, it sounded like I was probably overqualified for it since it was entry level and geared towards younger recent graduates (I had also recently graduated but it was my second stint and, although I hadn't disclosed my age, she could probably tell I was older from my resume). I think this was the first time in my life I had ever been told that I was overqualified for something so it was quite a shock. She also mentioned that the position I applied for was only available in the US and I currently didn't have a work visa to make me eligible. There was, however, another position that was quite different from that one in Canada but she said she didn't think I'd be interested in it or a good fit (I kind of agreed). She said she would send me a link to other related jobs that would be more along my experience level.

Anyway, I'm not really sure what to make of this. I'm aware that I punched up my resume enough to make myself look as experienced as possible (I didn't lie about anything though and was specific about how much time I was involved in each position, which, honestly, wasn't that long) but maybe that was the wrong approach. My first instinct was that the poor sound quality was the determining factor, since she may have been getting annoyed after a while and didn't end up asking me more than one question before coming to her decision. On the other hand, it was only supposed to be a half hour interview and due to her sending me the Zoom link last minute and the audio difficulties, we ended up running out of time. It seemed almost as though she changed her mind about my suitability for the job pretty quickly but I can't say for certain if the reasons she gave were completely honest. I mean, she obviously knew I would be overqualified just from my application alone before she agreed to interview me.

Anyone have any ideas or been in a similar situation?



AspiePrincess611
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03 Mar 2020, 11:02 am

I recently had a video interview for a job as a science teacher. The questions were really hard for me because I don't have any real teaching experience aside from being a substitute and my failed student teaching experience. I wrote down my answers to the questions beforehand so I didn't forget what to say, as I typically do. I thought this would be better because I got to see and think about the questions beforehand. It did not go well. I was distracted the entire time because I had to see myself on screen. I am self-conscious about my appearance and hate having my picture taken. The entire time I kept thinking how awful I looked that I couldn't focus on the interview. I also had to keep looking at the answers so it was obvious I was reading them because I kept looking away from the camera. I do not skype or face-time and found the video interview very awkward. I called the human resources department and asked if I could redo it, but they said no. They did say that I was not disqualified, so maybe it wasn't as bad as I thought.


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shortfatbalduglyman
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03 Mar 2020, 7:28 pm

Thus far zero phone interviews have gone wrong. They just didn't bother to hire me.

Took a lot of phone interviews

Only about three of them offered an in person interview

Do not have access to video interview

If required for the job, I don't do the video interview

:roll:

It always gets on my nerves :evil: the way precious lil "people" insist on doing things using the highest amount of technology possible



AspiePrincess611
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04 Mar 2020, 1:46 pm

It always gets on my nerves :evil: the way precious lil "people" insist on doing things using the highest amount of technology possible[/quote]
I agree. I'm not much of a technology person myself.


_________________
Nolite te bastardes carborundorum "(Don't let the bastards grind you down)"
Margaret Atwood, The Handmaid's Tale
"I might be crazy but I ain't dumb"
Cooter, The Dukes of Hazzard