Interview Stories

Interview Horror Stories: When Tragedy Strikes

What would you do if you got terrible news the morning of an interview?

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I don’t mean “tragedy” in the funny or ironic sense. But how do you handle it when genuinely horrible things happen riiiiiight before you are due to interview? I have some insight on the dilemma, as my own interview callback season was September 2001. There was a lot of rescheduling.

For the latest in our series of posts on interview horror stories we have a law student that received terrible news the morning of a call back:

My story starts the day before my call back interview.  I am working on finalizing my fifth attempt at getting a law review topic approved when I received a call from home.  A few weeks earlier my dad had elected not to continue with dialysis after chemical dialysis had failed and he would have to have it done by a machine.  Hospice had given him 3 months to live.  My mom was on the phone and said that my dad would not make it through the night, and gave him the phone so we could say good-bye.

I woke-up the next morning, and saw no messages on the phone, so thought everything was good.  I took my shower, and got online to check Facebook.  The first thing I see is a post from my sister saying our dad had passed away around 2 in the morning.

I got dressed for my interview, and went to class, stopping by career services to get advice on how to handle the subject in the interview since I did not want them thinking I was not serious about the callback.  The career services officer reached out to a partner who is an alum from our school, but he was on vacation.  Fortunately, he passed the message along to the recruiter who reached back to me saying we could re-schedule.  I decided, since we did not know when the funeral would be, and since it was near the end of callbacks, to go forward with the interviews.

I reached out to another alum at a different firm to get feedback from my interviews there.  She was helpful, and talking through that feedback helped me mentally prepare for my upcoming interviews.

The first interview I felt went well, but because my mind started to wander and think of my dad in the second one, I felt that I had failed that interview.  Up to that point, all the interviewers knew of my dad’s passing.   When I got to the final pair, the associate was running late, so the partner and I talked for a few minutes before she came in the office.  She had a great, cheery happy personality, stating that it was a great day – then saw our faces and asked what she said wrong.  I actually felt bad for her when we told her since she had no clue.

The silver lining – I got the summer associate position – found out that I so impressed the people in the second interview just by being there (they felt if I could come and interview with the personal stress I was under, I could definitely handle the job), and got the offer.  I am now getting ready to start my third year at the firm and love it and am glad that I made the tough call that day and went in and interviewed.

That sounds like the worst. I am confident I would not have had the emotional fortitude to do those interviews, which, in the very best of times are miserable. (But we already know I don’t really have the stomach for a long Biglaw career.) But at least it’s worked out the best it could for this reader — they even “love” the firm. Note: the law firm does not love you back.

Have a terrible tale to tell about an interview gone awry? Please send it our way by email, subject line “Interview Stories.” We’ll read all the submissions and share our favorites in these pages.

(And remember, as we’ve previously explained, “The ‘horror’ in ‘interview horror stories’ is loosely defined. Stories that are somewhat embarrassing or mildly amusing will suffice.”)

Earlier: Interview Horror Stories: How To Respond To A Raging Racist?
Interview Horror Stories: What Was She Thinking — Er, Drinking?
7 Epic Examples Of On-Campus-Interviewing Fails

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