Blogocentric Formulations

Worst Job Interview

Prompt ▼

What's the worst job interview you've ever had?

I was initially tempted to say that my worst job interview was the time I was up for a job with a very, very well-known production company, studied up on their films extensively, and when asked what my favorite movie of theirs was, promptly forget everything and had to admit that I literally could not think of a single movie they had produced. And then I blurted out a movie that wasn't even theirs. Needless to say, that recruiter did not end up calling me back for a second interview.

But, no. That was just an embarrassing interview. My worst one? That would be the time that I interviewed over the phone for a job with an independent producer and the assistant that I would have been replacing. Everything seemed to be going well until they found out I lived in Long Beach at the time. This producer worked out of his home in Westwood which, for the non-Angelenos reading this is almost exactly 30 miles... which means it could be anywhere up to two and a half hours away, depending on traffic.

The producer and the assistant were incredulous that I would actually be able to make it to the job on time. I assured them I would make it to work on time, every day without fail. I prided myself on my punctuality. The producer put me on hold to confer with his assistant, came back on the line and said, "Okay, here's the deal. I'll bring you in for a second interview in person at my home office. If you're even a minute late, you're not getting the job. Oh and let's set the interview for 9:00am right in the heart of rush hour to see how committed you are."

In retrospect, I should have taken that as a warning sign. But I got up the morning of the interview at 5:00am and got ready. I left for the interview at 6:00am and got there by 7:15am. I parked down the street from his house and literally waited there in my car for an hour and a half. At 8:45am, I was just about to get out of my car and walk up to the house to be a few minutes early when the producer called me.

"Are you here?" he asked me.

"Of course," I replied. "I actually just parked on your street."

"Goddamnit," the producer muttered.

I was a little perplexed.

"I'm sorry?" I asked.

"I just lost 20 bucks to my assistant. I was sure you weren't gonna make it and he bet me you'd be on time. Anyway, look... I'm not going to hire you. I was never going to hire you. I was just hoping to make 20 bucks off my assistant to teach him a lesson. Anyway, sorry you drove all the way up here. Good luck, kid." And then he hung up.


Most of you are probably reading this and thinking that's pretty messed up... but don't worry, because this was also one of my very first lessons in this industry about how you're supposed to treat everyone with respect because you never know when you're going to run into someone again. "Be nice to those you meet on the way up because you'll meet them again on the way down" is how that adage often goes.

Cut to a few years later and the job I ended up getting instead of that one was for a pretty high-level senior executive at a much better-known and well-funded production company. This producer was a decent name at the time I interviewed with him but had struggled in the years since. As it happened, he was kind of desperate to meet with my boss to see if he could get our company to invest in his latest movie. When he called to ask for the meeting I told him the only time I could fit him in was at 4:00pm on a Friday.

Producer: "But I'll get stuck in traffic both ways. It'll take me hours to get across town and back."

It was the only time I offered, so he took it.

That Friday, I called him ten minutes before the meeting. "I'm so sorry, Mr. Producer... my boss actually had a last-minute conflict and he'll have to reschedule this meeting."

Producer: "I... just drove... all the way here. For nothing..."

Me: