King of the Interview

I must be the self confessed king of the interview – I stopped counting after 100. The reason for this has been a lot of short one-year jobs, as well as trying to move in different career directions.

I think in a lot of ways I’ve experienced just about anything possible that could be thrown at someone at a job interview.

Perhaps my strangest interview has to be a Jodrell Bank, the British radio telescope.

This was back in 1997 – to me it had been a dream to go to Jodrell Bank – I was an astronomy graduate after all!

Anyway I ended up being a little late, found signs for the place’s entrance and dived into the building. Well to my surprise all the corridors were somewhat darkened. I was even more surprised to be addressed by the ghost of Isaac Newton.

"I would ask Mr Crow that you put down that apple!"

One pant wetting moment later it became obvious I was not where I was supposed to be – in fact I was at the Jodrell Bank visitors centre, and I had activated the proximity sensor on an animatronic.

Well the interview got stranger – I was met by a dwarf Head of Department for my interview, who led me to a room where I was interviewed by a panel which also included a six-fingered man (note to self – did he kill my father?). Something they didn’t put on the application form – the job as a radio telescope engineer involved a lot of heights – was I okay with them?

Well actually I hate heights – even a stepladder causes me nose bleeds. But I did what anyone at an interview would do – lie. So later on I was made to go up a ladder to view one of the telescopes – well let’s just say they never did call me back!


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