Interview experiences - let's discuss!

Why can't people grasp that a session with a therapist and an interview with an employer are entirely different worlds? They share nothing in common. 🙂

A psychologist isn't vetting your job skills; they are studying you through a completely different lens. Non-verbal cues, eye contact, and tone of voice are everything in therapy, yet those factors rarely matter to a hiring manager.

Carl Cox3 said:Why can't people grasp that a session with a therapist and an interview with an employer are entirely different worlds? They share nothing in common. 🙂

A psychologist isn't vetting your job skills; they are studying you through a completely different lens. Non-verbal cues, eye contact, and tone of voice are everything in therapy, yet those factors rarely matter to a hiring manager.

So, you’re actually trying to tell me that there’s no difference between talking to a psychologist and talking to an employer? I mean, I guess I see where you're coming from—sort of. You're suggesting a therapist only interrogates and tests you because their own life is incredibly dull and the local forums are dead quiet—which, frankly, isn't far from the truth—whereas an employer wouldn't give a single damn if you showed up to an interview wearing a wetsuit, picking your nose, and letting out a few loud, juicy burps during the meeting. It's a bold comparison, I suppose, but let's be real here.

It is clear you have never actually sat through a job interview before. Your lack of understanding regarding the process is frankly embarrassing. Why not simply step away from an interview you are clearly unprepared for?

I’m reviving this thin little thread because I just went through something... well, quite something. I honestly didn't realize what was coming my way, so I walked in prepared for the usual corporate interrogation—you know, the standard checklist: greatest strength, biggest weakness, what colleagues complain about most, how you handled a crisis, times you took initiative, managing stress... all that predictable stuff. But then, they took a turn. They led me into a cafe, which made the whole thing feel incredibly casual and informal, almost too relaxed.
It felt like they were dissecting my entire existence from start to finish. We covered everything—early childhood, family dynamics, socioeconomic background, where I grew up, school days, extracurriculars, friendships, high school, puberty, college, hobbies, professional life, core values, marital status, where I live, my lifestyle, how I make a living, what we fight about at home, and even details about my kid... basically, nothing was off-limits.

The whole ordeal lasted two hours.

And when it was finally over, I was left sitting there with more questions than answers.
First off: an employer isn't technically allowed to ask those invasive, sensitive questions during an interview—things like religion, marriage, or kids—but apparently, they can just send in a psychologist to dig all of that out of you anyway. Wow. 🤣
Second: what else could a company theoretically do after that? Send you for a physical? Because this isn't some specialized field—we aren't talking about the military, working with special needs populations, nuclear research, anything involving SOAi, board positions, or high-level executive roles where such intense analysis might actually make sense. I'm just saying, they seem to think they can get away with absolutely anything. ☕

Third: is it really that vital to know who I am as a private individual? My temperament, my worldview, my personal philosophy... does that truly dictate how I perform my job or how easily I navigate the people around me? Is it really "crucial"? Not in the industry I’m in, at least. And yet, they act like it's the deciding factor.

In my view, you can—and you *must* be able to—work with anyone. You can manage them, report to them, be polite, honest, and unbiased regardless of who they are. Sure, you'll click with some people better than others; you might want to grab a beer with one coworker but actively avoid another. But how exactly do they think they can "engineer" a situation to squeeze the best performance out of people by digging into their childhood?

I honestly cannot wrap my head around what a potential employer is actually looking for in all of this. What part of everything I said—everything they observed and noted down—is supposed to matter? What kind of report are these two psychologists going to hand over to them? 🤔

Has anyone else dealt with this? Any experiences or thoughts to share?

Look, it’s not ideal, but honestly? It’s probably not worth losing sleep over. You really just needed to take a breath and open up—treat it more like you're grabbing coffee with a close friend rather than some high-stakes interrogation. If it turns out the job and the boss are actually decent people, you can easily overlook a clunky interview style. And if they aren't? Well, you can always just hand in your notice and move on to something better. Life's too short to sweat the small stuff.

Well, I suppose I am. And no, I wasn’t being stiff at all—honestly, it wouldn't have even been possible given how incredibly laid-back the vibe was 🙂.
Still, I can't help but be dying of curiosity about what my psychological profile actually looked like when they sent it over to the hiring manager (by the way, I landed the job 🎉).

Huge congrats on landing the gig! 🙂

Look, I totally get why you’re itching to know the details—I’m the exact same way, always overthinking everything—but honestly? You aren't going to find out unless you just go ahead and ask the hiring manager directly.

Carl Cox3 says:

"Information you aren't allowed to ask for
Section 25.
(1) During the candidate selection process (interviews, testing, surveys, etc.) and when drafting employment contracts—as well as throughout the duration of the employment itself—an employer is prohibited from requesting any data that does not have a direct connection to the job duties.
(2) An employee is under no obligation to answer any prohibited questions as outlined in paragraph 1 of this section.

So, which specific pieces of information fall under the category of being unrelated or directly related to the role? I suppose that’s left entirely up to whoever's interpretation they feel like using that day. And honestly, has anyone here ever actually invoked Section 2 during a job interview and somehow walked away with the position anyway? I’d love to see that happen.

e, look, you have to understand—it wasn't even my boss asking those questions, it was an outside psychologist they brought in. 😁

See, besides hiring some third-party consultant, they’ve also got their own internal HR department staffed with psychologists. During the interview with the boss—which was basically the Department Head plus someone from HR—the questions weren't just random personal stuff; everything stayed strictly within the bounds of psychological profiling and labor laws.

So, I guess this whole thing just made up for 😛

It’s almost funny, acting like anyone actually knows what someone's true strengths and weaknesses are. It's all subjective anyway, which makes those whole lines of questioning feel pretty pointless. I remember one time I sat through four grueling hours of IQ tests and psychological assessments just for a single job application—and that was with a massive crowd of people waiting behind me.
Back when I had to take a psych evaluation at a major hospital like Mayo Clinic, it wasn't nearly that drawn out or exhausting, yet I walked away with a legitimate, professional psychological profile.
So why is it that some corporate firm tries to play it so much safer and more pedantic than a medical institution? They love to brag about being cutting-edge, even though the infrastructure around them is barely holding together despite all their "innovation."

Tyler Ruiz502 said:e, look, you have to understand—it wasn't even my boss asking those questions, it was an outside psychologist they brought in. 😁

See, besides hiring some third-party consultant, they’ve also got their own internal HR department staffed with psychologists. During the interview with the boss—which was basically the Department Head plus someone from HR—the questions weren't just random personal stuff; everything stayed strictly within the bounds of psychological profiling and labor laws.

So, I guess this whole thing just made up for 😛

It doesn't really matter, though—the psychologist's client is the employer. It’s pretty standard stuff—if you actually bother to look into what gets asked during a selection interview, you'll see that. And by the way, what you just described... that wasn't even a formal interview.

Anyway, congrats. 🙂

Haha, thanks 🙂 the whole thing ended up turning into a legal debate. Honestly, I’m still sitting here dying of curiosity as to why they actually hired me—I mean, looking at my skill set compared to the others, I was nowhere near their level, which is why I'm so baffled! 😬 I was really hoping for some deep dives into the psychology behind how HR departments operate 🙂

Basically, there’s this whole school of thought suggesting that you can actually map out someone's future just by looking at their past—that certain life choices and specific events act as a roadmap for who they are and how they'll act down the line. It’s that idea that our patterns define us, which is really where all those questions about things like academic performance or GPA come from in the first place.

And they aren't just looking for an employee. In today’s market, you don't just hire a worker like you're picking up a head of lettuce at a grocery store.
What they’re actually searching for is a colleague. Someone they can truly collaborate with, sit next to all day, and build something meaningful through teamwork...
That’s why the interview process feels so strange sometimes, with all those odd questions. They're trying to see if you're a cultural fit. It sounds like you really made a great impression on them personally, you know? Congratulations!