I interviewed a woman at work this afternoon. I feel like a hack. I took this HR course at ND in which we discussed a lot about interviewing, but I never really got a firm idea of what you should ask people. Anyway, my suggestion was that I throw pieces of paper at her and see if she is quick enough to duck them (quick reflexes are important at any job). My boss vetoed that idea. Something about law suits.
Anyway, last summer, I was going through the same thing. That's how I landed here, in Houston. It was an awful experience. Starting with the cold calling. Luckily, most of the firms I contacted were consulting firms and the people were traveling so I could just leave messages. But the interviews...
In one interview, they asked me how I would determine an airline's liability (on their balance sheet) for frequent flier miles. As an engineer, this seemed to be a very obvious problem: look up the number of frequent flier miles outstanding and multiply it by the average cost per mile. But no, as a consultant, you have to go through hell, back to heaven, and thru purgatory and back to hell to get the answer. The guy says to me, "Ok, but how else could you do it?" I give him a blank look (thinking, my way is pretty damn good, I can't imagine there is a better one). And he, still leading, says, "Well, how many seats are there on an airplane? And what percent do you think are occupied by frequent flier passengers?" I look at the window, hoping to throw myself out of it (understanding immediately why they don't open up on the third floor). By the end, I'm multiplying 5*10^6 by 10^3 in my head trying to figure out the average distance the average business traveler flies in a year times all the business travelers in the world. I'm getting all the numbers wrong by factors of 10 (so, the answer is 10 billion. no, 100 million). We were both happy once it was over. It was a nice-to-meet-you-but-i-never-hope-to-see-you-again shake. I mean, from his end, I obviously sucked, but from my end, why would I want to go work for a company that would calculate frequent flier miles like that?
Then there's the interview where I'm asked how I would decide whether or not to open a gas station on a given corner. I go through all of it: the marketing, the management, decisions on location, competition, all of it. Then she says what about financials? Luckily, this is a phone interview because my first reaction is to make the mock puke face. She says, "Would you do a cash flow analysis?" I say, "Oh, of course I would." In the that's a very obvious, though important suggestion tone. She says, "Well, how would you do it?" I immediately, become glad that I live on the first floor (so there's no tossing of self out windows) and enter complete bs mode. She bought the bs and asked me to come in for a second interview. I bombed that one.
Then, came my interviews at my current company. By the end of the day, I had no idea what I was telling people. I just sorta coasted from person to person in a daze babbling about myself. It was July in Houston, and I was in a winter South Bend suit. I was hot. And the suit was too small due to then recent growth in the stomach area (which has been reversed), so taking off jacket was not advisable. I was ready to go.
Notice how the one on the left looks like a big old mess and the one on the right actually looks like a pattern. Ahhh, see what understanding a yarn over does for a gal? Unfortunately, on the far left side of the correct pattern (you can barely see it on the photo), there was an error, so I have to start the poncho yet again tonight. However, these setbacks have made me more determined than ever to get this poncho made, dammit.
The kitties loved the luvas.
Star Rib Mesh 
