Anyone had an interviewer fall asleep during your interview?

[MD Wiggy]

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So, during a recent one-on-one interview the interviewer did actually fall asleep briefly. The interviewer asked a question and about 5 seconds into my answer his eyes were closed and head slightly tilted towards his chest. I wasn't exactly sure what to do so I continued answering. When I was finished answering he was still in this state/position that I'm guessing was sleep. I kinda continued to talk and then he "woke up" and asked the same question again.

I received what I thought was positive feedback at the end. Should I do anything about this, even if I think it was a positive interview?

 

[DrBowtie]

What would you do?

 

[MD Wiggy]

What would you do?

Not sure, just getting suggestions I guess. I found it to be somewhat funny, yet angering so I thought I would post the story.

 

[astrife]

That is utterly hilarious and kind of reminds me of something someone told me. This person was applying to Grad schools to get their doctorate in psychology, and one of the interviewers at Alabama was what they called the stress test. As soon as the interviewer and interviewee shook hands the interviewer said rather gruffly "Your hands are sweaty... what are you nervous?".... and he said the entire interview it was as if the man was trying to entice him to get angry. What happened to you might just be something that the school does to see how you react in a moment such as that? Will you get up and walk out? Will you gently shake him? Will you politely wait for him to wake up? Unless the man has narcolepsy I extremely doubt he unintentionally fell asleep during your interview. Maybe it was just a test... and you passed....

 

[Turkeyman]

That is utterly hilarious and kind of reminds me of something someone told me. This person was applying to Grad schools to get their doctorate in psychology, and one of the interviewers at Alabama was what they called the stress test. As soon as the interviewer and interviewee shook hands the interviewer said rather gruffly "Your hands are sweaty... what are you nervous?".... and he said the entire interview it was as if the man was trying to entice him to get angry. What happened to you might just be something that the school does to see how you react in a moment such as that? Will you get up and walk out? Will you gently shake him? Will you politely wait for him to wake up? Unless the man has narcolepsy I extremely doubt he unintentionally fell asleep during your interview. Maybe it was just a test... and you passed....

Haha that's the jist of what I was about to say.

It's that, or the interviewer had a really long night :O

 

[cfdavid]

I have a customer that regularly falls asleep mid-conversation. It's hilarious. I've done lunch and learn presentations to him and others in his group, and he'll be sitting there snoring. It's a trip.

 

[drmota]

I wasn't exactly sure what to do so I continued answering.

HAHA. this gave me the funniest mental image ever.
-mota

 

[MD Wiggy]

HAHA. this gave me the funniest mental image ever.
-mota

Tell me about it. It was all I could do to contain my laughter untill the door closed as I was leaving.

 

[humuhumu]

I think most of us won't understand the meaning of sleep deprivation until we get to the third year of med school...

 

[sunnyjohn]

If my file was on the table in front of him, I would have grabbed his evaluation sheet and given myself good marks.

"This candidate is outstanding. We MUST accept him/her!"

 

[ShyRem]

I think most of us won't understand the meaning of sleep deprivation until we get to the third year of med school...

Or until you have children.

 

[bubbleyum]

whatever happened to the thread with all the funny/bizarre interview stories? can't find it anymore, must be buried somewhere. now, those stories were FUNNY.

i guess you could call up the school and ask them if you requested another interview, would the original interviewer know about it and then you can tell them your story. they might have a good suggestion for you. if the guy fell asleep, he couldn't have given you a "raving" review, just passingly positive marks.

 

[Casey James]

If my file was on the table in front of him, I would have grabbed his evaluation sheet and given myself good marks.

"This candidate is outstanding. We MUST accept him/her!"

-Casey

 

[Dr. Josh]

What was the question? And how did you answer? Was the presentation boring? Maybe he was sick of hearing the same answers to the same questions. I really wouldn't do anything about it. Just get a good laugh about it.

 

[indo]

check for pulse

 

[Mutt]

You should have thrown in a "you know?" into your answer to see if he was totally out or not.

I would have slipped in a few cuss words into my answer to see if he was really listening - if he wasn't, it would be personally satisfying to have have sworn at an interview and still got in. 😛

 

[drmota]

😛 <---- this face looks like a passed out interviewer.
-mota

 

[Katya00]

Ha ha that is really funny. I would find that situation really amusing actually, and good for stories! I would probably had acted like nothing happened, all the time thinking "what the...?"

If it was a test, how strange! Could you imagine being asked to do stuff like that, as part of your job as an interviewer? "Yeah, just nod off or something, see how the applicant reacts to that..."

 

[45408]

check for pulse

You're not kidding. An interviewer had an MI once, and the candidate thought it was a test or something, so s/he just sat there waiting to see if anything was gonna happen. I'm pretty sure that if my interviewer fell out of his chair and landed on the floor, I'd jump up and check for responsiveness.....

BSI/scene is safe. 😉

 

[MD Wiggy]

What was the question? And how did you answer? Was the presentation boring? Maybe he was sick of hearing the same answers to the same questions. I really wouldn't do anything about it. Just get a good laugh about it.

The interviewer asked if I had interviewed anywhere else. I started to say it was my first but I have three others lined up right now. This was after he said that we were finished. I was making the move to get up and then he asked this question.

Earlier in the interview he had yawned a couple of times and appologized because he had just returned from a trip late the night prior to the interview and that he wasn't bored with me.

 

[SailCrazy]

My interviewer at Wayne did the "close eyes, head down" thing briefly during one of my answers. I definitely noticed, but kept on talking. He was back with me by the end of my answer...

I chose to view it as a good thing - like he was so comfortable with me as a candidate that he could really relax during out interview! 😀

It was early on in the interview, so I couldn't have been that boring!

 

[SailCrazy]

I just added my naptime story to that thread, so it should be bumped up again.

whatever happened to the thread with all the funny/bizarre interview stories? can't find it anymore, must be buried somewhere. now, those stories were FUNNY.

 

[unfrozencaveman]

My interviewer at Wayne did the "close eyes, head down" thing briefly during one of my answers. I definitely noticed, but kept on talking. He was back with me by the end of my answer...

I chose to view it as a good thing - like he was so comfortable with me as a candidate that he could really relax during out interview! 😀

It was early on in the interview, so I couldn't have been that boring!

You're joking. This happened more than once? Unbelievable!! Honestly, how tired do you have to be?

I wouldnt even know whether to be mad, or just incredibly amused.

 

[SailCrazy]

You're joking. This happened more than once? Unbelievable!! Honestly, how tired do you have to be?

I wouldnt even know whether to be mad, or just incredibly amused.

It was just once, and he seemed to be refreshed and alert after his rest!

 

[Dr. Josh]

The interviewer asked if I had interviewed anywhere else. I started to say it was my first but I have three others lined up right now. This was after he said that we were finished. I was making the move to get up and then he asked this question.

Earlier in the interview he had yawned a couple of times and appologized because he had just returned from a trip late the night prior to the interview and that he wasn't bored with me.

I guess it would be looked at differently if the candidate yawned or fell asleep during the interview. 😛

 

[unfrozencaveman]

It was just once, and he seemed to be refreshed and alert after his rest!

I mean, it happened to more than one person.

Even imagining it has me chuckling to myself.

 

[MD Wiggy]

I mean, it happened to more than one person.

Even imagining it has me chuckling to myself.

Actually, there was a point in the middle of my interview, a point where I was trying to maintain eye contact when his eyes disappeared, behind his eyelids. I wasn't sure it he was squinting, but thinking back he may have been sleeping at that point as well.

 

[justin984]

lol! This reminds me of a quote from patch adams...

(Psychologist not listening)

Patch:
And I thought, if I could light my own farts I could fly to the moon, or at least uranus. But if I couldn't do that I could at least use my penis as a pogo stick, and that might be a way of getting around."

 

[jmnykrkts]

That is utterly hilarious and kind of reminds me of something someone told me. This person was applying to Grad schools to get their doctorate in psychology, and one of the interviewers at Alabama was what they called the stress test. As soon as the interviewer and interviewee shook hands the interviewer said rather gruffly "Your hands are sweaty... what are you nervous?".... and he said the entire interview it was as if the man was trying to entice him to get angry. What happened to you might just be something that the school does to see how you react in a moment such as that? Will you get up and walk out? Will you gently shake him? Will you politely wait for him to wake up? Unless the man has narcolepsy I extremely doubt he unintentionally fell asleep during your interview. Maybe it was just a test... and you passed....

wait a second, if that's the case how do you know he passed the test? maybe the correct response was giving the guy a little shake. or maybe he was supposed to bang his fist on the desk and demand to be listened to.