DESPERATE MEASURES: My interviewer looked like he was 16

An interview is something that needs preparation and should not be undertaken lightly. It certainly should not, for example, be held on the phone outside a bar or, for preference, when you and the interviewer are somewhat confused about which role is being applied/interviewed for. Both of those things have happened to me in the last couple of weeks.

Having resigned from my job without the foresight to secure a new one, I suddenly find myself actively searching in a market which, depending on who you talk to, is either the worst ever or actively opening up, making my timing perfect. I suspect that neither opinion is completely correct and that the availability of roles is dependant on a range of factors.

So far I have had three interviews all of which were secured by contacts or, more accurately, ex colleagues who have become friends. I have been amazed and delighted by how supportive people have been and how actively they have looked in their current organisations for openings.

In the first instance, the person who interviewed me looked as if had just received his GCSE results but had his own office, with his name on the door and everything. He was briefed to discuss a completely different role with, as far as I could tell, a completely different candidate.

We spoke at increasingly crossed purposes for a good 20 minutes before working it out.

I suspect he had also been on some sort of interview technique course (and there was a definite whiff of HR involvement here as well) as I was asked, for the first time ever, what my strengths and weaknesses were.

My second interview was far more traditional in that we both agreed which job we would discuss, correct CVs had been circulated, and the interviewer had definitely made it through puberty.

Walking into the coffee shop where it occurred was, however, slightly less anonymous than it might have been as I immediately bumped into three ex-colleagues, two of whom were also having interviews.

This was then followed up by a telephone interview, arranged by email which went straight into my spam email box and was therefore bought to my attention only when the call actually came in (although I did have the sense to run out of the bar before answering).

I'm still going through the motions with two of these roles but the HR lady from the first place called me a few days afterwards to get my feedback. She thought I was someone else and rang off and then called me back, seemingly without realising we'd just been speaking.

We decided that we wouldn't pursue the role at this time, but I do wonder, given the levels of confusion involved, whether I wont get a contract in the post anyway - probably in someone else's name.