Was in an interview for senior role at Top 5 PE, and the interviewer started talking politics, and got annoyed when I didn’t agree.
Title said it all. I was 1/2 way through my interview when my interviewer starts talking about how great he thought Trump was.
Initially I thought he was baiting me, and tried to ignore the comments, but he kept pressing me asking what I thought about Trump and different republican presidents.
I tried to laugh it off with a "I think most politicians suck" type comment (which I actually believe), and he got irritated.
I kept trying to steer the conversation back to work, but he was so agitated he started peppering me with "facts" about how successful Trump was, and why the market always does better under republicans (which is actually not true).
Just for the record, I am a republican, but consider myself to be socially liberal (after 10 years in NYC), but think Trump is a clown.
Finally I just said "yeah you may be right, he got a lot done" and he said "I don't believe you mean that".
It was all so fucking weird and awkward. He ended the interview early and said he would be "in touch".
I can't stop thinking about how I handled it. Was it a test? Was this guy just a dick?How would you guys have handled it?I really want the job. Should I tell their HR?
You handled it as well as one could. So regardless of the outcome, nothing to regret. Totally strange behavior from them and if this is a guy you’d have to work under, maybe a sign you don’t want to work there regardless of whether or not it was a test.
It seems like it was a social test and it sounds like you failed. If you're going to be in a senior role shouldn't you be able to talk to someone on any side of the political spectrum and bring them into to you? I've listened to the founding partner at my firm go from talking to an Aussi banker agreeing with his government tossing out Djokovic for not following the rules one day to making jokes about how he agreed that Trudeau and Pelosi are pieces of shit while talking to founder of a sizeable target the next. The guy personally knows the senate majority leader in CA and built his career between the UK and west coast, now he spends all his time on a ranch in a super conservative area. Lying (which I would barely call this lying, just being socially "fluid," which literally matters not in the slightest in the grand scheme of things) to be friendly in a situation where it is in your best interest to have the person you're talking to on "your" side should be the obvious choice to make. And should you tell HR? Really going to tattle to their HR department about how you didn't like the politics of guy they chose to interview you?
To be clear, the interviewer does sound like he was being an absolute tool and would've been annoying to listen to. But if that's all it takes to throw you off in a conversation where your goal is to make the other person like you either just shows maybe the role wasn't for you or that you're extremely shortsighted. Probably a little of both.
Sorry but isnt OP still right in assuming that it might have been a test because in some cases being a yes man could hurt you and the interviewer may have been trying to see if OP just follows the crowd or actually is able to form opinions of his own?
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