what's your best job interview experience ?

Two experiences spring to mind:

The first was for the S&T summer internship at a BB in London. I'd got through to the afternoon stage of the so-called "superday" (with half of the applicants axed at lunch) and was about to walk into my penultimate interview with one of the MDs. If experience had taught me anything, it was that traders - especially Directors and MDs - are often late to interview juniors because, more often than not, what's happening on-desk is much, much more important than what's happening elsewhere. With that in mind, I walked into the meeting room fully expecting to twiddle my thumbs for the next 5-10mins. Instead, sat at the other end of the room, was my interviewer. Telling me to take a seat at the opposite end of the table length ways, he spent the next 5mins reading my CV in absolute silence, occasionally looking up at me. Once he'd finished, he set the CV aside and, looking me straight in the eyes, said, "You think you're hot shit, don't you?". I protested that I had no idea what he was talking about. "Top grades, top school, play sport - you think you've got it made," he continued. I insisted I didn't. "Ok, then - tell me, what are the top five risks to our portfolio at the moment." I reeled off the in-vogue albeit banal answers expected of me. He paused: "Who do you vote for?". This caught me off guard a little - "Err, 1872 Secret Ballot Act - I'm under no obligation to disclose who I vote for." His eyes narrowed, "Who told you about the Secret Ballot Act?". I replied that it was my father. "What does he do?". I duly informed him that he, too, was a trader. "So you do everything your dad does, then?". I chuckled and replied that this wasn't the case. "Do you want to punch me?", he pressed. "Err, no, why?", I stammered back. "It just looks like you wanna punch me right in the fucking face. Do you want to fucking punch me?". I replied that I did not, and that I try not to resolve conflict via violence when I can. By this point, the allotted 30mins had passed and a knock on the door from HR told us to begin wrap up. "What have you thought about this interview, then?", he nonchalantly asked. "Best fucking interview I've ever had," was my perhaps overly-enthusiastic reply. He chuckled: "Good, I think you'll do well here - but make no mistake, this is for a summer internship - if this were for a graduate role, I would have gutted you, you cunt." Smiling, I told him: "Well, you should have pressed me harder then."

I pretty much knew then that I was gonna get good feedback from this guy - was just a matter of how the other interviewers that afternoon rated me. As it turns out, I got the offer and met the MD on the floor that summer: genuinely lovely guy.

The second occasion was a little less flair. After the interview process for a trading house, there was a drinks event hosted for the applicants at a nearby bar. The head of one desk was waiting for me when I turned up, beer in hand. Handing it to me, he invited me outside for a drink and swiftly told me that he liked the look of me and had put a bid in for me on his team. Got the offer the next day.