A virtual job interview meant to highlight the candidate’s professionalism turned into an awkward moment of chaos when he unexpectedly activated Google Assistant mid-conversation. The tech professional shared her ordeal on Reddit, explaining how the voice assistant started reading a random Wikipedia article aloud during an online chat, completely throwing her off track.
“My body is literally still shaking from the amount of embarrassment that happened about an hour ago. I had a Zoom interview for a job I really wanted and I was trying my best to look professional and confident. All of a sudden the Google Assistant on my phone decided to activate itself and started reading out loud a Wikipedia article about something completely random,” she wrote.
She added that at that point her “brain just shut down” and she found it difficult to refocus for the rest of the interview.
Mixed reactions online
He drew the post different reactions of social network users. One commenter wrote: “Ignoring what it says about potential job performance, no one really wants to work with someone who completely lacks grace under pressure… If someone breaks down over activating their Google Assistant, how will they react when they really screw up?”
Another added: “I feel like there’s more to the story. Why are you so upset? Doesn’t sound like a big deal to me. Just say ‘Excuse me’ and turn it off.”
A third person commented: “If this happened when I was interviewing, I’d make sure that person gets through and gets seated first. People being interviewed are stressed and if we don’t help them calm down, we’re not going to get the best interview. I’m sorry it was stressful. I wish you the best!”
Another wrote: “You could have just said sorry I don’t know why my phone is picking up right now and turned it off. Things like this happen.”
