An interview recently bought to mind a job application process I went through about four years ago, which involved, among other things, a fairly intense psych interview. Actually it would be more accurate to say I was grilled for an hour and a half, not interviewed. The psychiatrist was asking all sorts of seemingly unrelated questions and changing the direction of the conversation repeatedly, at times interrupting while I was still answering the previous question. I presume this was an intentional tactic to elicit a frustrated or angry response, but I wasn't flustered by it - actually I was amused if anything. The psychiatrist would pick seemingly random topics along the way and really focus on them for up to ten minutes, going into minute detail, even repeating some questions but phrasing them in a different way, then suddenly ask something completely unrelated, then jump back to an earlier topic and so on. Fortunately I have no problem jumping around like that. Here's a small example of what I mean:

  - Do you drink often?
  - No.
  - Have you ever been intoxicated?
  - Well yes, of course.
  - When did you last become intoxicated?
  - About a year and a half ago.
  - How much did you drink?
  - Umm.. lots.
  - How much.
  - I don't really know exactly.
  - Did you get so intoxicated that you blacked out?
  - *laughs* No.
  - How many drinks did you have?
  - *raises an eyebrow* I don't really know exactly.
  - Do you drink first thing in the morning?
  - No.
  - How many times have you been intoxicated?
  - Err.. quite a few.
  - How many?
  - Ever?
  - Ever.
  - Err.. I really couldn't say. I wasn't counting.
  - Did you ever get intoxicated while at work?
  - No.
  - How many times a month do you get intoxicated?
  - None.
  - What about in the past?
  - Err.. depends on the time of year. Around Christmas there were more parties so I-
  - Do you think women think differently from men?
  - What?

You get the idea. Now imagine that kind of thing going on for an hour and a half about all sorts of arbitrary topics. I think some people would need a shrink after that. The psychiatrist displayed no emotion or personality whatsoever throughout the examination - I don't know if that's because they weren't supposed to (in which case they did their job extremely well), or perhaps the psychiatrist just didn't have any personality. I actually got that job, so presumably my responses didn't translate to me being a raving psychopath. That's comforting to know.