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Job Interviewers Reveal The Worst “This Person Isn’t Getting The Job” Moments, Show What Not To Do (30 Posts)
Interview With Author
Going to a job interview is one of the most stressful things you get to do in your professional life. The pressure to perform well and highlight your inner awesomeness is immense. And at the end of the day, a lot is riding on that brief conversation—your future career path, your self-confidence, your ability to pay the rent.
However, we tend to worry about how things will go on our end of the table. Very few of us have actually made accurate guesses about how the job interviewers are going to respond to what we say and do. And being able to know ahead of time what pitfalls to avoid can boost your career to whole new levels.
That’s why we’ve collected a whole host of red flags to avoid the next time you’re at an interview, as shared by HR staff and recruiters. They spilled the beans on r/AskReddit about all the times they realized that someone definitely wasn’t getting the job.
It’s informative. It’s fun. It’s all down below, so scroll down and upvote the stories you found the most useful. Got any job interview nightmares to share with all the other Pandas? Drop on by the comment section. And if you want to see some more applicant red flags, then check out this Bored Panda article right here later on.
The author of the thread, a veteran recruiter, was kind enough to answer Bored Panda's questions about the viral post. Scroll down for our interview with the OP.
This post may include affiliate links.
His personal signature included a crucifix. When asked, he said it was his responsibility before God to share the good news of Christ with every person he met. I did not want to find out how far he was willing to take that responsibility while working with the mentally ill.
The redditor revealed that they've been recruiting people for years and years. "I've been in HR, and recruiting for most of my life," they shared with Bored Panda.
"I asked [the question] because in a recent position I had as an interviewer, it seemed like the art of interview etiquette has been completely lost," they explained what inspired them to come up with the question in the first place.
This guy was an absolute rock star applicant, applying to be a teacher. He was super nice, young, dynamic, and had won awards. He also had great references. Then, when asked 'Any questions?' he replied 'Could you tell me if you'd have a problem with a teacher dating a student?'
A woman casually mentioning that she wanted to set her ex on fire. Totally unprompted and unrelated to anything that had been asked. Later, when asked how to handle difficult customers she said she would set them on fire as well.
Bored Panda was interested to get the OP's take on what job applicants should or shouldn't do. For instance, they told us that as far as personal and professional achievements go, they like them highlighted on the resume. "If I get asked, I'll explain how I achieved it. It's not boastful in my opinion if you're asked," they said.
"I think one of the best things a person can do is simply be attentive. Do some research on the company, especially if it's for a job you really want," they gave some great advice for anyone who's planning on going to a job interview soon. Meanwhile, the worse thing someone can do is "check your phone or watch." Also, try not to seem bored or uninterested. "If that's the case, why did you even take the interview?"
When I worked in a bank as a manager, one internal candidate I interviewed put her finger in front of my face while I was talking and said” I’m gonna stop you right there” . I went with the other person who didn’t put their finger to my face
An individual I was about to interview had strapped a bag of urine to themselves in preps for a drug test and accidentally sat down on it. The bag popped and pee went all over the person and the floor. My office smelled like urine for a month...
My most recent standout was when I found my own resume with someone else's name on it. Someone had come across my resume at some point and copied-pasted it into their own, with no changes except for the name/contact information.
I would have invited that person and ridicule them about my resume.
Earlier, career coach Jermaine Murray explained to Bored Panda that one of the biggest mistakes that applicants can make is being too humble. If they don’t highlight their achievements and accomplishments, nobody else will do it for them.
"They humble themselves when they need to be boasting. If you understand why the work that you were doing was important and how it impacts your org (project) then you should be explaining that to the interviewer without holding back. How did you go above and beyond to make sure things worked? What creative ways did you come up with? Show off."
During my first management gig I was sifting through resumes for an internship program we had and one of the candidates printed her resume on glittery paper and sprayed it with perfume. I didn’t even look at her resume. To this day they probably still find glitter on that desk.
"Try to impress them, stick out with your resume to get noticed, be creative to get a job". I can hear the suggestions. :D
Interviewed someone for a teaching position in China.
Me: Do you have any preference in regards to which city in China you would like to live in?
Candidate: Hmmm, I'm very interested in either Shanghai or Korea.
Nope.
Had a guy who was a little rough but was looking quite promising for a design role. He blew it with me by saying “I’ll turn this company around in 6 weeks” and a few more comments along those lines with a theme of “you are currently messing it up”.
This is a small successful company. I wanted him to fit in, not “turn us round”.
According to Jermaine, our tone of voice and body language are vital to success during job interviews. We should always do our best to be perceived as confident and capable. Failing to do so can cost you the job because your talents and skills won’t seem as impressive if you’re a nervous wreck or just downright scared.
"If your body language or tone says otherwise [i.e. that you’re not confident], you destroy the perception of your skills. Once that's gone so are your chances of landing the job," he said.
Currently doing all video interviews (cause well Covid) and I recruit for a healthcare company. many, many, many times people answer the video call either naked, partially naked, on the toilet, etc. yeah you’re not getting the job bud.
I don't understand people who take phone calls while on the toilet. Very few calls are that important.
My wife got someone who applied as an emergency room physician who didn’t have a medical degree or go to medical school but they were a “hard worker” and a “quick learner.” Yeah, you can’t legally practice medicine without a license. That’s gonna be a no.
I recently interviewed a Chef. I hadn't even gotten to the point of telling him what our menu theme was and he took off his mask and said he won't wear one if I told him to. Then he starts telling me how my restaurant was going to run, and a bunch of menu items that aren't even close to our theme.
I told him he should go start his own restaurant, call it the Covid Cafe.
Nice ring to it, but I already got Covid once. I have no desire to do so again.
"You can teach someone to be a better coder but it's near impossible to teach them how to be a better person. Recruiters will always value personality first, but technical skills are a very close second," Jermaine said.
"Hiring managers keep that in mind and try to make sure candidates they like can perform competently. Different things contribute to this bar that aren't based on the candidate but the organization's internal ability to support and develop someone. Once those two elements are present a hire will happen.”
Interviewee dropped multiple F-bombs. Job interviews are one of the most formal things a person will go through. Now, I’m not shy for swearing language, but they didn’t know that. It just showed I couldn’t trust her in any formal situation or important business meeting. It wasn’t the swearing, it was the lack of judgement.
So, what they actually say is: I don't mind if they swear when they are at work, but they need to know when they shouldn't do it.
Not a HR but I'm currently conducting interviews to recruit a new team member. We saw a guy who was great on the paper but when asked about hobbies he said "seduce and bang women". He was done at this very moment as I yeeted myself out of the place.
Bring your parent or spouse with you... if you need moral support leave them in the car, do not bring them with you to our office and definitely do NOT let them speak for you. Instant “no” from me.
Unless the parent or spouse proves to be a better candidate than the applicant.
Jermaine told Bored Panda that first impressions are vital. That extends to our online presence, e.g. on LinkedIn, as well.
“You can always improve your profile and show up in a Recruiter’s future search based on the SEO algorithms on LinkedIn. Also, if someone is a good Recruiter, they wouldn’t discount someone’s profile in the future because good people make bad resumes on LinkedIn all the time,” he gave us a peek at the side of things from a recruiter’s perspective.
I worked for a big, well known company and we were recruiting interns straight out of college. The questions are more of a get to know you questions, rather than actual knowledge of the work or experience. The company actually gave us a paper with some example questions, like the one below, that we could ask if we ran out of ideas.
So it's going pretty well, very bubbly, chatty girl and I have impression she would fit the team. Until:
Me: how do you handle multiple deadlines in a short time period? E.g. if you have 2-3 exams close to each other or an exam and a big class project?
Interviewee: well, you try to do your best, but if I realise I cannot meet both deadlines, I just call in sick
My manager once told me a guy came in to interview and didn't know about Ohm's law. The position was for electrical engineering.
Very clearly googling the answers during a remote interview.
Or muting the call while the person sat with them feeds them the answer, as an interviewer you can hear it.
"Is that a photo of your wife? Wow, she's hot! Is she at home? What's your home phone number?"
Demonstrating self-confidence: 100%.
Demonstrating stupidity, and many other bad qualities: 100%
Note his name and address and immediately demand a restraining order.
Joint interviewed a candidate with a female colleague, and the guy addressed all his answers to me, even when my colleague was the one who asked
When I was younger I worked in a bar and people would come in and give us (the bar staff) their resumes to give to management. One guy had "picking up chix" (His spelling not mine) listed under interests. After a good chuckle with my colleagues that resume got binned.
I co-owned a restaurant with several people. We got some wild applications which we had a lot of laughs over.
My dad is a QC/QA manager with an asphalt company (they build roads and stuff like that) and he said that once a guy with really good qualifications came in for an interview as a lab tech and said "you can go ahead and fire all your other techs because I'm the only one you're gonna need." The interview lasted 5 seconds before my dad told him to f**k off.
Reminds me of one of my daughter's exes who I hated with a burning passion. He used to talk about how he would be the best sports writer ever. Except he had no writing experience. Couldn't speak well, let alone write. Knew nothing about journalism and didn't even attend sports events. I still hate him. Hate him. (He abused my child physically and emotionally. Hate him.)
I was interviewing someone who had previously worked at the American embassy in his home country. The language barrier was very difficult and he was having a tough time with the interview. Part way through, he showed me some certificates he received from the embassy job, as awards for good work. The conversation then went like this:
Me: Can you tell me the story about some of these awards?
Him: Huh?
Me: I'd like to know why you received these awards. Maybe you can pick one of them and tell me the story about how you got it.
Him: ...awards?
Me: Yes, these things you're showing me right now. Tell me about them.
Him: They are awards.
Me: Right. Tell me how you received them.
Him: How?
Me: Yes. What did you do to get them?
Him: ...I dunno. It's your embassy, you tell me.
That last bit was the longest sentence he spoke to me during the entire interview.
How do you work for a foreign Embassy in your home country, and not at least have enough understanding of your bosses’ language to get by (while brushing up and trying to become more proficient in it)?
When I worked in HR, one applicant, who was in her 40s submitted a 40-page list of achievements/certificates and “sorority girl achievements” from 20 years prior.
Needless to say she failed at even getting an interview.
Part of the problem is the refusal of people to accept that a lot of women spend a considerable portion of their lives raising children and taking care of home and family. No credit or respect is given for that, which leaves women with the only option of talking about what they did 20 years ago. But a 40 page list of achievements was overkill!
She was throwing out questions out of the blue, then answering them herself without even waiting for a reaction from me, the interviewer.
"Sir, do you know why I welcome challenges other people would immediately avoid? Well, sir, let me tell you..."
She got the part where it says : "Be prepared for your interview." a bit wrong.
So many:
1. making comments about getting into an employees skirt as they walked past (also how to get reported to HR before even getting the job).
2. explaining how they took copies of all the companies code home.
3. explaining how they used to work two jobs at once, pretending to work for one from home
4. explaining how they program games for their playstation with notepad... While being interviewed by programmers for a sales role
5. telling the interviewer that the problem they are trying to solve is impossible (even though it was literally 3 lines of code... It was a warm up question)
6. Telling the interviewer that he excels in formatting hard drives to solve computer problems.
I was once around when my old boss interviewd a potential bouncer candidate. This guy lived about 45min drive away from the location, had no licence to drive nor a car. And no, there were no busses or other method of transportation available around the time the club closed.
When asked if he had a friend or some other accommodation figured out, he simply told that he's going to pick up some girl every work night and spend the night at her place. Because hey, isn't there always a line of chicks just waiting to bang the bouncer, right?
Never saw him again.
I was interviewing an apparently well qualified Senior Project Manager for a major, full time project.
She hadn’t worked for six months and while that certainly wasn’t a deal breaker, I asked “How come you left your last job without another to go to?”
She said “Oh I had problems with my Manager...”
Tiny red flags waving - I asked her to explain...
She said, rolling her eyes, “Well he like wanted me to come to work like EVERY day...”
I must’ve looked shocked because she added “Would you want me to work like every day?”
I thought that maybe I was on camera and was being pranked - but retained my composure...
“Well this IS a full time job, running a major project...”
She cut me off and said “I don’t think I’ll like that...”
Let me clarify “everyday” - the job was a simple full time role - Monday to Friday 9 - 5.
Well, it is quite bold to ask employees to work 40 hours when you're paying them to work 40 hours. /S
Telling me you obviously know more than me and that's why I need to hire you for a position I am the direct supervisor for in the most condescending tone I've ever heard in my almost 15 years of my career.
Knowing more than me was required - I'm only in charge of this position because I know more than my bosses about it, but we were looking for someone who specialized in that role. The attitude of "I'm obviously better than you" was not required, and lost him the second interview. Until that point, I was loving his confidence and obvious knowledge, but he just took it too damn far.
Guess the interviewer had no desire to make his job a constant d!ck measuring contest.
Preface: I work in a medical cannabis dispensary.
Had a candidate drop off his resume. Seemed like a promising candidate, until I flipped over his resume and saw that he had a "wish list" of dispensaries he wanted to work at, and a reminder that he had an interview that same day, later that afternoon. My company wasn't on his wish list. He later called to ask if his resume had any writing on the back, and asked me what time his interview was. I wished him luck. I didn't hire him.
Have had countless candidates who only wanted to work at a medical (meaning you have to have a qualifying condition like cancer) dispensary because they "thought it would be chill af", "could be high all day", or "get free samples". None of them were called back.
Walked into the interview with her phone up, texting. Sat down, continued texting, finally looked up to meet my eyes when done. I just motioned to the door. This was for a TEACHING POSITION.
I had a female applicant show up to an interview in a bikini. I called it right there.
One time, I asked a guy what his proudest accomplishment was. He answered, "When I was a kid, I fell on my bike and hurt myself *down there* (points to his crotch for emphasis), and they said I'd never have kids, but now I have 3!"
I had an interview set up with a potential employee. She called the day of, hysterical because she didnt know how to get to the office, she was new in town etc. I was nice, we rescheduled for a couple days later, I thought maybe it was nerves, I'll give it a chance.
She proceeded to call every hour that day in the same or very similar state of hysterics. She started slurring her words together. She keeps telling me she's lost and doesn't know the bus routes. At this point I'm pretty sure she's abusing some kind of substance, probably alchohol. I'm stuck with the interview slot I've already told her about, in case she actually remembers about it.
The day we rescheduled arrives. She showed up 5 hours early.
She did not get the job.
I would’ve been sure security was close at hand when I told her she didn’t get the job. Just. In. Case.
Former head teller. My old manager once came over to my desk after an interview and let out a massive sigh and declared (quietly so only i heard him) that he needed a double of scotch. Apparently the person showed up to the interview in a white “wife beater” tank, ripped khaki shorts, and had the n- word in his email on his resume (interviewee was white if it matters). Needless to say, my boss did not hire them.
Why would you even invite someone for an interview who has the n-word in their email?
Refusing to remove your rollerblades and sitting on the table is a pretty big no.
Being late, having your mother call to ask about your application status, telling me you have to apply for jobs so you can continue to get unemployment benefits.
Had a job interview with a woman. In her last two Letters of recommendation, at the end, where usually would be a sentence about why that employment ended, there was a weird vibe in between the lines. So we asked why she left those companies.
She just smiled and said "Well, both times I was dating my manager and it didnt turn out so good". It was almost as if she was proud.
After she left we asked the supervisor of the position if he needed a new girlfriend (with a wink ;) )
She didnt get the job.
ME: Thanks for coming in and we'll be in touch soon.
HIM: Thanks for inviting me and I just want to say good luck with the baby
ME: Sorry, what baby?
HIM: Well the contract is for 6 months and you're interviewing for your role, so you're going to have a baby, right?
ME: No.
HIM: Oh, well you can understand why I might have though that?
ME: No, not really.
HIM: But...well...ummmm...but you are a woman.
Me: Yes, yes I am. Thanks for noticing. Now, thanks for your time, just press the green 'exit' button on your way out.
Staff sat near reception couldn't believe what they heard!
Ah yes, every single woman in the whole world is pregnant if they take some time off work for a period of time less than or equal to 9 months.
For me, it’s when candidates divulge what is clearly sensitive information on the part of their existing/previous employer.
This guy's resume had a ton of IT skills/technologies in it and that should have been a red flag but we didn't have many candidates for the position so we gave him a shot.
First question I asked him was "So I see you have PHP on your resume, can you tell me what types of environments you've worked with it in?" His answer was "What? I don't know know that." And he didn't say it like he didn't know PHP, he said it like he'd never heard of it. When I showed him a copy of his resume he scratched out PHP with a pen and said "My friend did my resume for me, I'll have to update that..." That was the end of any consideration of hiring him. I texted the recruiter to come get him and it took them 20 minutes to get there. To be polite we continued the interview but it was a long 20 minutes. I don't remember everything but every question was a train wreck.
He insisted he knew Active Directory because he kept it on a usb drive he carried with him.
He got a text and stared at his phone for about 10 very uncomfortable seconds and then said "Hold on, this guy is trying to sell me some windows" while he texted back.
When asked what types of teams and groups he's used to working with instead of saying "very structured" or "easy going" he rattled off about 10 names, first names, as if we knew who they were. When we asked what that team was like he was like "Oh, you know" and then repeated the names again.
Someone asked him to walk them through a typical day at his current job. I don't think he said anything about work and instead talked about his wife and his kids. Then he told us a story about a funny thing his uncle did years ago.
I asked him how his work was presented to him and whether he used a ticketing system or if he used any project management software and he said "They call me." When I asked if he meant a help desk environment he said no "They call me at home." He couldn't elaborate on how any of that worked or what he did after they called him.
Train wreck of an interview. I once saw someone's CV (resume) where he listed every little job he'd ever had, and made it all sound much bigger and better than it was. I questioned him and he was actually just totally deluded !!
GREAT on paper. Came to the interview high, admitted he'd fail a workplace drug screen for PCP, and wanted to drive heavy machinery.
I had a candidate bring his mother to the interview, with the expectation that she would go through the interview with him.
In high school I was in a group interview for a cr*ppy mall retail job and they asked us if we had any fun nicknames. This college aged kid next to me perked up and looked excited to answer. He then proudly proclaimed that his friends liked to call him DJ Big Balls.
Dj Big Balls to lingerie department. Repeat; Dj Big Balls to lingerie department.
Was helping my manager interview some people for elderly care work in a residential home (UK). A lady came in and immediately declared she WOULD:
. Help serve food and drinks, but no washing up or cooking
. Would help ONLY the ladies get dressed but no intimate personal care and will not dress men
. No evening or night shifts
. Will not change "nappies" (incontinence pads)
. Will not push wheelchairs
My manager was pretty stunned, i couldnt help myself and asked "so what the f**k will you do?" I handed her the CV back and told her we will call you. We did not.
I once had a person explain how they once got into a fist fight with another employee. And this was an example of “how they handled a difficult situation with a customer or coworker”.
Better than the candidate I had who answered that question by proudly explaining how he'd filled his roommate's bed with dog feces...
One that’s famous in my company is the anti-vegan
He was doing a great job in the interview process and was apparently the front-runner until he was having an interview with his boss’s boss. He’s half way through the interview and unprompted says “none of you are anything weird like Vegan are you? Haha” and goes on a bit of a rant about them.
Little did he know the man interviewing him had been vegan for 4 years to support his wife. She’d been having some serious health problems and found a vegan diet helped her, so he adopted it out of solidarity and stuck with it.
The rant ended... there was silence amongst the interviewees who ofc were aware of this story, and he was asked to leave.
I used to work in staffing. I have a few.
Showing up ridiculously late. You should never be late for an interview but a few minutes may be forgiven. An hour will not be.
Smelling like weed, regardless of the position.
Being rude to anyone in the office before the interview
(My favorite) Interrupting the interviewer by answering a phone call and sticking your finger in the interviewer's face
The "Showing up ridiculously late."-part goes both ways. I walked out of several applications because the interview wasn't on time. If that's how you treat your candidates, than that's how you treat your employees.
A guy wrote on his application that he “dropped out of public school in 8th grade and was self educated after that. “ And 9 words were misspelled
Years ago I was tasked with opening a new branch in another state. We needed to hire many people in a relatively short time. I spent my days interviewing 8-10 people a day in a tiny makeshift office while the building was under construction. One person will be forever burned into my memory. She came in professionally dressed and the conversation started off great. As we gradually went through the interview questions things got weird fast. She started to tie her horoscope sign into multiple answers. She’d say “that’s just the Scorpio in me” and “I’m a Scorpio so that’s why I do it this way”. Then she proceeded to get louder and angrier with each question. Simple questions like “how many years experience do you have in X “ would leave her basically shouting and glaring. The most unnerving thing was how her eyes seemed to change from the original hand shake to sitting down and answering questions. She would stare at me in an unsettling, wide-eyed way that was confrontational and aggressive. She went from seemingly upbeat and happy to be there to me feeling like she was going to attack at any moment. I wrapped it up and walked her out, making sure she left the building. And as she was leaving she turned around with a huge smile and said sweetly “I hope to hear back from you soon”. Umm WHAT?!?!? I’ve interviewed thousands of people since then - she remains the most disturbing one ever.
One time I was interviewing a guy for a position in a book publishing house. One of my questions was -naturally- "What do you like to read mostly?"
His response: "Naah I don't like books, too boring."
Depending on the position, why does that matter? Unless reading books is part of the job. You don't have to be interested in whatever it is your company does to be good at your job with the company. I work at a mortgage company. I don't do anything involving home loans in my personal time.
Agreed. You don't have to passionate about something that has a connection to your employment. Sure, it might help the enjoyment of your job, but it's not absolutely necessary. You can have a job at Sports Authority (I think they're still in business) for instance, but not really be into sports, but you're excellent at sales and becoming knowledgeable about the products you're selling.
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I interviewed a guy and asked him about his approach to Diversity & Inclusion and his reply was “all the girls in my team that are my subordinates are lovely and some of them are very pretty, so yes, women are important to have in the team”
The guy took a call for another interview in the middle of his interview. Needless to say, our interview was over.
A candidate laughed at me. He didn’t have an answer for my first two questions then just LAUGHED at my third and shook his head.
I shut down the interview and made it clear it was due to an inability to complete it. I politely asked if he had any questions and he said “is the job paid by direct deposit or a check? Do you need a void check from me?”
No sir, you’re never getting a pay check from us... EVER!
I (F) was the recruiting manager. Had a male coworker with me who was learning the interview process and I was letting him talk through the questions I had previously selected. The candidate clearly thought I was the secretary, would try and be flirty with me when my coworker would talk and even winked at me after saying something like « oh well I would just help her, you know » (question was something about what would you do about a coworker in trouble). Yikes. Still have the jibbies about it.
Group interview. As an ice breaker, the candidates were asked to write an interesting fact about themselves, then work out as a group which one belonged to who. One guy wrote about how he wanted to be a stunt man in his teens, so he dressed up as a bird, climbed into a tree, and defecated over people. He did not get the job.
Guy was sniffing and rubbing his nose a lot. Figured he had a cold, not big deal. Until me and my boss both noticed some white dust. And he got more agitated, squirming and confused as the interview went on.
That would have been a mess to deal with.
Guy told me that he needed to have Thursdays off because that was the day that his WoW guild did their raids.
Talking over the interviewer.
Working as a recruiter, I ALWAYS had several completely inexperienced guys applying for TL and senior positions despite having just graduated from some mediocre coding course and having nothing to show for it. They somehow always were a very specific brand of a person.
However, the record on disqualified candidates belongs to an applicant for a Junior Motion Designer position. They didn't attach a portfolio. I thought maybe they didn't get around to make one yet? It can happen, and I like giving people the benefit of doubt. I figured I could just give them a home task if needed.
I asked them the standard questions about how experienced they were with standard industry softwares - After Effects, Blender and a couple of others.
"I can use Word. Does it help?"
Interviewee began the interview with "I am one of the smartest people in the world. I am so smart in fact that I have created my own language, which I use exclusively for the rest of this interview. "
To this day I have no idea if his tech skills were any good. But he did provide us with entertainment for an afternoon as we invited everyone in the office to ask him any questions they liked.
Been doing a bunch of interviews lately for an intermediate network engineer. I had a guy start off an interview with "I don't really know anything about networking"
I just need 10 job applications to keep my unemployment benefits this month.
Girl spent the entire interview talking about penguins and how she has a whole room dedicated to penguins and then put her feet on the conference table, rolled up her pant legs to display penguin socks. No.
If it was an interview to be a penguin keeper at a zoo it might make sense 😂
My friend applied at the place I worked. His email address was a string of weed references and began and ended with “420_69.”
He literally told me that he was only at this interview cos he heard the chicks working for us were hot.
So he was literally told that perverts and potential stalkers and rapists never get hired?
A candidate that during "do you have any questions?" asked deadpan if it's ok to have a six-pack of beers during his lunch break.
A standard set of questions I circulate into an interview are: how many hours are you available, how punctual are you, and how are you capable of said workload
I’ve had multiple people flat out say they are not available at all. But what really blew the cookie was when a young dude asked if he could just not work and be given money.
I'm a recruiter in a tech company. We mainly hire experienced algorithm and software developers, so generally you tend to expect people who know how to interview. Nope!
I look racially ambiguous. I've been asked by a candidate for a team leadership role if I was Indian the first two seconds of the interview. He actually got the job and works for the company today, a year and half later.
Another candidate spent 30 minutes complaining about his current workplace and how terrible it is, while I desperately tried to cut him off and get him to answer my damn question
I was hit on during an interview. By a candidate twice my age. Yup
I had a candidate for a testing position whom I headhunted on LinkedIn and he agreed to talk and hear about the position. During the phone call he said something along the lines of "I'm headhunted all over, I need to hire an assistant because the phone won't stop ringing" in a very arrogant tone. He was very annoying and full of himself during the entire conversation. He did not progress to a F2F interview, but every time we open a similar position, he applies.
Having said that, the number of recruiters that want to be my friend on LinkedIn three weeks after I started a new job is somewhat discouraging.
Handing me a full page long list of courses that the candidate has taken...and then telling me that they can only work on two days a week for two hours at a time because they’re about to start three more courses.
The best part is that these were all courses about getting back into employment.
I was once in an interview (position in the department I'm leading) and the candidate answered the "Where do you see yourself in 5 years?" question with (what was essentially) "Not here, I only see this as a stepping stone".
A lot of "M-hm"s were audibly said just after that.
Didn't take their earbuds out during the interview.
Sometimes there is a reason, they might have extreme anxiety and need background sound going, but that needs to be explained early. I once interviewed someone who left their sunglasses on the entire time. I was immediately ticked but after about 4 minutes she explained she had sunglasses on because her eyes are extremely light sensitive and she will always need to wear them even inside. Sometimes it's not all what it appears.
I was interviewing for a tech position two years ago and one of the guys that looked good on paper came in. It was a mess. He didn't know half of what was on his resume, and couldn't accurately explain the most basic of tech questions. When it came time to wrap up the interview and I asked if he had any questions for us, his first question was, "What's your attendance policy? Would I be in trouble for missing work?"
Have a nice day. Goodbye.
I interviewed a guy who told me he was smarter than his boss and that he’d be smarter than any boss he had in the future as well. Apparently this was funny too because he laughed. No one else did.
"If you have to say how smart you are, chances are that you're an idiot."
Asking if they can reschedule the interview because he "just got an interview for a job I really want." We just suggested it might be best to not reschedule at all.
No apologies for the inconvenience; rescheduled 15 minutes before the interview was about to start; we initially agreed until he repeated over and over how he "really wanted [the other job] more."
I (23) sat in on an interview with my boss (25) and a potential candidate (late 30s female).
Candidate: "I take pride in my work, I'm not some millennial (see: mid20s interviewers across the table) that will just skate by doing the bare minimum."
Needless to say we shared a chuckle after she left that interview and never heard from my boss.
Q: On a scale of 1 to 10 how are your C language skills?
A: 10
Q: What does i++ do?
A: I don't know.
Had a guy literally SPRINT out of the building.
I wasn't the interviewer, I am a web developer, but as we were trying to hire a second developer I was asked to prepare some basic web development questions.
These were not hard. These were absolute bare basics babies first code stuff.
This guy came in, started interviewing and was apparently doing okay, not fantastic but enough to keep him in consideration. Then he saw that we had a test and he apparently grabbed his bag and ran out of the room. All I saw was this guy sprint full-tilt past the rest of the office, shoulder-barge out the door and run off into the distance, followed by our two directors stumbling out of the interview office laughing uncontrollably.
I guess he lied on his CV?
Go into a rant about their political beliefs.
Also, if they have a tongue ring and play with it I squirrel and don't hear anything they actually say.
Disparage their old job/boss without being prompted to discuss past employment.
Did not happen to me (am a dude) but a woman recruiter friend of mine who had packed on a few kilos was asked by a candidate, at beginning of interview, “When are you due? You are glowing!” Shortest. Interview. Evah.
Don’t. Ever. Assume. Someone. Is. Pregnant. In fact, just don’t assume things about people’s appearance at all.
Hygiene. It was for a designer role in a high tech comapny.
My manager interviewed him first, before coming back to my desk rather soon. I said, "wow, the was quick." He replied, "he's all yours."
I opened the door to the interview room and almost fell over backwards. Whatever place this guy came from, water was scarce.
For me, I had spent part of my youth shovelling horse manure on the family farm, so I had techniques to breathe while in harsh environments.
So I talked to him and attempted to determine if he had any special skills that we needed (thinking that we could treat the personal grooming as a separate issue). He had nothing really remarkable to offer though.
Just straight up writing "Shrek" onto the contract he was supposed to sign.
When I worked at a bank, we had a customer whose legal signature was "Go Pokes!!!" (OSU fan) Like that's the signature on his driver's license and therefore legal, exclamation marks and all. So every form he filled out for us had to be signed that way. I can imagine how professional that comes across at his job.
One of my old lecturers used to tell us about when he worked for a marketing firm, or something, and was interviewing photographers. Most were pretty similar, nothing outstanding.
This one guy rocked in with a custom hand-made wooden box filled with cardboard-thin wooden frames on every photo, very VERY swish and fancy looking. The photo's were beautiful as well, and they'd probably have gone with the guy on the spot, but he turned up for the interview in a string wife-beater, daisy dukes and flip flops.
"I'm interested in I.T because I have recently hurt my back and need a desk job."
Yeah, I didn't really get his enthusiasm for the role there.
This was me actually giving the job interview so I was the one hiring. We had to dramatically underpay the salespeople so our choices were horrible. But none were worse than this one creepy guy. He was basically a serial killer.
He walked in the conference room and right away I knew he was sketch. I should have ended the interview right when I saw him, ill fitting suit, slicked back hair, looked shady as f**k. I didn't want to judge a book by the cover though so I gave him a chance. I asked the first couple questions, you know, tell me about yourself, that kind of s**t.
Here is when I asked him to leave. I said, so tell me why you want to work in sales.
He goes, "Well, I'm new in town, so I think this will be a great way to get to meet people...especially women." And when he said especially women he winked at me, ewwwww just right now typing this gave me the creeps and made me shiver all over.
This interviewer clearly hasn't heard about people sh*tting out of trees.
Ask if you have to pass a drug test.
In the Netherlands only police officers are allowed to conduct a drug test. Employers do not even have the right to ask an employee to do a test. But it doesn't mean that they can't fire you if you show up high or drunk.
Two minutes in saying "give me " and I'll take the job ... Beech I havent offered you a thing, this job is nowhere near yours.
A guy came to an interview 30 minutes late telling us he did not find the building. Right after the recruiter just told me that the guy was in the very same office a week ago to participate on an interview for another department.
This reminds me of the time I took an old friend to see my marine recruiter. He asks my friend if he's ever done drugs, which the obvious answer should be NO. He goes and says yeah, recruiter looked shocked, looked over at me, then looks back at my friend. And slowly laughs and says, "well which ones? Maybe we pretend you didn't say that."
He didn't join. Surprise, I know.
Hiring for a mid-level technical position. The CV was only the front of one page, and about a third of it was a multi-colored word cloud. The words were only tangentially related to the position.
Back in the 80's, I was interviewing for a technician job in a male dominated field. Male supervisor and manager are interviewing Boss: So you need to understand, you will be working with all men Me: Yes, I do that now Boss: We didn't mean they would be hitting on you all the time Me: Well darn. Sometimes you have to address the elephant in the room. We all cracked up, I got the job and it was one of my favorites.
I have always worked in male dominated fields, mainly because I started out at my Dad's construction company and realized I got along a lot better with men (Most of the women I've ever worked under were neurotic & super insecure, I'm pretty sure it was because they realized I was much smarter than they. Honestly not bragging, I have worked with some really dim bulbs). One Boss asked if I would be offended by "colorful" language. I told him that if heard anything I hadn't before, I make sure to write it down. Yeah, I got the job.
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One day, I interviewed a guy who's name and face I knew but I could not remember from where. The guy was also interviewed by one of my deputies and we both found the guy's skills and training OK but we decided that we will not offer him the job because there was something off with his personality. The following weekend, I finally remembered where I "met" the guy. At the time I was single and on Meetic (a French dating website) but without pictures on my profile (this was still ok in 2003). I had a short conversation with the guy on the website and he asked me if we could exchange photos by email. I said yes of course and soon after received an email from him (from his personal mailbox, with his name). There was only one photo of him attached with the email. He was fully naked, reclined on a sofa holding his penis like a freakin' daisy flower. Of ourse I blocked the profile on the dating website and forgot about it. There was definitely something off with the candidate personality. LOL
And you couldn’t have just hired the guy and made him feel extra welcome by printing out the photo in a wall-size format and decorating his work area with it? People these days are so ungracious :D
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I once interviewed an internal candidate applying for a lateral move, who came highly recommended by his manager (NB: this is a huge red flag for a manager offloading a problem).. He worked on an adjacent team so I was already familiar with his current role. I sit down with HR at the interview and they give me his resume for the first time. It's about 4 pages long and he's mid-20s; several paragraphs per job. While HR is talking, I'm reading the details of his current role: "overseeing all..." "managing all..." "in charge of every..." It reads as if he's my boss plus 5 employees all in one! I start pressing him on each duty, and after four "Well actually I just..." responses, he reveals that he didn't actually list his current job duties, he just copied the vague and varied job description from our company's recruitment page. My conclusion: If he's too lazy to even describe his job, he's probably too lazy to do it.
Do they genuinely just not want the job, or are they completely clueless? I can't decide which is worse.
I wonder if some of them just wanted to stay on unemployment.
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And where's the bad interviewer thread? I once went for an IT role - in my - gasp - '50s - and after taking one look at me they didn't look me again the entire time, gazed at wall, floor, etc....and stopped asking the list of questions half way. Pretty obvious from the start I wasn't going to get it
Look around, there are several. If you can't find one here, I am sure reddit has something.
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How about the opposite. I went on a job interview where they spent 2 hours giving me a tour, introducing me to people, telling me why I was SUCH a unique fit and had just the right balance in my skillset for this position... Only then to get to the topic of salary. They couldn't offer anything near what I was asking and proceeded to tell me they have had other people take pay cuts to come work for them. [eyeroll] That's going to be a hard no for me.
I have one test I administer to everyone who asks me for work. I give them my business card and tell them to call me. I have taken on everyone who has called me with one exception. That person called just to let me know he wasn't interested.
Some of the candidates are as bad as rhe poor companies recruiting. Don't ask honest questions jf you don't want honest answers
I once had two teenage boys drop off resumes, I could smell them from across the counter. In the other direction once had a teen girl come in dressed like she was interviewing for an executive role, not a cashier position. I could tell she was nervous, I wanted to tell her to relax, this was a jeans-wearing job.
They should have classes that teach how to conduct yourself in a job interview. Offered in High School and College.
They do offer interview and resume work shops. Some people are just clueless
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I only read till number 9 and so far those aren’t red flags, they’re big fat no gos.
I volunteered in the administrative office of the volunteer services of a hospital. I worked closely with the manager, helped her organize volunteer files, process applications etc. One applicant put "I love Jesus" under the section asking for past work experience. Another applicant got into an e-mail argument over their references; essentially you had to put the name and mailing address of your references so we could send them a survey. She gave us phone numbers and basically argued that we would have to call their references ourselves to get the address. When we told her that no, SHE had to give us the references' address, and that we would not be chasing after something that she was required to do, she refused. She was never called back to begin volunteering.
I was the corporate controller & also handled HR for a small business. When asked about hobbies, one candidate went into full on Jehovah's Witness recruitment mode. She explained all about the "church" , its beliefs and its mission, etc. I was like "Um, I meant do you like to sew, or paint?" Dumbass, leave that crap at the door. You DO NOT discuss religion or politics in a job interview. My favorite question to be asked is "What do you see yourself doing in 5 years" My response: "sitting on a beach in Tahiti after having sold my first novel". No, Karen - I am not here for YOUR job (see insecure women below).
1. Dress professionally and in keeping with the job for which you are being interviewed. 2. Provide a smart and accurate resumé. 3. Be prepared to prove that you can do the job. 4. Know at least the basics about the company to which you are applying. 5. Prepare some questions to ask the interviewer. There are more. Looking at some of these posts I despair.
I spent a year looking for my last job, and the only interview I went on where I got a second interview was the one where I asked them a couple of questions. I had spent most of my working life as a temp and had never really needed to interview since I was being offered a job I was already doing, so interviewing was an entirely new experience.
Load More Replies... Back in the 80's, I was interviewing for a technician job in a male dominated field. Male supervisor and manager are interviewing Boss: So you need to understand, you will be working with all men Me: Yes, I do that now Boss: We didn't mean they would be hitting on you all the time Me: Well darn. Sometimes you have to address the elephant in the room. We all cracked up, I got the job and it was one of my favorites.
I have always worked in male dominated fields, mainly because I started out at my Dad's construction company and realized I got along a lot better with men (Most of the women I've ever worked under were neurotic & super insecure, I'm pretty sure it was because they realized I was much smarter than they. Honestly not bragging, I have worked with some really dim bulbs). One Boss asked if I would be offended by "colorful" language. I told him that if heard anything I hadn't before, I make sure to write it down. Yeah, I got the job.
Load More Replies... One day, I interviewed a guy who's name and face I knew but I could not remember from where. The guy was also interviewed by one of my deputies and we both found the guy's skills and training OK but we decided that we will not offer him the job because there was something off with his personality. The following weekend, I finally remembered where I "met" the guy. At the time I was single and on Meetic (a French dating website) but without pictures on my profile (this was still ok in 2003). I had a short conversation with the guy on the website and he asked me if we could exchange photos by email. I said yes of course and soon after received an email from him (from his personal mailbox, with his name). There was only one photo of him attached with the email. He was fully naked, reclined on a sofa holding his penis like a freakin' daisy flower. Of ourse I blocked the profile on the dating website and forgot about it. There was definitely something off with the candidate personality. LOL
And you couldn’t have just hired the guy and made him feel extra welcome by printing out the photo in a wall-size format and decorating his work area with it? People these days are so ungracious :D
Load More Replies... I once interviewed an internal candidate applying for a lateral move, who came highly recommended by his manager (NB: this is a huge red flag for a manager offloading a problem).. He worked on an adjacent team so I was already familiar with his current role. I sit down with HR at the interview and they give me his resume for the first time. It's about 4 pages long and he's mid-20s; several paragraphs per job. While HR is talking, I'm reading the details of his current role: "overseeing all..." "managing all..." "in charge of every..." It reads as if he's my boss plus 5 employees all in one! I start pressing him on each duty, and after four "Well actually I just..." responses, he reveals that he didn't actually list his current job duties, he just copied the vague and varied job description from our company's recruitment page. My conclusion: If he's too lazy to even describe his job, he's probably too lazy to do it.
Do they genuinely just not want the job, or are they completely clueless? I can't decide which is worse.
I wonder if some of them just wanted to stay on unemployment.
Load More Replies... And where's the bad interviewer thread? I once went for an IT role - in my - gasp - '50s - and after taking one look at me they didn't look me again the entire time, gazed at wall, floor, etc....and stopped asking the list of questions half way. Pretty obvious from the start I wasn't going to get it
Look around, there are several. If you can't find one here, I am sure reddit has something.
Load More Replies... How about the opposite. I went on a job interview where they spent 2 hours giving me a tour, introducing me to people, telling me why I was SUCH a unique fit and had just the right balance in my skillset for this position... Only then to get to the topic of salary. They couldn't offer anything near what I was asking and proceeded to tell me they have had other people take pay cuts to come work for them. [eyeroll] That's going to be a hard no for me.
I have one test I administer to everyone who asks me for work. I give them my business card and tell them to call me. I have taken on everyone who has called me with one exception. That person called just to let me know he wasn't interested.
Some of the candidates are as bad as rhe poor companies recruiting. Don't ask honest questions jf you don't want honest answers
I once had two teenage boys drop off resumes, I could smell them from across the counter. In the other direction once had a teen girl come in dressed like she was interviewing for an executive role, not a cashier position. I could tell she was nervous, I wanted to tell her to relax, this was a jeans-wearing job.
They should have classes that teach how to conduct yourself in a job interview. Offered in High School and College.
They do offer interview and resume work shops. Some people are just clueless
Load More Replies... I only read till number 9 and so far those aren’t red flags, they’re big fat no gos.
I volunteered in the administrative office of the volunteer services of a hospital. I worked closely with the manager, helped her organize volunteer files, process applications etc. One applicant put "I love Jesus" under the section asking for past work experience. Another applicant got into an e-mail argument over their references; essentially you had to put the name and mailing address of your references so we could send them a survey. She gave us phone numbers and basically argued that we would have to call their references ourselves to get the address. When we told her that no, SHE had to give us the references' address, and that we would not be chasing after something that she was required to do, she refused. She was never called back to begin volunteering.
I was the corporate controller & also handled HR for a small business. When asked about hobbies, one candidate went into full on Jehovah's Witness recruitment mode. She explained all about the "church" , its beliefs and its mission, etc. I was like "Um, I meant do you like to sew, or paint?" Dumbass, leave that crap at the door. You DO NOT discuss religion or politics in a job interview. My favorite question to be asked is "What do you see yourself doing in 5 years" My response: "sitting on a beach in Tahiti after having sold my first novel". No, Karen - I am not here for YOUR job (see insecure women below).
1. Dress professionally and in keeping with the job for which you are being interviewed. 2. Provide a smart and accurate resumé. 3. Be prepared to prove that you can do the job. 4. Know at least the basics about the company to which you are applying. 5. Prepare some questions to ask the interviewer. There are more. Looking at some of these posts I despair.
I spent a year looking for my last job, and the only interview I went on where I got a second interview was the one where I asked them a couple of questions. I had spent most of my working life as a temp and had never really needed to interview since I was being offered a job I was already doing, so interviewing was an entirely new experience.
Load More Replies...