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27 People Who Walked Out In The Middle Of Job Interviews Share Why They Did It
Article created by: Austėja Akavickaitė
Job interviews are a thoroughly nerve-wracking experience at first. Heck, your entire future can hinge on a single conversation! So, no pressure, Pandas. However, while we’re busy rehearsing our biggest strengths and weaknesses in front of the mirror and triple-checking if our outfits really fit the term ‘smart casual,’ we can forget one important truth: it’s not just the interviewer checking if you’re the right fit for the company.
After all, any job interview is the perfect opportunity for you to check out the company and see if its values align with yours. It’s a moment that you can take a peek behind the curtain and see if there are any obvious red flags that make your gut say, “Nope, no thank you, not this one, we’re not that desperate.”
In some cases, those red flags are practically glowing crimson with alarm bells ringing, practically screaming, “Stay away! Don’t fall for it!” Redditor JimmySaulGene invited internet users to share their actual experiences walking out of job interviews. They happily obliged, sharing exactly what happened to make them stand up and get out without so much as a backward glance.
You’ll find their stories below, dear Pandas. Have a read, upvote the tales that intrigued you, and share your own experiences in the comments about seeing major red flags during interviews.
Bored Panda spoke about how to build confidence for interviews and the top qualities that resonate well with recruiters with Kierra, a cloud engineer and Data Analytics consultant, who helps people pivot into tech, especially data-related roles. She has a helpful newsletter that you might consider checking out if you're thinking to change your career or in the middle of a transition. Scroll down for Kierra's insights about doing well during job interviews, Pandas.
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
Applied for a teaching job, my current at the time job was at a school for people with disabilities, this new school was a school for children gifted in a particular field. I was headhunted when one of my students from my current school was accepted to the new school.
The woman interviewing asked why I wanted to work there, so I explained the above (including student with disability), she goes, with the most disgusted look on her face “we don’t have students like that here”.
Should point out that I’m also disabled. Was not going to work out obviously!
RELATED:
#2
Interviewer: What would you do if an employee of 15 years asked for a raise?
Me: I'd remind him that he already gets a yearly raise...
Interviewer: I don't give out raises.
#4
Many years ago (in the early 1960s) I had just concluded meeting with an HR staff member then overheard him say to the others that 'we just got our 'token minority employee'. I decided not to be anybody's 'token' employee so got up and left.
#5
“We are a conservative company with strong Christian values. We have mandatory prayer sessions before work and ask employees to dedicate a few hours out of their week to do (something for their church). We also require all of our employees to be clean shaven with hair above the collar and no piercings.........where are you going?”
“This is definitely NOT the type of place I want to work for. You’ve had me in here for fifteen minutes and haven’t asked me anything about my job position, my expectations, or even offered to look at my portfolio. I’m mighty proud of my appearance and will not change it for you. At this point I don’t care how much you would be willing to give me to work for you, but no amount of money would get me to step foot in here as an employee or customer. If I wanted to go to church, I’ll go on sundays. Plus, this is an imprint company, if you want to act like a church, then open one.”
#6
"You get what you put into it. You wouldn't want to limit yourself to -just- a 9-5 would you?"
Yes. Yes I would. 40 hr workweek max, thanks. I want to do my job and get paid for my job. F-Off.
#7
2008-Applied for mechanic position. Told I was too pretty so I could answer the phones and other tasks required wink wink
2017-Applied for a manager position. Told I’d have to dye my hair dark coloured as everyone knows blondes are stupid and no one would take me seriously.
2021- manager position. I was friends with the previous person(m) leaving. I knew their salary-60k The salary band open was 50-60k. I was offered 38k as they don’t think a woman could be firm enough and do the job properly and they would need the salary to hire an assistant to help me. (17min interview).
#8
Sat down with the owner and the first thing he said was, I don't hire people with beards. I said okay, got up and walked out.
#9
The interviewer was "clarifying some details" and asked me if it was Miss or Mrs. I gave him a pass and said "Ms"
But he doubled down and said "yes, but are you married or not?"
So I told him it didn't have any bearing on my capacity to do the job, but that I was going to stop the interview there as I didn't want to work for someone who thought it did. And then I left.
#10
Interviewer wouldn’t give me any hint as to what my salary would be even after asking twice.
So I got up, told her the interview from my side was over and left her sitting in the conference room.
#11
They told me I wasn't pretty enough by their standards to work for them.
I was so shocked I didn't even say anything, just got up and walked out.
#12
Showed up and the manager practically bragged about how the job offered no breaks for an 8-10 hour shift, and if there was a food break it would be 5 mins max at a hip-height table with no chairs. She said that you’d be fired if you sat down even for 30 seconds.
Im more than capable of doing that. I did that every day at my last job. But when you brag about how your employees are so over-worked that they don’t get breaks or an option to rest their legs, it tells me all I need to know about how little you value your employees.
I should also note that this job wasn’t paying exceptionally well. Above minimum wage, but not at a level that was even enough to live on.
#13
The manager said "I care about you, because you seem like a nice guy. This might be a pyramid scheme. I implore you to seek better options." I waved, thanked him for the advice and off I went. That business is gone, and it was only a month ago.
#14
Third and final interview (all same day) at a tech company. First two went well and I was told this last one just was a formality - they wanted me to join.
Interview with the head of the office guy seemed to start well. We walked to the cafeteria, grabbed a couple coffees, and with some small talk we learned we knew some of the same people. We get back to his office and sit down. He looks at my file, “It says here you’re looking for [certain salary].” I said yes, and explained it’s really close to market for someone with my skills and experience. He looks at me and says, “I don’t think you’re worth it.” I said “Excuse me?” He repeated it. I laughed, grabbed my bag, stood up, thanked him for his time and walked out.
The company went out of business like a year later, so I feel I dodged a bullet there.
#15
At the end of the interview I asked "How many staff have worked here over a year?". The 3 interviewers awkwardly looked at each other and confessed they're all new and basically the office is rotating chairs because of toxic micromanagement. Yeah, why would I want to work there? Also, they said they wanted to offer me the job because I was the only male applicant and they don't have any men working in their department of 30 people. Two red flags, I'm out.
#16
I should have; I stayed there out of morbid curiosity to see how low they would go, but I had made the decision I wasn't gonna work there early in the process.
I'm glad I stayed. The last thing that happened in the interview was the CEO personally asking us all to promise that, if we ever make a mistake, the company will calculate how much that mistake cost us, and we will voluntarily pay the company that amount.
#17
Job was advertised as a senior level unix admin position.. the same job I'm doing now for ~20 years. Showed up and was told in fact the job would start as an entry level help desk job, with entry level pay and that I could "earn" my way up to being a sysadmin amd work my way up the pay scale. I got up and explained that I'd already "earned" my way up to being a sysadmin and wished them a good day and walked out. They came out into the parking lot and asked why I was leaving. I explained that their job description was deceptive.
#18
First question I was asked in the interview was if I had a boyfriend. Interviewer was a man in probably his forties and I was in my early 20s. I immediately responded that that was an inappropriate question and said that I probably wouldn’t be a good fit and walked out.
#19
Told the hiring manager I would like to give more than just 2 weeks at my current job as a courtesy. He raised his voice and said "everyone is replaceable and they'll find that out"
Yea that seems like a good mentality for your boss to have. Later tater
#20
An interviewer asked me why I left my last job. I told her I was being micromanaged and had come to hate my boss. She asked me who it was and when I told her, she said that person was her fiancé. I just stood up and walked out without a saying a word, bullet dodged!
#22
Applied for a software developer position for an online retailer. First round of interviews was a traditional technical skills and whiteboard coding session, second round was a cultural fit interview with HR.
I assumed it would be an one on one interview with HR, it was a room with 20 something people applying for anything from legal to finance.
They asked us to stand up, then crawl into a ball and pretend we were flowers opening.
At this point I honestly thought it was some kind of prank, then I saw everybody around me doing it.
I just said thanks for the opportunity and left.
#23
He asked what my degree was and I said education. He asked why I took such a useless major. (My mother was a teacher and I have two sisters who are teachers) I asked if he realized how much of manufacturing supervision involved training. Safety. Quality. Machine operation. Policies and procedures. Work instructions. Adult education. Etc... He asked what an education degree had to do with that and I shook my head, stood up, thanked him for his time and walked out.
#24
I was in the waiting room of a big office suite and a man came out and introduced himself to a few of us sitting there. He asked us our names and talked about the position right there. Then he asked us each questions about ourselves, what leadership means to each of us. Then the guy at the cellphone repair shop at the other end of the waiting room called my name, letting me know that my phone was ready and I grabbed it and left because I wasn’t applying for this job, there just wasn’t a good time to mention that.
#25
I once went to a job interview for a large welding shop, in the middle of a rain storm. After talking to the interviewer for 30 or so minutes, he walked me out to the shop floor to take a welding test. The machine we went to was in decent condition, but was literally sitting in a puddle of water. The welding table's legs were rusty and not grounded well, and also in said puddle. Over half the shop was flooded. I turned around and said "No thank you." Then proceeded to walk out the door. My life is worth more than $20 an hour.
#26
The interviewer said God comes first, then family, then the job. Then he started asking me a bunch of questions about my religious beliefs. (I’m an atheist)
#27
I applied for a register position at Pizza Hut. I specifically told them during my 2 interviews that I cannot be a delivery driver due to my car being unreliable, they even acknowledged that and told me okay. Got the job, came in for training on the first day, the very first thing they do is sit me down in a chair and started up a training video on delivery driving. I asked them if I could skip it since I’m only working the register/in the kitchen, and the manager tells me that every position is a delivery driver. Walked out right then and there and got paid for 1 hour of training.
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