People Share 30 Worst Job Interview Stories And Personal Experiences, And Some Are Hard To Imagine
You’ve all heard tips for what you should definitely not do in a job interview, like saying that your biggest weakness is your perfectionism, or neglecting to skim through the company’s website beforehand so you’re left asking what it is they do, anyway. In this Twitter thread, though, people are sharing their biggest job interview blunders that you weren’t warned about, but are so ridiculous that you shouldn’t need to be (even if some of these people ended up getting the job!)
Others in the thread have had the misfortune of ending up with an interviewer that made them seriously reconsider applying for the position in the first place. Either way, these stories will make you feel better about the job interviews that weren’t your proudest moments and give you the courage to go to your next one knowing you can at least do better than this.
Image credits: harriepw
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If I can google it or find it on your website, I consider it public domain.
You might be disappointed to find that when you’re preparing for an interview, studying tips religiously won’t help you—HR experts say that interviewing an applicant goes much more smoothly if the interviewee is out of “oral exam mode” and can respond to questions naturally.
This might sound discouraging and impossible to prepare for, but they add that real confidence in an interview comes from having really studied the company where you’re applying and considered the challenges that they face, so you can put serious consideration behind your answers rather than just repeating them from memory.
The seasoned interviewers also stress that you have reason to be confident when you show up for a job interview. The employer is the one who called you in for an interview, after all, so unless you’re unlucky enough to end up with some of the sadist interviewers in this thread, they probably already have a good impression of you. So you can skip the pre-rehearsed jokes, and definitely leave out the liquid courage.
I went to only one job interview that involved a panel. I'll never do it again.
My friends son went to an interview at a pizza place. When he arrived, he was told it would be a few minutes as it was the lunch rush and the manager was back helping the kitchen get caught up on pizza orders. When the manager finally emerged, he asked my friend's son what he thought this job was about. The young man answered "It's about making pizza so that you, as a manager, can do your job without having to stop to make pizza." He got the job on the spot.
I'd love for this to happen to me! Technical interviews are so difficult, especially when they time your answers/work.
Isn't this kinda standard questions in programming? About 90% of interviews I've been to have had some kind of programming test. And the worth of a unplanned program done in 30 minutes isn't really that big.
You should have gotten that job. I would have thought you were going to be honest and weren’t afraid of saying how you really feel about something. I know you didn’t realize what the product was, but they didn’t know that. Next time, give em a stare and say, “I said what I SAID.”
Mission accomplished. The company's mission, that is. 'We tried to hire women but they all declined.'
should have warned those ladies this guy sounds like a sexual offender (the filmmaker I mean)
Would have been the perfect answer for the local parks and rec department
So if you're excellent at your job but a cat-person you won't get hired?
Omg, how embarrassing. That happened to me as I was walking to the shops and stopped to chat to one of our neighbours. Eek
I would have said. "Well then it's a good thing I'm not your secretary because then you'd be broke from the enormous lawsuit you'd face for wrongful termination and sexual harassment." And I'd walk out.
Ugh, that is just petty and a complete waste of someone’s time.
I once had an interview with a young woman who appeared to be wearing full-on corpse paint. I wanted to hire her so badly, but she took a position with another newspaper before I could call her back. Her first year in the business, she won a state-wide journalism award for her writing.
Got hit by a lorry early in the morning, while stopped at a junction. Arm was broken but I still did an interview that afternoon. Sometimes shock stops you realising you need to stop.
Worked for a charity helping to research arthritis and support sufferers. You learn that a handshake is a p**s poor way to evaluate people when there are hundreds of thousands of people suffering with the problem. When your hands hurt the last thing you need is some damned fool thinking a handshake should be a test instead a civil way of greeting someone.
I would have said "You know I don't have to be working for you to file a sexual harassment lawsuit, right?"
Wow, lot of money being spent on such a low level job. Whoever was in charge of recruitment needed sacking. All the charities I worked for conducted equal opps interviews and were, bar one, very professional.
Those things are really confusing, windows are more or less infinitely better
Plan when there's a mass fatality incident: Bury them. There you are.
I mis-read that as "...everyone PEEING over me" and thought WTF? 😂🤣🤦♂️
Ex-driving instructor here. A lot of my colleagues told me real stories about young ladies offering services in trade for driving lessons. At that time a 1 hour lesson was €40.
Where the heck were you interviewed, in a bloody toilet cubicle?
Those... for me they fall in the section "ask stupid questions, you get stupid answers".
I had that happen too. I told them it was illegal for them to ask. I didn't get the job, but turned in the interviewer for asking the question. The company went belly up 3 years later.
Sounds less like an interview than five lazy asses trying to get you to complete their work assignments for free.
So what was your stance? I say stealing is different from forgetting to return them, as one is deliberate and the other is not.
Unpaid trial shifts? We have jobs here, you get paid for them and then you have (at least) one month 'probationary period', in which you can leave and be fired without notice or reason. We don't do trial runs for free. Silly thing.
So? To me it just shows that she knows very well to pick the right clothes for the job. 10/10 on clothing.
didn't actually get to an interview, but was in line with a classmate to sign up for an internship interview at a job fair and we starting chatting with the guy behind the table. he didn't like that we couldn't take a full semester off to work there full time (we were on scholarship and couldn't afford it), didn't like that we had no experience in that line of work (we were sophmores), and then said we wouldn't fit in there anyway. My classmate (tall lanky black man) and I (short fat first gen american woman) looked at each other and then at him and asked "Why's that?". Middle aged white guy behind the table says "well seriously, just look at you!". i crossed my name out, walked over to our adviser with my classmate, and watched as his boss tried to back pedal when my adviser told them to leave and that they wouldn't be welcomed back on campus.
I once witnessed the boss openly scolding an employee, right there in front of me, while waiting for the interview to start. Of course I didn't accept that position.
I witnessed a manager openly scolding and then firing an employee in front of guests at a restaurant. I contacted the corporate office as it was one of a chain and explained to them about how the other employees were embarrassed and apologetic to the guests for having witnessed it..especially since the manager was strutting around the restaurant with a smile on his face afterwards. I was contacted by their corporate rep who informed me the manager no longer worked there. When I returned to the restaurant, the fired employee was back. Turned out the manager had fired her because she broke up with him.
Load More Replies...Got early and their office was not even built. A IKEA furniture box was around and the guy told me" As you are waiting; can you built this cabinet? " Took me 20mn to assemble it. Guy came back and was impress as IKEA staff told him it should take more than 30 minutes for average person. Got hired, stayed 3 years, position was for manager.
didn't actually get to an interview, but was in line with a classmate to sign up for an internship interview at a job fair and we starting chatting with the guy behind the table. he didn't like that we couldn't take a full semester off to work there full time (we were on scholarship and couldn't afford it), didn't like that we had no experience in that line of work (we were sophmores), and then said we wouldn't fit in there anyway. My classmate (tall lanky black man) and I (short fat first gen american woman) looked at each other and then at him and asked "Why's that?". Middle aged white guy behind the table says "well seriously, just look at you!". i crossed my name out, walked over to our adviser with my classmate, and watched as his boss tried to back pedal when my adviser told them to leave and that they wouldn't be welcomed back on campus.
I once witnessed the boss openly scolding an employee, right there in front of me, while waiting for the interview to start. Of course I didn't accept that position.
I witnessed a manager openly scolding and then firing an employee in front of guests at a restaurant. I contacted the corporate office as it was one of a chain and explained to them about how the other employees were embarrassed and apologetic to the guests for having witnessed it..especially since the manager was strutting around the restaurant with a smile on his face afterwards. I was contacted by their corporate rep who informed me the manager no longer worked there. When I returned to the restaurant, the fired employee was back. Turned out the manager had fired her because she broke up with him.
Load More Replies...Got early and their office was not even built. A IKEA furniture box was around and the guy told me" As you are waiting; can you built this cabinet? " Took me 20mn to assemble it. Guy came back and was impress as IKEA staff told him it should take more than 30 minutes for average person. Got hired, stayed 3 years, position was for manager.