18 People Sharing Their Worst Job Interviews
It's quite normal to be a little worried before a job interview. After all, we all want to make a good first impression. Especially those who get a say in what our future employment might entail.
Some people, on the other hand, can't manage the pressure and end up sweating profusely, stuttering, forgetting where they even worked earlier, and worse. Meanwhile, some managers and recruiters lack emotional intelligence and wind up being completely cruel to the interviews for no apparent reason. Times have changed, and a solid handshake may no longer be sufficient to win a decent position.
has compiled a list of the most harrowing job interview stories published on r/AskReddit in a slew of terrible posts. Seriously, don't read this if you have a job interview coming up; else, you'll have nightmares... On the other hand, these tales may prepare you for the worst-case scenario.
They ended up offering me the position many weeks down the road because they couldn't fill the position. I politely declined and got a very passive aggressively worded survey to fill out explaining why I passed.
I'm an eye surgeon. This was for a training position at an Ivy League institution.
They explain that they thought I was a female and apologized for the mix up on the name tag then explained I was not a fit for their "office culture" and ended interview without a single question offered or answered. About then I noticed the entire office was female. I wasn't even mad... Just kinda laughed and left.
Gotta be the worst one in terms of professionalism.
I was the one doing the interviewing, by the way.
Finally they send me for the final interview at their headquarters so I show up prepared, early, suit and tie, certs and paperwork, etc. I'm sitting in this fancy lobby waiting for the interviewer to come get me and another dude walks in dressed for an interview just like me. I figured he was here for another job so we had a friendly chat while we waited for our interviewers to show up. This was clearly an older, more experienced guy.
Finally interviewer shows up and is surprised to see us, saying they accidentally scheduled our interviews for the same time. So he takes the older gentlemen and tells his employee to take me and we would be interviewed separately. At this point everything is falling apart...I'm not being interviewed by the man I showed up to talk to. Instead this employee dressed in a T shirt takes me downstairs to the cafeteria and asks me a handful of quick questions in a very unprofessional setting before letting me go.
It's like they decided who to hire before the interview even began. It was a huge let down.
He asked if I had a bf and if he was jelaous.
He told me that there were going to be thee options for me: The first one was to work from home, the second one was to work from the office, the third one was to go on "business trips" with him twice a week. The 3d option was with the highest pay. He told me that I look like a smart girl and the third option would be the best for me.
It was clear he was hiring a personal escord.
He was such a creep and made me feel so uncomfortable.
I was on a phone screening with a candidate for a position in my office and this chicken starts having a seizure and dies on the middle of this phone call. I look over and it’s laying almost like it was crucified.
The candidate heard the commotion and asked if everything was ok … Which I relied “yeah, the chicken just died”.
She withdrew her application the next morning.
Edit: it was an office job at a NYC school. no farm experience required. Poor girl.
"Don't worry, though!" she told me. "It's really just a formality at this point. You know, to make sure you're not, like, a serial k**ler or something." She gave me a look of mock suspicion. "You're not, right?"
"Only in videogames," I replied, and we both laughed.
It was fairly encouraging, and when the date of my second interview rolled around, I was in high spirits. I showed up to the outlet about fifteen minutes before I was supposed to meet with the manager, got brought into office behind the storefront, and spent the first half an hour or so filling out a long questionnaire about my personality. Once that was finished, I met with the manager himself, who proceeded to ask me some very run-of-the-mill questions.
"Let's suppose," he said, "you knew one of your coworkers was stealing from the register. What would you do?"
I thought about it for a second. "Well, what's the company policy?" I asked. "Would I be expected to confront them? Document the behavior? Would it be best to just report it to you?"
"Just tell me what you would do," the man replied, looking a bit impatient.
"I'd report it to you."
The manager nodded and made a note on his clipboard. "What's the most that you've ever stolen? Give me a dollar amount."
"Uh," I stuttered, caught off-guard. "Is that really a question you can ask?"
"I'm just looking for a dollar amount," the man replied.
I racked my brain, trying to think of any petty thefts that I might have committed over the course of my life. I'd occasionally repurposed traffic cones, but never actually stolen one. Hell, the one instance of shoplifting that I'd been a witness to had left me feeling so guilty that I'd gone back the next day and returned the item in question.
"Zero," I finally said. "I don't think I've ever actually stolen anything."
A look of disapproval darkened the manager's face. "I see. Are you sure?"
"Yes."
"Really." The disapproval fell even deeper into a suspicious glower. "Go ahead and answer that question again. Just give me a dollar amount."
The situation, as I'm sure you'll agree, had gone from bizarre to patently ridiculous. I wasn't even sure that I wanted the job at that point... but I didn't have any other prospects lined up, so I decided to keep playing the game. Maybe, I thought to myself, it was a test to see if I'd change my answer.
"Zero," I said again.
The man put down his clipboard and looked me in the eye. "Do you actually want this job?" he asked, mirroring my own thoughts. I nodded in reply. "Then you'll need to be honest with me. Just give me a dollar amount."
"Sixteen dollars," I replied, sarcasm creeping into my tone, "and forty-two cents."
All at once, the disapproval evaporated from the manager's face and was replaced by a satisfied smile. "Well, that's not so bad!" he said cheerfully. "What was it?"
"A toaster." I'd just said the first thing that came to my mind, not even bothering to imagine what $16.42 would actually purchase. The answer only seemed to further endear me to my once-irate interviewer, and against all odds, I made it through the entire conversation. I may have even been offered the job, but when I received a telephone call asking if I was still interested in working there, I told them that I'd already accepted another position.
For the record, that was also a lie.
TL;DR: I lied about being a toaster thief.
He then gave me a tour and showed me the storeroom, told me to pick up a bucket to get an idea of how heavy it was.
Since he had kept going on about it I severely overestimated how heavy the bucket would be and basically flung it above my head and drenched us both in icy water and flowers.
EDIT: No, I didn’t get the job. I don’t think it was because of the bucket though. He told me he would arrange a trial for me the next week but seemed super spacey. He called me the wrong name about 5 times during the interview so I wouldn’t be surprised if he just...forgot he wanted to hire someone.
I walked in, expecting the principal and a few teachers. Instead I had the superintendent of the district, some high-level admin, and every single elementary school principal in the district. Probably 15 people in all. They peppered me with questions for 45 minutes.
I had zero experience, just my student teaching. I did not get the job.
Quit my day job.
Reported on Monday... "Hi, what's up?"
"Reporting for duty!"
"Oh?"
I mean, it's one thing to string somebody on, letting them think they're accepted. Or you can say "we'll give you a call", and figure they'll get the message. But when you TELL someone to report for work, then pretend you didn't have a job for them... THAT'S LAME.
Problem was, another part of the Planetarium staff was doing fire alarm tests during the interview. The dome amplified the sound so much, it was deafening. The interview staff acted like nothing was going on. We had to shout so we could hear each other.
Some people, on the other hand, can't manage the pressure and end up sweating profusely, stuttering, forgetting where they even worked earlier, and worse. Meanwhile, some managers and recruiters lack emotional intelligence and wind up being completely cruel to the interviews for no apparent reason. Times have changed, and a solid handshake may no longer be sufficient to win a decent position.
has compiled a list of the most harrowing job interview stories published on r/AskReddit in a slew of terrible posts. Seriously, don't read this if you have a job interview coming up; else, you'll have nightmares... On the other hand, these tales may prepare you for the worst-case scenario.
#1
They ended up offering me the position many weeks down the road because they couldn't fill the position. I politely declined and got a very passive aggressively worded survey to fill out explaining why I passed.
I'm an eye surgeon. This was for a training position at an Ivy League institution.
#2
They explain that they thought I was a female and apologized for the mix up on the name tag then explained I was not a fit for their "office culture" and ended interview without a single question offered or answered. About then I noticed the entire office was female. I wasn't even mad... Just kinda laughed and left.
Gotta be the worst one in terms of professionalism.
#3
I was the one doing the interviewing, by the way.
#4
Finally they send me for the final interview at their headquarters so I show up prepared, early, suit and tie, certs and paperwork, etc. I'm sitting in this fancy lobby waiting for the interviewer to come get me and another dude walks in dressed for an interview just like me. I figured he was here for another job so we had a friendly chat while we waited for our interviewers to show up. This was clearly an older, more experienced guy.
Finally interviewer shows up and is surprised to see us, saying they accidentally scheduled our interviews for the same time. So he takes the older gentlemen and tells his employee to take me and we would be interviewed separately. At this point everything is falling apart...I'm not being interviewed by the man I showed up to talk to. Instead this employee dressed in a T shirt takes me downstairs to the cafeteria and asks me a handful of quick questions in a very unprofessional setting before letting me go.
It's like they decided who to hire before the interview even began. It was a huge let down.
#5
Interviewed someone for a servers position in a club, she said she couldn't work weekends or past 8pm. We're a nightclub that's open from 7pm till 2am
#6
Applied to work at a vet clinic. Veterinarian did the interview while spaying a cat, apparently one of the cleanest and quickest surgeries they do. I fainted. Was not offered the job (after I woke up).
#7
1.) I walked in as the HR lady farted 2.) it was a small office with no windows 3.) I asked her questions about their employee retention rate that she couldn’t answer 4.) the fart stayed the duration of the interview 5.) I hope the fart got the job, because I didn’t want it.
#8
Wanted to work at H&M, got interviewd by the worst person ever. One question was and I am legit not lying, "What is your favorite color and why?" I answered "baby blue because it's calming and not to harsh to the eyes." My interviewer then said Oooh, sorry! Red is what we were looking for. And then proceeded to show me the exit.
#9
He asked if I had a bf and if he was jelaous.
He told me that there were going to be thee options for me: The first one was to work from home, the second one was to work from the office, the third one was to go on "business trips" with him twice a week. The 3d option was with the highest pay. He told me that I look like a smart girl and the third option would be the best for me.
It was clear he was hiring a personal escord.
He was such a creep and made me feel so uncomfortable.
#10
During college I applied for a bunch of jobs at Ikea. I got an interview followed by a rejection email. A week later they called me for another interview. I got another rejection email. They interviewed five times for five different positions. I got rejected all five times. I'm still salty about it two decades later.
#11
I was on a phone screening with a candidate for a position in my office and this chicken starts having a seizure and dies on the middle of this phone call. I look over and it’s laying almost like it was crucified.
The candidate heard the commotion and asked if everything was ok … Which I relied “yeah, the chicken just died”.
She withdrew her application the next morning.
Edit: it was an office job at a NYC school. no farm experience required. Poor girl.
#12
"Don't worry, though!" she told me. "It's really just a formality at this point. You know, to make sure you're not, like, a serial k**ler or something." She gave me a look of mock suspicion. "You're not, right?"
"Only in videogames," I replied, and we both laughed.
It was fairly encouraging, and when the date of my second interview rolled around, I was in high spirits. I showed up to the outlet about fifteen minutes before I was supposed to meet with the manager, got brought into office behind the storefront, and spent the first half an hour or so filling out a long questionnaire about my personality. Once that was finished, I met with the manager himself, who proceeded to ask me some very run-of-the-mill questions.
"Let's suppose," he said, "you knew one of your coworkers was stealing from the register. What would you do?"
I thought about it for a second. "Well, what's the company policy?" I asked. "Would I be expected to confront them? Document the behavior? Would it be best to just report it to you?"
"Just tell me what you would do," the man replied, looking a bit impatient.
"I'd report it to you."
The manager nodded and made a note on his clipboard. "What's the most that you've ever stolen? Give me a dollar amount."
"Uh," I stuttered, caught off-guard. "Is that really a question you can ask?"
"I'm just looking for a dollar amount," the man replied.
I racked my brain, trying to think of any petty thefts that I might have committed over the course of my life. I'd occasionally repurposed traffic cones, but never actually stolen one. Hell, the one instance of shoplifting that I'd been a witness to had left me feeling so guilty that I'd gone back the next day and returned the item in question.
"Zero," I finally said. "I don't think I've ever actually stolen anything."
A look of disapproval darkened the manager's face. "I see. Are you sure?"
"Yes."
"Really." The disapproval fell even deeper into a suspicious glower. "Go ahead and answer that question again. Just give me a dollar amount."
The situation, as I'm sure you'll agree, had gone from bizarre to patently ridiculous. I wasn't even sure that I wanted the job at that point... but I didn't have any other prospects lined up, so I decided to keep playing the game. Maybe, I thought to myself, it was a test to see if I'd change my answer.
"Zero," I said again.
The man put down his clipboard and looked me in the eye. "Do you actually want this job?" he asked, mirroring my own thoughts. I nodded in reply. "Then you'll need to be honest with me. Just give me a dollar amount."
"Sixteen dollars," I replied, sarcasm creeping into my tone, "and forty-two cents."
All at once, the disapproval evaporated from the manager's face and was replaced by a satisfied smile. "Well, that's not so bad!" he said cheerfully. "What was it?"
"A toaster." I'd just said the first thing that came to my mind, not even bothering to imagine what $16.42 would actually purchase. The answer only seemed to further endear me to my once-irate interviewer, and against all odds, I made it through the entire conversation. I may have even been offered the job, but when I received a telephone call asking if I was still interested in working there, I told them that I'd already accepted another position.
For the record, that was also a lie.
TL;DR: I lied about being a toaster thief.
#13
A couple hours into the interview/intro training, I was given paperwork to fill out for my new dog grooming job. Which would have been great except that I had applied to be a cashier and had never owned a dog, much less groomed one. When I brought that up to the trainers, they didn't seemed concerned at all. They said there were no cashier slots, that opening must have been left up by mistake, but dog grooming is fun and I'd like it. They seemed surprised when I left the paperwork on the table and congratulated them on wasting all of our time. Never shopped at that pet store again either.
#14
The interviewer was just stone cold, I tried to work in some small chit chat to break the ice but the most I got was a smirk. Then came the technical questions. I botched every question and each time he gave me a hard “no” then proceeded to condescendingly explain why I was wrong. Luckily I landed a job with a different company shortly after but man that interview really destroyed my confidence..
#15
He then gave me a tour and showed me the storeroom, told me to pick up a bucket to get an idea of how heavy it was.
Since he had kept going on about it I severely overestimated how heavy the bucket would be and basically flung it above my head and drenched us both in icy water and flowers.
EDIT: No, I didn’t get the job. I don’t think it was because of the bucket though. He told me he would arrange a trial for me the next week but seemed super spacey. He called me the wrong name about 5 times during the interview so I wouldn’t be surprised if he just...forgot he wanted to hire someone.
#16
I walked in, expecting the principal and a few teachers. Instead I had the superintendent of the district, some high-level admin, and every single elementary school principal in the district. Probably 15 people in all. They peppered me with questions for 45 minutes.
I had zero experience, just my student teaching. I did not get the job.
#17
Quit my day job.
Reported on Monday... "Hi, what's up?"
"Reporting for duty!"
"Oh?"
I mean, it's one thing to string somebody on, letting them think they're accepted. Or you can say "we'll give you a call", and figure they'll get the message. But when you TELL someone to report for work, then pretend you didn't have a job for them... THAT'S LAME.
#18
Problem was, another part of the Planetarium staff was doing fire alarm tests during the interview. The dome amplified the sound so much, it was deafening. The interview staff acted like nothing was going on. We had to shout so we could hear each other.
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