Job Interviewers Reveal The Worst “This Person Isn’t Getting The Job” Moments, Show What Not To Do (30 Posts)
Interview With AuthorGoing 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.
People need to keep religion, politics and sexual preferences out of work. Come in do your job, let people do theirs and go home
For sex, it depends on the level of detail. Sexual orientation is fine. Granular details during lunch might make some folks lose it. For religion, I would never consider telling a Sikh man to remove his turban or a Muslim woman to remove her hijab if they chose to wear them.
Load More Replies...My mother in law was schizophrenic (with other mental illnesses that were never correctly diagnosed) and most of her delusions and hallucinations were religion based. That being said, this guy could do alot of damage. There's nothing wrong with wanting to share your religious beliefs with others as long as you respect their boundaries and whether they want to discuss it or hear it or not. You're not going to convert or teach anyone who is annoyed by you shoving it in their face. You also need to know your audience. Religion is not something you should be trying to talk about with someone who is very mentally ill. I personally know how badly it can impact them and it's not something to take lightly.
I am a Christian as well, but I do not talk about it at work. If you are dealing with the mentally ill, that is definitely a time to keep your religion to yourself.
Yeah there is definitely a time and place for it. Like if someone is struggling, I would suggest Christianity and NOT judge them for their actions. The whole reason why Christianity is frowned upon is because many christians are known for being very judgy and full of hatred to anyone who isn’t Christian. It really sucks.
Load More Replies...Amway addicts don't kill people and expect eternal reward for it
Load More Replies...When I was in the ICU after a suicide attempt, the doctor's wanted to out me into mental health treatment. My parents refused, stating that God told them not to. I was crying, and my nurse told me that they were right, and the only way to escape my debilitating pain and mental illness was to turn to God. I wish I had the ability to go back and report her for that.
I worked at a mental hospital and worked with a couple of these people who had decided that they would "cure" the mentally ill by selling them on Jesus. They didn't get fired, but left out of frustration as their proselytizing didn't freaking work at all to help anyone.
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?'
Best comment ever Comrade fellow Panda!!!
Load More Replies...I went to an interview once, the technical test was really hard, I probably got 60%, discussed it with interviewer, he said it was designed to see how you approached the question rather than the answer. Athough one person had got 100% but hadn't been offered the job as he turned up in a gold sequinned suit and put his feet up on the desk. I often think about what that guy does now.
It could be his colleague dating a student and he left to protest it.
Load More Replies...He could have wanted it clarified because he thought it was utterly inappropriate and wanted to make sure you agreed, why assume the worst? Also, what awards do you win for teaching??
I mean that doesn't really make sense. Is he supposed to ask if they also find other inappropriate things also inappropriate? "Can we murder the students? No? Okay good I don't want to, just making sure."
Load More Replies...We had one who didn't ask that, but when I was hiring for a tech to prep biology labs at a university, there was the fellow he did mention that he'd been a sports coach at the high school he'd taught biology at and had the coaching position "taken away from him." I have some training for how to spot potential pedophiles, and that set the alarm bells ringing. He was otherwise well-qualified and personable, and I don't usually Google candidates, but something did feel "off", so I looked him up. Boom! First hit was a news article about how he'd been discovered leaving a hotel where he was having a liaison with one of his female high school students. It hadn't come to trial yet. Innocent until proven guilty? We figured that should not apply if he were going to be around 3,000 undergraduates, some of whom were not 18 yet. We had to code the reason for not hiring, so we tagged him "not able to meet work schedule," since we figured he was going to be spending a LOT of time in court...
That flag is so big that it covers the whole surface of the earth!
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.
"Of course you should fight fire with fire. You should fight everything with fire."
Should have asked how she'd handled workplace conflicts in the past...or checked her police records
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
Someone put a finger in my great-grandfather's face once and he bit it very hard.
Was your great-grandfather a wolf? Sounds like he might have been a wolf.
Load More Replies...But how? How comes one to touch a total stranger's face -especially in a job-interview- ?
Wonder if the manager also explained her choice to the moron and how long the moron kept their job.
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...
This is pure karma for requiring the tests in the first place (unless perhaps the position requires someone to operate heavy machinery or something along those lines).
It seems so stupid that American companies test for legal marijuana, even for light recreational use, but will insist that you work through incapacitating illness.
Load More Replies...Can I check, is it common to submit urine samples at interviews? I'm assuming this is the US, but even so ....
It's fairly common, but most companies don't actually do any drug testing on site. They send you to a local clinic or drug testing facility that they've contracted with. So strapping on a bag of "clean" pee is pretty stupid these days!
Load More Replies...When i was training to be a teacher i worked in an office and basically the job was to get the long term unemployed to engage in training to get them back to work. One person who i grew up with came in for his appointment, now these appointments were mandatory to keep getting benefits. He arrived in looking homeless, and when he went to my colleague he started dribbling and his bottoms started to get wet, he had a bottle of water in his trousers pocket open so when he squeezed it it looked like he pissed himself. He limped dribbled himself out of there hopped on his bike away down to the social welfare office with his letter to clear him for another few months.
I worked at a state office for employment. We were interviewing for a company that needed about 300 employees. We had them lined out the door and could only take 10 applicants at a time. I had to announce that the employer was doing on site drug tests if an applicant was being considered. We watched as at least 50% of the applicants left.
Yeah, that seemed a bit over the top to me too. I would have the janitors in immediately to do a deep clean. Hell, I would even get the cleaning supplies & do it myself!
Load More Replies...Drug tests(especially for Marijuana in places that have legalized it) are kind of dumb anyway. Like, I can drink like a fish and get a job, but I take a hit of weed and nope, no job for me? Stupid rule that, at least in the US, some places are doing away with because they can't find warm bodies to work that don't smoke. Legalize it!
Plus employers in Colorado & Oregon have had to make major changes to drug testing because they legalized recreational use!
Load More Replies...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.
If he hasn't the skill listed on the resume he/she will ridiculize him/her self at 1st question
Load More Replies...Wow. Bring them on, let them make it to final round, then confront them with facts.
Would have loved to hear that interview. "says here that you graduated from Brown; did you go on to Black or stop after completing Brown?
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
That was the only movie that, the first time I watched it, made me cheer XD. I absolutely love it!
Load More Replies...Id have looked at it. Someone thinking outside the box isn’t a bad thing. You still remember her resume so it almost worked.
That's what I thought, I mean they were kind of creative, made it different from others, even though the glitters can seem a little bit childish.
Load More Replies...It's nice when they weed themselves out without you having to even look at it.
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.
Any basis/figures for that bold claim? [Also, exporting maths teachers to China seems... pointless. So it wasn't a maths teacher.]
Load More Replies...Some people's knowledge of geography seems to be like there are about six countries in the whole world: USA, Canada, Mexico, Europe, Russia and China.
Hey, Korea is part of China as well as Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Tibet, Pakistan, Bangladesh and India. They just don’t know what yet.
Possible he meant one place and said another by mistake? I do that all the time, not necessarily with major cities, but still 🤷♀️
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”.
Naw, he wants to be a boss (IE wield power), if he wanted to be a business owner, he would...two different things....
Load More Replies...In my former work, there was an internal recruiting for a new team lead for my team, a woman won it and even before it was official, she started saying how our team was going to change, that we were doing nothing and all day we're talking and laughing. Ours was the most stressful position in a +200 people floor, we talked between requests to break the stress and tension, and top managers knew and allowed it. Clearly she was removed from the position and she quit a few days later, she it was a disrespect to her
Agreed, it's like saying "In 5 years I plan on being the CEO" Someone said it once, it was funny, confident and ambitious. Now it's just wtf.
Load More Replies...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.
Taking calls no, but I have made a call from there. It was to 111 (UK non-emergency medical help line) and being on the toilet was a critical part as they were establishing if I needed to go to hospital - spoiler alert, yes, I did. Highly specific circumstance, 1/10 would not recommend.
Load More Replies...In interviewees' defense, Zoom has an option for the meeting organizer where - without warning - they can automatically enable video for the participants they are inviting. So participants may be used to always having their video off, or at least off when the meeting starts. Imagine if your phone didn't tell you whether incoming calls were voice or video calls.
All video calls for job are announced via email, so person called knowns exactly when to expect call.
I learned this the hard way: had to get up doing an interview, I was wearing shorts as it was summer and very hot. I learned to fully dress up since then. Sometimes I even wear perfume for a little boost of confidence.
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.
Yea, I watched all season of Gray Anatomy, ER and house. That should do it.
Well, I watched every episode 10 times and still didn’t get the job.
Load More Replies...I once knew a doctor who co-owned a practice, and he convinced his co-owner that every time they had to fill a job, they would bring in the worst resume for an interview. It was meant to be a hilarious 'so bad it's funny' waste of time that would break the monotony of the interview cycle. (Side note: this is exactly what American Idol et al. does) His favorite was a super jock that was applying for a nurse position. No college education at all, let alone medical training, but this guy was fully and truly convinced that his tenacity and ability to overcome and progress in the gym could translate to any real world application. The docs followed up with serious interview questions like, "So how would you use your workout experience if I needed an appropriate dose of adenosine to treat an atrial tachycardia event on a patient?" which were always answered with the same confidence in some gibberish about how he can just sweat and push through to achieve anything like he does with a lifting set.
SIDE NOTE: There is no "license to practice medicine or law." Instead, quasi-government entities issue permissions to practice.
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.
Plenty of idiots out their that would be rushing to try it.
Load More Replies...One point in his favor, if he opens the Covid Cafe, he won't have to worry about his menu because nobody will be able to taste his food.
We had a chef from an almost defunct 'L' cafeteria restaurant. He said he was the boss and what he said goes cause it was his kitchen. She told him no it wasn't but he argued with her and she called security. He was not seen at that college again.
It's ironic because sometimes you loose your sense of taste when you have covid, so you can't taste food.
"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.
Pretty much having an understanding of what’s proper for the time and place. Which should also mean not dropping F-bombs every other word in the workplace either. I cuss when sufficiently riled too, but will self-censor depending on where I am and who I’m with. It’s called respect for the comfort of others.
Load More Replies...I have a lack of judgement story... Hired a guy and after about 2 weeks he casually asks me (his direct manager) if I know where he can get shrooms. As in psychedelic mushrooms. I was not only shocked that he thought that was a smart thing to ask his boss, but moreso confused over why he asked me and not his coworker that wore tie-dye to work everyday. Even though we worked in a casual manufacturing setting, I developed a complex and started dressing more professionally after that lol
Let me introduce you to Chrisjen Avasarala! (But, you know, she is allowed to do that, as the f*****g UN General Secretary!) Fun fact: The author's of the Expanse books said, that her character was inspired by former presidential chief of staff Rahm Emanuel.
Not a job for a software developer, then...my last interview was with multiple devs, and I believe they each dropped at least 1 F-Bomb. I mean, one of them was also wearing flip-flops, so, it's just that kind of environment (also, it's Austin TX, so there's that). But, yeah, read the room.
Ok so from the whole story context, I guess a "F-bomb" is a series of bad words.
F-bomb is a euphemism that's used in place of just saying f*ck. It's considered to be more acceptable in polite company & in the workplace.
Load More Replies...
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.
You might not be HR but I can see you calling HR to your team soon if you hire him :-)
My thoughts, too. Well, I'd work with them, but it sounds ridiculous, like the person is in middle school, lol
Load More Replies...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.
They're not, because they didn't stop this candidate from taking them with them.
Load More Replies...I had a deaf applicant that brought his mom in a a translator (entry level assembly job). Seemed OK, nice kid. Within one week we knew she wasn't translating, she was answering herself.
UGH!!! The number of times that I have had an applicant bring a parent or a friend in to the interview is staggering. I would not even think of doing this, but it happens all of the time.
How is it that people think this is an appropriate thing to do? The only time my mother came with me was my first gynecological exam...and even then, it was just to hold my hand in the waiting room.
Load More Replies...Ummmm did you make sure you were not going against person with disabilities act? Because I have a cousin who has down syndrome and requires a worker to be there for all of his interviews and team meets so he is not being taken advantage of.
But in that case, would the accompanying person not say so upfront? Something like "so-and-so needs my assistance during interviews because ..."?
Load More Replies...I've been forced to hire people because their moms recommended them to my boss. Not surprisingly, they weren't great which was obvious to me in advance. You can get a kid a job, but you can't make them want it.
Wtf? That’s weird. You hire all of us or none of us, were a package deal!
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
Well. Honest about lying when their time management is off.
Load More Replies...And that's probably what a lot of people do, because it's unreasonable to put people under all that crazy pressure on a regular basis.
Was being interviewed for a very well paying position and was in the 4th and final round. It was at this point that I was told I would be reporting to two top level executives. They asked what would I do if BOTH executives demanded that I prioritize their demands. I thought, that this is a hell of a time to mention this to me, and if they could not afford to support both executives I was NOT going to be the rope in that tug-of-war. My answer, Whichever exec had the most power and clout would be the one I made happy. Surprise!, I was offered the position. Not so surprising a respectfully declined. The position has been advertised and interviewed 3 times in the last four years. I told the headhunter not to send in my CV.
That's pretty much a Kobayashi Maru test anyway. I wouldn't have let it be the determining factor.
But do you really want someone who's going to duck out on you when there's a deadline to meet?
Load More Replies...That question would suggest to me that the company often has problems with multiple deadlines colliding. I'd have to assume there's something badly wrong with their management and go somewhere else.
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.
If you asked me "what's ohm's law?" then I'd have not known, but having looked it up I did know it, just as a basic physics equation rather than specifically remembering that it was ohm's law...but then, I'm not applying as an electrical engineer and school was 20 years ago
Maybe he's from a very classical Prussian branch of engineering... Ohm was accepted and championed in England at a time where he lost his job (as a school teacher!) in Germany where he was ridiculed by the establishment.
Definitely! Even I get those puns, and I know you don’t know me, but if you did, you’d be impressed I remembered that!
Load More Replies...
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.
I interview new students and the amount of times "the Internet drops out" during difficult questions, only to suddenly work again once they have the answers is... Staggering
Load More Replies...Lol I did this once during a phone interview and got called out on it - interviewer asked me something like “which of our brands do you know”. I knew none of the brands, which didn’t really matter for the role. Probably should have owned it in hindsight. Disclaimer to everyone else: apparently it’s very obvious when you google something mid interview even when it’s over the phone.
Spoiler alert: Most of the questions asked are from a list. A lot of people google most likely questions asked during a so-so interview, look at the answers and then know what to say. At least she was not hiding this fact. Lol
When not knowing the answer, my team will look it ups instead of just looking dumb.
My friend was hiring a new social worker via teams. The second interviewer wasn't sure if the candidate was reading her answers off a prepared script. So he asked her if she wouldn't mind answering the next question with her eyes shut. Apparantly she did it but I feel mortified for her, no idea how she felt! If it feels wrong, then it probably is.
"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.
i wouldnt get one immediately but when things go to far yeah that would be a good time
Load More Replies...Wtf would possess someone to think those are good questions to ask during a job interview? 😆
Nothing really surprises me anymore, but WOW. That level of stupidity is just mind boggling.
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
It's actually shocking that the male interviewer noticed. As a woman, I've been in this exact situation multiple times, and when I have pointed it out to my male counterpart, I get "I'm sure he didn't mean anything by it", or even worse "I didn't notice that; I'm sure you're exaggerating." There is nothing that makes me more angry more quickly.
Yes i had this happen to me - at one point the interviewee addressed me (who he would be reporting to) as "girly" while directing his answer to MY question to the CEO seated next to me. I looked at the CEO, turned to the guy, cut him off immediately, and ended the interview.
YUP. I was in management roles for years and this happened a lot, usually from the older male technicians or customers. Even my own boss wouldn't really listen to me, (like he would "try" but he for sure had unconscious bias) so I would have my male buddy who was actually my employee, convey my ideas like they were his own and THEN the boss would hear them. Our little work around in order to get stuff accomplished in our dept. Sad but worked!
As much as equality between the sexes is being attempted, there are still a lot of misogynistic boors out there who will never accept that a woman can have a brain.
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.
When I was in my twenties, I worked at a hotel front desk. After high school graduation time, we’d get kids putting in resumes for full time work. The Front Desk was responsible for handing out the forms, and putting the completed ones in HR’s mailbox. I remember one tiny girl dropped of an application for wait staff. She looked way younger than 18 but actually was—-we had to check drivers licenses to be sure, then photocopy and attach them to completed applications, since the restaurant also had a bar. She checked the box that she graduated high school. However, she must’ve been a remedial student, because not only couldn’t she spell “cat”, she also didn’t know where it went in the sentence. Checking her drivers license by her application, we discovered she also misspelled her own name. Before you get huffy about equal opportunity, consider this; waitstaff have to clearly and accurately write food and beverage orders so the chef and bartender will correctly fill them, right? Yeah.
Load More Replies...My sister was once in charge of looking trough CV's. Her boss told her to look at the postcode and sort out the people from poor neighbourhoods. That is mean. (It was about a job as a typist/secretary in his law firm) Still mean.
I grew up poor...that doesn’t mean I don’t know anything, just that *my parents* made poor financial decisions.
Load More Replies...A bartender friend of mine served a guy who ran up a bill close to $100 and tipped $1, then turned in a resume the next day... nope my dude, you are not getting that job
Those little yellow newborn chicks are very fragile and should only be picked up by those with care and experience.
Wow! Back in the day if you could not entertain a "chix", as a bartender or back, then you're in the wrong profession.
my dad asked me to drop off his CV to somewhere he was applying and under skills he put i have a brain thinking it will show how he is independent and can think for himself but it made him look like a idiot
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 once had an abusive boyfriend whom my dad hated and actually went looking for one time. I had no idea he still hated him until he told my husband that he still hopes to run into him one day because there’s some unfinished business there. It’s been 20 years but parents never forget who hurt their children!
Load More Replies...Confidence is one thing, complete arrogance is another thing entirely.
Should have used him to let everyone else take a vacation. Then tell him he was unable to live up to his hype and let him go.
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)?
Maybe he was front office clerk, these people mostly deal with their own country fellow citizens, so most of their language based job is to translate various documents and forms for them.
Load More Replies...
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!
My wife recently started a job as a teaching assistant in a special needs school. On her CV we put she was a full time mum looking after her autistic son and some skills she has learnt from doing that. She was also her younger brother's full time carer before he passed away so she has life experience looking after special needs/disabled children, not necessarily classroom experience
Load More Replies...So and I just had a question today (as that 40 something person) about what subject I enjoyed best in college... So many accomplished and he wanted to seriously (it was not part of some nice conversation, there, on his list of questions about my skills) know what I enjoyed about school. Well, you know, I LOVED lunch time. Still carry the extra weight from that experience. Such a boomer that man. Naive, all knowing 60 someting with no clue about today's challenges in management.
However, if you apply for a federal job, a ten or more page SF171 (job application) is nothing unusual.
I once worked for a recruitment agency as part of work experience that was part of a Computers/Getting Back into the Workplace course . One of the services they provided was helping people with their resumes. This woman came in and I genuinely thought she was expecting us to help her write her autobiography. She was the wrong end of middle age and was making us list out EVERYTHING she had done that she thought might be remotely interesting to a potential employer. The resume went on page after page after page. It took hours to sort out and for me to type out that I didn't leave the office until 9 pm. The office was due to close at 5 pm. I was exhausted and as I was just out of school and still living with my parents I knew that they were worried about where I was, especially as my boss wouldn't let me call home and tell them what was happening. When I finally got out they were upset and I just had to explain what had happened. My father had a managerial job in the factory whe
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.
Controlling the conversation 101. Pose the question you have the answer to, then answer it.
Load More Replies...She had imagined and rehearsed the interview in her head all night long and just ended up forgetting that you would be there too.
Or is just nervous, awkward, or fresh out of college. C'mon these interviewers can't literally act like they don't know people are nervous and do weird things when they're worked up.
Load More Replies...
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.
Have you tried turning it off and then back on again?
Load More Replies...I don’t get no. 4? Are they saying notepad is useless and you should be using something like gitwhateveritscalled?
Programming editors are generally preferred; notepad has no syntax correction and can't run your code for you
Load More Replies...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.
Sadly, there are STILL W-A-A-A-Y TOO many guys out there with THIS mentality!
The thing is that it probably would have worked, the stories of some bouncers I have heard...
I lived with a girl in the Bronx who took advantage of internet dating to avoid the commute home from Manhattan for over a month straight. But when applying for a security position, it's best not to admit you plan on following a different customer home EVERY shift.
Load More Replies...Bouncers are sensitive creatures. I knew one once who dated a girl for, like, two weeks, had an argument with her and so carved her name into his forearm with a knife. As I recall, that didn't help much and the relationship dissolved. Very sensitive guy.
So that's why there's a line of chicks outside the hot club every night! They aren't there to drink or party or socialize or show off their new clothes and shoes, they are lined up hoping the bouncer will choose one of them!
And, I wasted time owning a club, when I could have bounced at work and then in bed.
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
In the U.S., every day means also on your days off, on vacation and on your deathbed. Frankly, the red flag here is everything about the U.S. and employment and workers protections. There are none. So her question actually is not so shocking.
I agree. It says she was well-qualified...so she knows what she's doing. What's the problem? If she handles everything in 4 days, why can't she be home or on call or something? Why are jobs so threatened by the idea of someone being high-acheiving and comfortable? If you need someone who makes you feel like they constantly help you dodge disasters, they are probably worse at their job than someone who keeps it so smooth they don't have to come in every day. The only reason I'd agree with the interviewer here is the woman's tone being so flippant rather than making her reasoned case. That'd make me wonder how easy she'd be to work with
Load More Replies...Ah, Project Managers, some good, most bad, especially when they refuse to communicate, communication is the root of your damn job.
What I don't understand is how a SENIOR level project manager that is well qualified would have that response. This isn't someone who is just entering the workforce. Maybe she wasn't interested, or her last position was something special, or there is different type of project manager, whatever. But something doesn't add up
So old fashioned, it hurts just thinking of full-time work, when the major part or the job can be done at Louie's Bar and Grill on 7th.
im pretty sure why their are appilications n other s**t to tell youwhat is wanted by the company
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.
Well it's a likely sign of incompetence -- if they hired that person they would likely be getting some narcissist who can't objectively understand his own limitations and flaws, who won't learn and who will ruin things and lie to save his own ego.
Load More Replies...My boss once had an interview with a guy who applied for a job in our graphic designers team. He seemed a bit over-confident, too, but she was willing to give him a chance. But when at last she said "If you have any questions, just reach out" he replied "And if YOU guys have any questions (he meant questions how to do our job) you can also just reach out to me." I still wonder why he didn't get the job... :D
My old company hired a guy to take over some of my lesser tasks/be back up for other stuff. His interview was crap - I didn’t get to participate, but I heard all of it. He was asked zero technical questions (for a tech job), and basically spent the whole thing doing a weird sales pitch. Fast forward to his first day, and training went to crap. He spent the whole session telling me everything I was doing wrong. Even got an “as a woman, you need to learn how to talk to…”. I wanted to hit him so badly. Found out quickly that he lied on his resume, couldn’t take feedback unless delivered by a guy, and sucked up so bad to management that I got accused of “being jealous of the new guy” - you know, the subordinate who didn’t take orders. I jetted from that job within 6 months and told my whole team but him that I’d accept questions for a couple weeks after I left. Found out the company stopped offering the services I was training him on within a year.
imagine being the dude in a stock photo that gets chosen to represent a boisterous ahole... lol
He probably did, as most employees know more than their bosses. Yet to say it out loud and embarrass his future boss. Unforgivable. It ought be a surprise.
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.
Lol apparently! Boo hoo he doesn't love our company. It was sloppy of him to leave that there tho
Load More Replies...How can you not hire an ardent fan or your product. Perhaps he has brain f*rts.
I managed a Bookstore for 10 years. The amount of people who would say, "I'd love your job; because you get to sit around and read all day!" Nope, that doesn't happen.
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.
I once looked into getting a job as a card dealer at a Las Vegas casino (full training given). The job description said you had to come to the interview/audition wearing either dance wear or swim wear. I thought: “I can do that.” Then I remembered how they crank up the air con in those places and how freezing cold it usually is, and instantly decided “hell no!”
At a previous bank I worked at, we had a college age girl show up for an interview in a nice t-shirt and cardigan, but the kicker is that she had on very sparkly and very short shorts and flip flops.
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!"
If he'd said, "Raising three wonderful daughters after decades of believing I could never have kids due to an injury as a child," he'd be on a different list right now.
Load More Replies...Well ... you are nervous in that situation and this might actually freak you out, positively (... at least maybe, depends on the kids...), and make you wonder every day ... and then you just say ... that. In the interview for my current job, I mentioned how I keep track of the food intake of my cat to avoid that she may get fat...
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?
Maybe he had a double of scotch before reading the email and didn’t notice. 🤷🏼♀️
Load More Replies...I’d hire the asshole to clean out all the toilets at the bank—-especially if we had a very diverse clientele and employee pool.
was it a racist one or a joking type, because if it was racist that makes matters worst
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.
Proud of losing two jobs bc of a power dynamic gone wrong? I doubt it. Eff you and your smarmy wink.
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.
Being tone deaf is not gender related, that’s just basic human ineptitude.
For me, it’s when candidates divulge what is clearly sensitive information on the part of their existing/previous employer.
Look at it this way. If you're flirting with someone and they give you details of what their ex was like in the sack, would you trust them to be discreet about *your* sex life? Nobody wants an employee who doesn't know how to keep sensitive information to themselves.
Load More Replies...If you start calling your previous company the company you applied to will think if you left them you would do the same to them.
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.
No, not one. Well, maybe the first 2, 3 months into the addiction it might still be something there of the offwearing qualities people had before. You can do a lot and still function pretty well - weed, alcohol, opiates - but, this is not a given, this is not for everyone, and being a functioning addict is a lot harder than just be functioning - a lot of effort already just goes into being prepared to be able to work, if the addiction takes up a lot of space in someone's life. But ... but do not, never, confuse a legitimate user of pain relief with a junkie who is just after being high all the time - the same molecule does very different things in the painridden brain than in the sober brain (severe chronic pain DOES eff you up at least as much as any medication countering it sufficiently - getting a proper medication to end this misery not only is someone's right without question, it also may, quite contrary to the expectation, revive you and get you on your feet again).
Load More Replies...Tell him we will call him (but don’t) he will still think you have but he forgot
I had a candidate bring his mother to the interview, with the expectation that she would go through the interview with him.
Helicopter parent. Living vicariously thru the kid. Yep, definitely needs help. And the kid will too.
Load More Replies...
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.
... we need his services as a measuring gauge for oversized bras - whatever can take his balls, is too large for any real boobs.
Load More Replies...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.
If it was so obvious you wouldn't hire her why'd you say you would call, that is about as bad as her "demands"
It not even one percent of her demands are you sure you read it?
Load More Replies...I'm confused... Isn't telling someone you WILL do something and then NOT doing "it" WORSE than telling people what you will AND won't do? At least ONE side is being HONEST. (´・_・`) (ᴗ˳ᴗ)
It's like applying to be a bank teller and say you have no problem handling money, but you refuse to speak to customers. Thanks for being honest... too bad it's the majority of the job... byeeeee.
Load More Replies...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.
And he probably walked out thinking that the "stinking vegan deep state took his job because he is not one of them"
I fail to understand why people take such offence at other people’s choices that in no way affect them nor cause any harm.
Politicization of nonsense so the super wealthy can rip them off
Load More Replies...I'm a vegetarian, not because I love animals, but because I hate plants.
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.
Sometimes they deliberately make themselves late to see how the applicants handle it I got a job through this because of the way I received the news they they would be late doing the interview. I talked to the staff in the office the the half hour I waited and got on really well with them and because of that I got a highly paid job with them.
Load More Replies...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
Hm ... my current boss knows I have stopped doing homework in 8th grade due to not needing to do it ... we were stuck with binomic formular for like 6 months straight ... there are just 3 types, you can just learn the answers and mindlessly repeat, if you fail to understand this very basic math ... but even that, a few didn't. Two girls snitched me to our math teacher, thereby prompting her to check my homework every day so I had to do it in written form, and the very next time we had math if they could copy my results. Of course I gave them some, of course, the mistakes in it were so out of the explainable that they messed up big time, but it took them three rounds of answers, them both volunteering with a lot of confidence all the time, to get that I gave them rubbish. Bidges! After the teacher forgot to check my stuff, I stopped altogether doing ANY homework, until 12th and 13th grade physics came along, was kinda fun, and also my major school subject.
For me, this isn't enough context. There are plenty of jobs I'd hire that guy for, where spelling doesn't matter but honesty does.
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.
Would like to know how they feel when it’s over and they realize they messed up
Load More Replies...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.
Load More Replies...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.
Yeah, because there is a big need to climb up trees and poop on people in the movies.
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.
Lol rest of the post said : "I hired him anyway, because he was willing to work weekends. That was a mistake. He was a f-up"
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?"
Well, in my company we were looking for a rigger - a person who would 'rig' 3D character models to a skeleton for animation purposes. We've got a lot of applications from experienced... industry machine riggers.
honest mistake I'd say. most people don't know what rigging a model means. I wish I didn't
Load More Replies...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.
Just illustrates how powerfully innate is the need for language/communication. But the person in the interview above made too much of it, way too much.
Load More Replies...
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.
On the flip side, years ago I submitted an application as a manager for a company that didn’t have a tech-sounding name, and didn’t mention anything about tech in their ad. When I found out their indeed were a tech company, and I would be managing a programming team, I told them I didn’t feel qualified for the job because don’t know how to program, and tried to bow out. They wouldn’t let me, and told me management doesn’t need to know how to program because that’s left to the lower level programmers on their teams. No way I was going to let that interview go on. I’ve worked with too many clueless managers like that, who always hid in their offices when we could’ve used some help. I refuse to become one of them. Not really a good idea to have managers who have zero familiarity with what their team does, so they can jump in and help when there’s a problem or they’re shorthanded. I told them I couldn’t in good conscience continue, and walked out.
This worked for me. I'm currently a network technician in a well known UK University, but had literally 0 knowledge or prior training in networking.
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 😂
If this position was at an animal sanctuary or zoo then I don't see a problem. Seems to me like somebody has a grudge against penguins. What have penguins ever done wrong? I like penguins.
Love of animals isn’t a big qualifier for a job at a zoo. Zoos need an event planner, a marketer, a volunteer co-ordinator, a fund raiser, accountant, concession manager, cooks, waiters, and bussers if there’s a restaurant, groundskeepers, maintenance people, a mechanic, nurses or EMTs, cashiers, people for the souvenir stands, security personnel. The curators who design the exhibits, set up the budgets, arrange the acquisitions, and coordinate the SSP usually have at minimum bachelor’s degrees in a biology or related science. The zookeepers who take care of the animals on a day-to-day basis don’t necessarily have to have a degree, but it certainly helps, as does experience in shovelling up exotic poo (which a clever marketing person will have saved and processed for our own ZooPoo fertilizer, for sale now in our gift shop while supply lasts), and determining when an animal needs to see the vet.
Load More Replies...So I guess she doesn't get to be an assistant aquatic bird keeper at the local zoo for showing up like a penguin fangirl? Or wasn't/isn't the Penguins some sort of Hockey team? Missed her calling as a Mascot somewhere....
Shows her passion. I don't see a problem with her ability to do a job.
But if she spent the entire interview talking about penguins, how do you know what her abilities are?
Load More Replies...My friend applied at the place I worked. His email address was a string of weed references and began and ended with “420_69.”
Shows lack of judgment. I rejected an applicant because they email address they used to apply for the job was something like BigSexy69. I’ve got no problem with big sexy men who like to 69 (I like those things actually!). But I do have a problem hiring someone who doesn’t have the good sense to use a different email address when applying to work. Indicates a serious lack of understanding of what’s appropriate at work.
Load More Replies...
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?
"That's not a good reason to apply for a job. Now, if you'd mentioned the spicy chicken served for lunch every Thursday..."
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.
I worked for a corporation that had an open bar with a selection of beers on tap but
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.
To be fair, those are pretty stupid interview questions and as a candidate I would take them as code for 'we are going to expect you to work way more hours than we're paying you for'. So at that point, why not give a joke answer?
Not for a staffing position that just needs bodies in place like McDonalds
Load More Replies...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.
LinkedIn actually works?? All it gave me was weird " recruiters" with ' great opportunities ' (temp job, i'd have to leave my current one for, that is a permanent contract - and less perks, and a pay DROP of 20%). All of them were annoyed or angry when I asked for who exactly is this " opportunity " so great...
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.
To be fair, the "Where do you see yourself?" question is one of the most asinine interview questions you can ask. It just smacks of an interviewer who doesn't know what to ask.
Right up there with "what are your weaknesses?" We all know there's not right answer to that.
Load More Replies...Contrary to what a lot of employers think, most people do not see it as their life goal to be occupying the same chair on the same desk in the same cubicle for the next 50 years.
is one of those lie or die questions. most people do see jobs as stepping stones, and except for a few, most people thinking forward in life have goals that don't involve the employer. so, you have to say something that sounds reasonable and that makes you attractive for the position in question.
Celebrating the 5th year anniversary of you asking me this question! - Mitch
Now they ask what are your 5 yr goals. Which I guess is a bit more professional, but still i agree I dont see why it matters. People want you to lie to them in this. I see myself here working 80hrs a week. Getting it done. /s Hah.
Don't see anything wrong with this answer, and this stupid question american companies keep asking. It's wrong and dumb
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.
Or, somebody on his phone was listening and coaching him.
Load More Replies...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."
I'm smarter than any boss I've had, except for maybe one. They're still the boss. I'm good at being smart, but they're better at being the boss.
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.
I have the impression that "millennial" is a sort of all-purpose word to describe any young person who makes you feel annoyed because they're young, different, not like you...
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.
Maybe they meant squirm & auto-correct changed it? I know I'd be squirming if someone was playing with their tongue ring during an interview. That's just gross.
Load More Replies...
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.
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.
You know what that skill is called? Ignoring the smell not that hard (this coming from a toxicologist who has to work with dead ppls organs)
But it's not expected for someone in an office environment!
Load More Replies...
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.
There was a guy who as a joke years ago signed his license with cat faces and then when he tried to buy a house his application was rejected cause he didn’t have matching signatures so he had to redo it and sign the cat faces.
My signature contains my paternal last name, a musical symbol, my favorite number and the greek letter for my initial. Signatures in my country tend to be more graffiti-esque. "Shrek" in plain letters is definitely too much, but I've known some signatures that utilize mundane elements, although not all of them are classy, creative, or look that serious.
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.
And? I'm hiring a photographer, not a fashion model, and it sounds like this guy was a standout. If you're looking for a chef and Wolfgang Puck applies for the job, are you going to base your decision on what he's wearing? (I won't mention the apostrophe abuse...)
He should at least have dressed better for the interview how on earth could he meet clients dressed like a castaway from a desert island, imagine turning up to photograph a wedding looking like a tramp who just wandered in. No matter how good you are first impressions count.
"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.
This should be standard everywhere laymans can't process the results of a quick test the right way and they will create stigma without any real reason.
Load More Replies...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.
I would rather someone be honest and state how they overcame it (presuming they did) than lie to give the "right"answer.
I know people who used this to get out of draft in germany (west, seventies or so). "Do you use drugs?" - "Yes, I do!" - "Which ones?" - "Kinda all, whatever I get my hands on, but regularly, weed, cocaine, ..." - they ALL were not drafted for answering like this, and no one - back then - had any problems afterwards in terms of raids or getting busted or so. The information never made it out of the recruiting office, I guess.
I'm guessing prescriptions, vaccinations, and OTC's (such as Advil, Vick's, etc.) don't count?
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.
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
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...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
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...
