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“Needless To Say, He Didn’t Get The Job”: 30 Wild Job Interview Stories Of People Aiming High
Job interviews can be tiring and stressful, with some going more smoothly than others. And it can be this way for both sides, the interviewer and the interviewee.
Today, we’re focusing on people who were responsible for carrying out job interviews; and some rather bizarre ones, I might add. One netizen got curious about the worst interviews HR representatives and managers have ever had to sit through, so they started a thread about it on the ‘Ask Reddit’ subreddit. Quite a few redditors shared stories, ranging from surprising to hilarious, so if you’re curious to read what they entailed, scroll down to find their accounts on the list below.
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
Years ago I had to interview somebody for a frontdesk position at our vacation rental company that was the most brutally honest person I've ever met in my entire life. There are just some things you try to avoid discussing during a job interview, if you can avoid it, but I almost wanted her because she was so honest (and she was actually very nice).
We had standard questions we ask in every interview. One of them is "If there's one thing you could improve upon, what is it?" Her answer? "Well, I'm not the most punctual person in the world, and I'm frequently late for my job."
*Okaaaaay*...How about driving record? "I've gotten a couple speeding tickets, and I currently don't have insurance on my car."
*It slowly gets worse*... Do you have any felony convictions in the last 10 years that haven't been expunged by a court of law, blah blah (and we've never had anybody actually answer "Yes" to this)? "I have a felony possession of a stolen weapon on my record, but only because I was the lease holder on the apartment that the gun was found in, and it was my old roommate's gun."
So we gave her an application to fill out, and she gets to the part on the form where it asks if they'll consent to d**g tests at random intervals, etc... . She asks how often they would be, and we said that she'd probably get one in her first 90 days, and then randomly thereafter. "Sorry for wasting your time, but I wouldn't be able to pass," and she sets down the application, says a polite goodbye and leaves our office.
I have to say, that was the most entertaining interview I've ever sat in on.
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#2
I once interviewed a woman who kept flirting with me, touching me, telling me how she was willing to do *anything* for this job, wink wink, etc. She was sort of attractive, but I sure as hell wasn't interested. Then came the clincher:
Me: "What made you leave your previous position?"
Her: "My boss fired me because I gave him herpes.".
#3
"I see here on your resume you have a masters degree, what was your thesis on?" said I.
"Uh, huh huh, thesis?" said he staring blankly at me.
"You know the paper you had to write to graduate." I replied.
"Oh, ah, it was on the keyboards. They're important for computers." He said.
"So what exactly did you research about the keyboards?" I replied realizing I had a faker on my hands, but unable to resist how far the farce would go.
"I, ah, got my friends to type and I watched them, then I could tell how to improve, ah, efficiency and ah quality." he answered.
"So what statistical method did you use to demonstrate the improvements in efficiency and quality." I asked.
"I ah, recorded some numbers and made sure that they typed different then ah, the numbers got better." he replied.
"So just how did the numbers get better?" I continued.
"Ah, the numbers got better quality after I researched. My thesis went well, I could type faster after that." he replied.
"Name some data structures you studied in school getting your masters in C.S." I asked.
"Ah, masters in C.S.? Oh, yeah, masters in C.S., we studied data and it was structured in orderly ways." he replied.
"So name an order." I asked.
"Alphabetical." he replied.
"Very good." I replied.
I looked at my watch, the fun was over and I wanted coffee. I announced the interview was over and ushered him out with all required pleasantries. I think he would have went all day .
#4
Heard this from a friend:
Interviewer: So, what do you think are your strengths?
Girl: My strengths are... my mother and father.
Interviewer: How about your weaknesses?
Girl: Uhm, honestly...
Girl: ... chocolates.
#5
Another horror story. I co-founded a freight company with a friend in another country, we were basically shipping goods back and forth, and through a couple of other countries using export duty arbitrage. We needed a driver who could travel from Le Havre in France to Piraeus in Greece, drop off some stuff and head back. After interviewing several people we have this Albanian guy come in for an interview. He tells us about his experience hauling freight but something's not quite right (for example, when we asked about routes he kept avoiding Germany and wanted to go up through Romania, whereas most of the other people I interviewed opted for better roads as they were given time bonuses), so my business partner pulls a favour with the French police and it turns out this guy was part of a smuggling gang, where they'd use legitimate vehicles to smuggle immigrants and track women. We were an ideal target because depending on his route he could pass through up to 6 (although with our timescales probably 4) pick up and drop off points.
Needless to say, he didn't get the job.
#6
Interviewing a woman. I asked her what her weakness was. and her reply was .. UMMM Shoes??
she was hired by the way.
SheamusFanFrom1987 3 days ago
Personally IMO, I'm not a shoe Man-da but I can and do occasionally complement someone when I see they have a pair of good sneakers or heels (don't know much about the latter but some designs just catch the eye)...
#7
After a nice hour long interview with one of the best candidates, he asked if he could speak with us for a moment about the lord. This guy wanted to recruit us to be JW.
#8
Oh god, I have a million. Most recent was a guy who filled out his application via texts from his mother. He would take a picture of the question on the app and she would text him back the answer. He took an hour to fill out a two page basic application.
#9
We asked a lady who had come to interview for a position as a teacher's assistant what her experience was. She replied "well I used to be a child, so I do know about them".
#10
Probably won't be seen, but have to share.
Job Requirements: Specific technical acumen; client-facing skills
Interviewer: Me
10:00 AM - Busy day, so I skip meeting to review resume. Looks fine except for NSFW email address.
11:00 AM - Guy doesn't answer phone. Voicemail message is recorded by a girlfriend or relative and says something about John and his cat not being home. I start to get concerned but leave friendly message anyway. "Call me back directly if you get this in the next few minutes, otherwise just call the main office and reschedule for another time."
2:00 PM - Phone rings. I don't recognize the number and say "hello it's Nick".
"Uhh, yeah, I was, umm, sleeping. I'm on medications for my disorder and..."
Me: "Wooah there. Is this John? Umm, any medical conditions aren't my business, but I do have a few minutes to talk now if you'd like" (anticipating it will be short).
Him: "Yeah it's just for voices but it makes me sleepy and I had my lights off and, yeah, umm, so..."
Me: "Anyway, I was told you're interested in this technical position. Can you talk a little about your last position on your resume and your role in the project?"
Him: "Well I really didn't work in that, I just watched someone do it"
Me: "Umm, so could you tell me what technology or framework was used?"
Him: "I think it was.. uhhh"
* I put my head down as he speed-rambles for another minute, waiting for a break to end the call *
Him: "...so now you've seen me at my worst, I guess. Do you think I'll get the job?"
Me: (thinking *wtf did he just say?*) "Uhh. Well we're looking for someone experienced in X technologies, and it doesn't really sound like you've worked in it. I'd hate to waste both of our time here so I'd just like to thank you for calling back and wish you luck in future searches."
Him: (screaming) "NOOOO! That's not true! I'm really great in other stuff? What can I tell you to get the job?!"
Me: "Sorry, but I'll have to let you go now. I'll pass along my review notes and if we find a good fit for your skill set, we'll give you a call back."
Him: "Oh! Good. How long will that take?"
*le click*.
#11
One of my favorite moments came when I was interviewing someone for whom English was not their native language, and I think something got lost a bit in the translation.
I asked a required question of the job: "Are you able to lift 30 pounds unassisted?"
His reply: "Yes...I am a man."
It was difficult to keep a straight face after that one.
#12
During an interview we asked the candidate for an example of when they had to do something which was out of their comfort zone. She replied with "On a night out last year I drank way too many shots and had to have my stomach pumped. That was really uncomfortable.".
#13
I used to be a receptionist for someone who did short pre-screening interviews for people applying for entry-level jobs. They were supposed to be like 5 minutes and she would just ask them questions about their experience after they finished filling out the application.
There are some really dumb people who came in for these but one guy in particular stands out for pure cluelessness. She asked him the 6 or 7 questions, and then she tried wrapping it up and he just didn't understand that the interview was over. English was his first language and she was trying to be polite saying "I have no more questions" and "was there anything you wanted to ask me?" but he would not leave.
He just sat there in the chair looking dumb. She even left her office for and came to talke to me for a bit and he just sat there staring into space. Even after she was a bit more direct he wouldn't leave, eventually she just took his arm and said "okay you have to go now" and led him out. It was ridiculous.
He didn't get a second interview.
#14
I a co-worker were interviewing applicants and my co-worker asked what kind of animal they'd like to be. The applicant said a cat, because they're sneaky and can get away with stuff.
Then there was the guy who wrote his application letter in purple crayon.
Jordan Croff 3 days ago
Why are you asking people what kind of animal they would want to be in a job interview???
#15
I had a guy show up in a t-shirt and jeans to a developer interview. He didn't look as if he had showered, wasn't nervous at all, knew barely any coding, and said he couldn't start for a month because he and his band were going on tour. We didn't hire him.
#16
In high school, one of my girlfriends went in for a job at Ralphs, when asked why she wanted to work there, she responded, "I like food". She was hired and came to be known as food girl.
#17
I was a manager of a video rental chain store in a city that is built around a college. We hired a majority of college students whose parents wouldn't support their drinking and d**g habits, but some people were single parents living in the outlying area.
One girl told me in the interview that she was a recovering alcoholic and needed the job for probation. She was drunk at the interview.
A huge burly guy came in and during the interview told me that he needed the money for a new engine for his truck. After he had it, he was going to quit.
Another kid admitted that he was fired from his last job for stealing movies. It wasn't on his application.
The best was a college student that came in and was a well known d**g dealer. He told me that he needed the paycheck to cover all of the stuff he was buying with his d**g money. I ended up hiring him... because of the slim pickings in the area, and his references at other jobs (although only 3 month spurts) were great. He ended up being a great worker and the District Manager wondered why when she offered him the job as my Assistant Manager, he kept turning it down. And he only wanted to work 3 days a week. When I left, he was still there and from what I hear, he used that experience as a Shift Lead (he did accept that eventually), his business degree and his experience as a "entrepreneur" to land a job in some other city in finance.
#18
One time, a woman showed up for an interview wearing the most ridiculous outfit I've ever seen. Her sandles were so high I don't know how she was able to walk, and her fingernails and toenails were that waaaaay-too long and creepy (I don't mean those regular fake nails, but the 2+ inch long ones) type with the little dangly charms on the tips. Her makeup was actually not that bad, just a little heavy for daytime wear. Her skirt was so short and tight that I was able to notice that she wasn't wearing underwear and I remember to this day that she was wearing a red bra with little white hearts on it. The interview was a formality and a waste of time. It was pretty obvious from the moment she walked through the front door that she wasn't family-restaurant material.
#19
Me: What's one of your weaknesses?
Him: Well. Sometimes after lunch, I can get a little gassy.
#20
Coworker of mine was interviewing a junior developer for a job writing web performance testing code. To gauge the dude's interest in the field, my coworker asked what the guy liked most about the internet. The guy said "p**n." Then he realized what he had said, panicked, and asked my coworker not to tell anyone he had said that.
I mean, it's the right answer, but not in that context. He didn't get the job.
#21
I'm not an HR person, but the other day someone came in to my department for an interview wearing a zoot suit. I didn't even know those were still available to buy.
#22
One place I worked we had a guy come in for a deep technical reverse engineering job. The initial smalltalk went ok, so we started asking questions about debugging and it became pretty clear he knew nothing but kept making stuff up anyway. We kept saying to him if he didn't know the answer it was fine, just say so and he kept making stuff up. In the end I was asking him questions like how can you avoid remotely exploitable memory allocation bugs when using Ethernet over UDP, and he kept answering. My favourite bit was when he told us how he'd get root access on Windows Servers by exploiting Redhat Apache packages.
#23
Skills mentioned on the CV matched my hiring requirements exactly. Jackpot! So I invited the guy to interview.
At the interview, when asked to demonstrate these skills - ie. write a snippet of code - and the guy starts saying how he didn't really use those skills in his old job but some of his colleagues did and then pushes a bound thick mass of printed source code across the desk to me. Turns out this is a printed copy of his old company's application source code.
I was about to burst out laughing when the smoke alarm went off and the building was evacuated. I basically told him we'd call him another time if we wanted to talk to him again and he went home. Saved by the bell, literally.
#24
I have a standard question: "If you could choose a superpower, what would it be?" The best answer ever was "the ability to speak to squirrels." The worst: "Ummmm... the Soviet Union?".
#25
I used to work for a salon over by IVC and I hired this college girl as a receptionist. Things went well for about three months when one day she never showed up. Turns out the only reason she applied was because she thought I was cute and when I didn't pick up on her advances she quit. I really am oblivious.
#26
Me: tell me about a time you have had to resolve a conflict
Interviewee: A guy tried to start a fight with me last friday, so I knocked his teeth out.
#27
I work at an investment firm where we train new financial advisors coming in from a different industry.
In the first interview I asked "Tell me what you're doing now?" and he launched into a 10 minute tirade (I had to stop him) about how his evil boss at taco bell framed him for giving nacho's to his friend.
Didn't make the second interview.
#28
A guy once told me (in earnest) that his last 5 managers were a*s holes.
trixiefly11 2 days ago
I mean, it is possible that with bad luck, his last 5 managers were A-Holes.
#29
While in college I worked at a hotel as a front desk manager. I had that job for 2 days when they told me to hire more people. I said, sure, no problem, post it. I'd never done a management gig before. They said they'd post the job and would screen resumes.
I get the stack and look through. A few good candidates and a guy who had a PhD in psych. Hrmm, odd that a guy with a PhD would want to make 7.25 and drive 70 miles each way to do so. I put that one on the bottom of the stack. Interviewed all of the others, the office manager called me in and said "you need to interview this guy". I told her that I wasn't getting why he'd apply with us for that little money and the drive. "Doesn't matter, he's capable". I call, he said he'd be there that night.
Guy arrives dressed ok. Older but very anxious looking. I go through the interview questions and explain the job. He asks me when he can start. I tell him that I need to check references. He gets agitated and I tell him that we have to check references. I ask him if it's ok if I call his. "No". Hrmm. I thank him for his time and leave. He sits in the lobby a while then starts to bother the girl at the front desk before leaving. I note this on his app and file it away.
A week later he calls and is upset he didn't hear from us. GM tells him why. He calls the corporate office and complains then the ESC and says we didn't hire him because he's old. The lawyers get involved, nothing more.
6 years later (and a different career later) I start an IT gig with a state agency. I'm in my office one day when I hear a knock on the door. It's that guy....he works there as a psych. He gives me an odd look, asks if we've met. I act like we haven't. He leaves after pestering me with home PC questions. A few years later he was sent to a state mental home after he went nuts in the office.
--
2nd place - Guy who was fired for beating up a coworker (was applying to be an IT director at another job I had). Said he'd never do it again. When asked about his references he said don't check and wouldn't allow us to run a background check. Turns out he had been fired and done jail time for that and 2 other battery charges.
3rd - CCIE who applied and handed in a resume written in pencil on yellow legal paper. No application (as requested). The handwriting was a mix of small and cap letters. I should have framed it.
Charles McChristy 2 days ago
I had someone walk into my office and hand me a resume. When I told him of the procedure (contacting HR, digital cover letter, resume and must complete an application) and so on. He just went "Pfft, just make sure this gets to the right person!". So I did. I made sure our custodial staff filed it in the proper container at the end of the day.
#30
Are you flexible? Can you fill in for others? Response: I do a lot of yoga...
Poll Question
Which part of job interviews do you find most stressful?
Preparing for questions
Maintaining conversation flow
First impression aspects
Deciding on follow-ups
What do you think ?
Ron Man 2 days ago
Years ago a coworker and I were interviewing a newhire candidate. The candidate had a strong military background on their resume, and claimed to have been in a unique aid-type position during a 90s eastern european conflict. My coworker also had a strong military background and had been in a unique aid-type position during a 90s eastern european conflict. About halfway through the interview my coworker started grilling the candidate on specifics about their military experience during that time, and the unique position they were in. Highly specific information about names of others, protocols, etc. At the end of the questioning, my coworker said something to the effect of, "None of that is true. You're a complete liar. I feel confident in saying that because not only did you answer all the questions incorrectly, but that was actually my job during that time frame. The candidate's face was awesome when he was called out. He didn't get the job.
Marnie 2 days ago
Wouldn't this fall under "stolen valor"? He's trying to profit from lying about having been in the military.
Load More Replies...
Andrew Vince 1 day ago
They asked me if I had a Police record, I said no, but that I did have one of Sting's CDs.....
Ron Man 2 days ago
Years ago a coworker and I were interviewing a newhire candidate. The candidate had a strong military background on their resume, and claimed to have been in a unique aid-type position during a 90s eastern european conflict. My coworker also had a strong military background and had been in a unique aid-type position during a 90s eastern european conflict. About halfway through the interview my coworker started grilling the candidate on specifics about their military experience during that time, and the unique position they were in. Highly specific information about names of others, protocols, etc. At the end of the questioning, my coworker said something to the effect of, "None of that is true. You're a complete liar. I feel confident in saying that because not only did you answer all the questions incorrectly, but that was actually my job during that time frame. The candidate's face was awesome when he was called out. He didn't get the job.
Marnie 2 days ago
Wouldn't this fall under "stolen valor"? He's trying to profit from lying about having been in the military.
Load More Replies... Andrew Vince 1 day ago
They asked me if I had a Police record, I said no, but that I did have one of Sting's CDs.....
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