There isn’t anything stressful quite like a job interview. Some people handle this stress well and others do not, to say the least. Unfortunately, for these interviewers, these candidates took things to the next level.
All content has been edited for clarity.
They Didn’t Deserve Him Anyway
“During my time working in recruiting at a very well-known Seattle suburb tech company, I’d often receive a stack of resumes addressed ‘to the office of the CEO.’ Word to the wise, such things never actually make it to the CEO of mid-size to large companies. I don’t understand what book is telling people to do this. But I digress. The CEO’s admin simply opens them and hands them off to be scanned and filed away by someone in recruiting. CEOs have better things to do with their time than read random resumes that come in irrelevant methods of delivery. Not to mention it was like 2007 and some people were still sending in paper resumes. Yep, we were totally judging you back then too.
One day, we received a large padded envelope addressed to recruiting and we all hovered around the desk as one of the recruiting coordinators ripped it open. We all had great anticipation about what this could possibly be. Clearly, this was before the days of anthrax.
In opening the package, a big, clunky, black men’s shoe fell out – the kind of shoes that cost $14.99 at Payless and are worn by most security guards across America.
Along with the shoe was a paper resume with a big handwritten message on the top that read, ‘I just want to get my foot in the door.’
He didn’t.”
I Would Have Been Rude To Her Too
“Two of us were interviewing for a person to do home visiting to families at risk for child abuse. Gigi was the social worker and I was the RN for the program; the job didn’t pay well, and provided no benefits, but was very rewarding. Isn’t that what people like to say about low-paying social service jobs?
One candidate had absolutely no experience in anything related to the job. In fact, she walked into the interview and looked at me with horror in her eyes. We knew each other, and it wasn’t pretty.
My then-husband had brought our cat into the vet one morning and I was supposed to pick him up in the evening, but I completely forgot. Instead, I walked around the 3-acre lot our rental house was situated on, calling and calling for him, thinking he was lost.
She was the veterinary tech at the animal hospital where I’d inadvertently left my cat. When I arrived the next day, I explained what happened and was very apologetic. She was super rude and pretended she couldn’t find my cat carrier in order to ‘punish’ me.
She knew exactly who I was as soon as she saw me at the interview. I took the high road and was polite and professional throughout the interview. I wasn’t sad to cross her off the list as completely unqualified, though.”
Bringing The Wife Was A Bold Move
“A candidate looked very good on paper, so we called him in. He brought a beautiful woman along. She was at least three decades younger than he was, and at first, I thought that she was his adopted daughter.
I tried to make some small talk with her and she said, ‘So sorry, English no good.’
We asked him why he wanted this particular job, and the first reason he gave us was that the location was near Chinatown where his wife–the young woman–could make friends and he could learn her language better. At this point, I was trying hard not to laugh, but I think he realized that he was messing up because he suddenly began sweating profusely. Our office wasn’t particularly warm, but he sweat right through his suit.
His wife noticed the sweat, pulled a handkerchief out of her purse, and began mopping his brow.
He tried to make a joke, ‘I guess I can’t keep looking like Richard Nixon, right?’
That was when his wife stopped her mopping and shouted, ‘Nixon good!’
I managed not to laugh, but he didn’t get the job.”
0 For 4
“I was in a conversation with the candidate and we were discussing the type of people he liked to work with. He suddenly stopped, looked at me and said, ‘I don’t like people who try to kill me. You aren’t going to try and kill me are you?’ I made an excuse, left the room and had security standing outside for the rest of the interview.
I like to end the interview by asking candidates what their proudest achievement is. It is irrelevant and has no bearing on whether or not they get the job. I ask it purely so that the last thing the candidate gets to tell me is something positive about themselves so that they go away feeling good. The candidate told me how proud he was about his weight loss and how well toned he had got at the gym. He then whipped his shirt off and asked me if I would like him to take his trousers down so that I could see how well toned his butt was. I was out of there, fast. He did not get the job.
The third told me that the reason he wanted to work for the company was that he had heard that we had lots of ‘hot chicks’ working here and that he wanted to get a few more notches on his bed post. He didn’t get hired either.
The fourth was being interviewed for a management position and both myself and a senior executive were interviewing him. The executive asked him how he would deal with any trouble or difficulties in his team. His reponse was a classic. He told us that he sleeps with the women as that solves all their problems. We went round the subject a few times to see if there was a miscommunication, but nope, he was adamant that sleeping with women solved everything. His wife worked at the company. He did not get the job.”
That’s An Odd Thing To Lie About
“In about 2007 I was working as a recruiter and interviewing candidates for Accounting positions in Sydney.
I remember interviewing one guy who had a pretty good resume and was good in person too. He mentioned during the interview that he’d played soccer for the Australian national team in the mid 80s.
I thought this was pretty cool, and it seemed to add up – he looked like he was in his 40s, so in the mid 80s he’d have been in his twenties. However I know very little about soccer, and even less about Australian soccer in the 80s, so all I could really do was say, ‘Wow, that’s awesome’ and move on.
Then after the interview I mentioned it to a colleague who did know a lot more about Aussie soccer than me – he asked me the candidate’s name and when I told him, he said, ‘Never heard of him!’
And then five minutes’ searching on Wikipedia and the Australian Football Federation website showed that unless this guy had changed his name for some reason, he was completely making it up. There had never been any players on the Aussie soccer team with his name.
So this struck me as ridiculous for a couple of reasons: I was interviewing him for Accounting positions. While it’s cool that he might have played soccer for Australia in the past, that had no bearing on his suitability for those positions at all. Finding out that he appeared to be lying made me question what else he might be lying about. His accounting experience? His qualifications? His references?
I gave him the benefit of the doubt and spoke to a couple of his referees from recent positions, and they both gave excellent feedback on him; but other interviewers might not have been so accomodating, and might have ruled him out as untrustworthy as soon as they got the impression he was making things up.
I never found out the truth, but it just seemed like such a weird thing to lie about, given how pointless it was, and how easy it was to check.”
All It Took Was One Person To Believe In Him
“Many years ago my partner, David, was a shop manager and was advertising for a full time shop worker. One morning this kid came into the shop in dirty jeans and t-shirt and asked about the job. David gave him an application form and told him to complete it, which the kid did straight away. David said that he was starting interviews that afternoon and arranged a time.
The interview time approached. The kid turned up on time. Still wearing the same clothes, now wet (it had been raining) and now smelling of poor body odour. Not a great beginning.
First question, ‘What have you done?’
Answer, ‘I’m just out of Borstal.’
For those who do not know, this is a prison for youth offenders. He was in prison for multiple counts of shoplifting!
‘Why didn’t you change and look smart for the Interview?’
‘Because I live several miles away and I did not have the bus fare to get home and back. So I hung around in town all day.’
David hired him. HR was very very worried.
Years later, the kid was still employed, now assistant manager. He turned out to be one of the most reliable and honest employee David had ever hired. One day he admitted that he turned to shoplifting when he was younger to get caught and taken away from his abusive father. He was safer in prison than at home.
So he was the worst looking candidate, with the worst CV, but the best employee.”
I Can’t Believe They Hired The Second Guy
“Woman just out of high school interviewed for an entry level semi-professional position. She was the only person I have ever interviewed that got a 100% correct score on all the interview questions. The only thing was that between her answers she would giggle, play with her hair, and say, ‘Like did I answer that question well?‘
After the interview I told my co-interviewer that she would do a good job if her co-workers didn’t kill her.
We had a guy, sharp dresser, come into the interview room and say immediately, ‘See all those people waiting to be interviewed? Send them home, I’m the only worthwhile candidate!’
We hired him and six months later, had him arrested for embezzlement.
I’m interviewing applicants with my female boss. I go out to call this guy in for his interview.
As we enter, I say, ‘Hello, I’m Mr. Barnidge,’ and before I can finish, he says, ‘Hello, and who’s the little lady?’
At that moment, I heard a snap, which I later found out was my boss breaking a pencil under the table. When the interview was over, she just said, ‘No, no, no!'”
That Went About As Poor As Possible
“HR picked this kid to interview. If I had the choice I would not have bothered based on his resume. I found around a dozen spelling, punctuation and grammatical mistakes on his resume. And I am talking about ridiculous stuff. I mean if you read some of my answers then you know that my written English skills aren’t 100% so if I am spotting them, it must be bad. I think he misspelled Houston at one point. Ridiculous stuff like that.
When I read his resume, I went through and corrected everything in red ink. Just because I was bored.
So, when it comes time for his interview, he isn’t there. I’m the first person interviewing him so I sat around for 10 minutes and then go back to my desk. 10 minutes later, HR called me and said he was here and asked if I could I come down and talk to him. I told the guy interviewing him next to give me a few minutes as he had been late. But, I really didn’t need to.
In almost any interview for an engineering related position, in my field at least, the candidate should be the best dressed person in the room. This kid was not.
Jeans, tennis shoes, plaid shirt (un-tucked) and a chain wallet.
So, what has this kid told me about himself even before he said a word to me. I’m sloppy and/or incompetent. I don’t value your time. I’m not interested in a professional position.
I wasn’t going to do so, but, after about 2 questions, I just handed him back his corrected resume and walked out.
Needless to say, he didn’t get the job.”
He Definitely Lost The Plot
“Whilst interviewing for a position with a large company, HR asked a group of people to review a case study and identify one suitable solution. We discussed the topic and pros and cons of various feasible solutions. One candidate insisted he had the only suitable answer which, of course, was different to everyone else’s. He made no effort to convince us, he simply stuck to his position.
Time finished and HR asked for the conclusion. I spoke up that the majority concluded option ‘C’ was the best because of xyz reasons (all nodded, except one guy who was about to explode); however, our colleague identified another position which he feels strongly about, due to dfg reasons. He couldn’t contain himself and gave another couple words to ensure he had the final say.
HR just just crossed his name off on their notes.
Obviously, there is no correct answer to these things. The company just wants to see how we work in teams and this guy lost the plot.
Another candidate might have been a good fit, but he kept asking what toys the company was going to provide – like a smart phone, laptop, company car, etc. All these depend on the job. For example, a regional retail specialist would probably get a company car to cover all the miles. On the other hand, an engineer in the office won’t (unless he’s a senior manager, as an added perk).
The best thing is not to ask about the perks until after the job offer is on the table. Then be sensible. I can’t imagine an engineer not getting a laptop.”
It Would Have Been Easier To Just Not Go
“My academic unit was multidisciplinary, so I sat on committees for people in different areas. One was a candidate for a math lecturer position. He had driven about 8 hours from the farthest corner of the state to get there.
‘So tell us why you want the job.’
‘Well, I’m kinda burned out on teaching, but if you offer me the job, I guess I’ll take it.’
No! He did not just say that!
So, thinking he’d simply gotten off to a bad start, I kept asking questions designed to give him a chance to turn things around. Every time, he dug the hole deeper!
The chair was a senior math professor, impeccably polite, dignified, and well mannered. Every time the guy opened his mouth, he flinched, like he was getting electric shocks through the seat.
Eventually we sent him off to interview with the dean. Normally we took candidates out to dinner. Not this time.
Recall the guy drove eight hours for this.”
She Didn’t Think To Clear The History
“It was a two level coding test in C language. There were several freshers attending the interview. Internet was unrestricted in all the computers in the office. There were about 40 candidates taking the coding test at a time and there were several batches. There were about 2 interviewers supervising whole candidates and the remaining interviewers were conducting technical interviews.
A fresher girl was shortlisted for the coding test. She had a problem with her vision and wearing spectacles.
She attended the first level coding test; the duration was one hour. I gave the problem statement and the test began. Almost 30 minutes passed. She told me that she could solve the problem in C++ and I was happy that she had known C++. She solved the problem successfully.
She was shortlisted for the second level coding test of 3 hours duration. This time she started solving the problem in C language which made me suspicious. She turned her monitor slightly away from the visibility and explained that the background light was glaring. This increased the suspicious level. She finished the test successfully.
After she left the place, my colleague and I opened the browser in her machine and viewed the browsing history. From the history, we found that she sent email to her friends with the problem statement and got reply back. She just copied and pasted the code.
Irony was that the one who solved first level test knew only C++ and the latter knew only C.
Later, we asked her to write algorithm for the problem she solved. She could not write anything other than scanf and printf statements.
The HR warned her that she would be blacklisted and rejected her.”
A Blessing In Disguise
“I was 18 years old, and was traveling with my dad in the car to Warwick University. I was going for an interview and a look around the campus, I wanted to train to be a teacher and that’s what the interview was for. Warwick is an old and well respected University in England.
Dad had just turned off the motorway, when a car, at full speed, smashed into us on the passenger side – my side. We span, and came to rest at the top of the steep banking which led back down to the motorway.
Amazingly, we were both uninjured, but my door was pretty mangled. It opened okay, but wouldn’t close again. It was all caved in. Seeing the amount of damage on the car, we were really lucky not to be hurt. But we were shaken, and I was due for my interview, now panicking about being late or missing it all together.
The police arrived, to cordon off the area and divert traffic, until the debris could be cleared. They must have felt sorry for me, because the next thing I knew, they had offered to take me on to the University for my interview. I think they phoned the University for me to tell them I would be slightly late (this was before anyone had mobile phones) and so I turned up at the University in a police car!
I was shaking, kept crying. My dad had stayed behind with the car until that was all sorted, so I didn’t know how he would find me, I couldn’t contact him, and I didn’t know how we would get home. It was not a good start for an interview that could determine the rest of your life, your career. I was aware that my make up had smudged and I looked a mess, that I wasn’t holding up too well and that I would probably not come over so well, which all made me more frustrated and nervous, and I was annoyed with myself because I kept bursting into tears! What an idiot I felt!
The people in the interview were really nice and understanding. They let me know that I had missed the tour of the campus, which was by minibus, due to me being late. I didn’t really care about that, I just wanted to sit somewhere on my own and wait for my dad, wherever he was. So I sat in the reception area and hoped that he would turn up soon.
I was so relieved when he walked in! He said the car had been written off, so we would have to catch the train home. I think we may have gone for some food at that point. Dad had enough money on him to get us a taxi to the train station, and then he bought us some train tickets, and we got the next train home to Yorkshire.
My Dad kept apologising because the accident had actually been his fault, he’d not seen the junction and he’d come straight out, and that’s why the other car hit us. I’d dozed off when it happened, I just woke up at the moment of impact, with a loud bang and spinning. I have never, not even once, fallen asleep in a moving vehicle in the 26 years since then, not on a train, not on a plane, and certainly not in a car. Even on long haul flights, I cannot relax enough to doze off. In a car, my eyes are always on the road, and I feel safer if I am the driver.
Warwick University offered me two D’s, a good offer. My Dad insisted that the police officers were really impressed that I still wanted to go to the interview after the crash, and that is why they took me in their car. He said that the University interviewers must have been impressed by that as well, and so I got a good offer. But, it didn’t really cross my mind that I would miss the interview on purpose, as that was the entire reason for our journey! I was more bothered about being late, I thought they would look down on that, and I was bothered about arriving in a bit of a state, rather than being calm and confident.
In the end, I chose not to go to Warwick, unsurprisingly! Instead, I went to Chester, but I didn’t stick with teaching. That’s another story.
My mum is convinced to this day, that that car crash changed the course of my life. A crash which, had it never happened, might have ultimately meant I wouldn’t have met my husband, had my kids, or ended up with the career I did because I might actually have finished Uni and become a teacher instead!
I’m not so sure I would have, and I’m glad I dodged that bullet but you never know, do you?”
