Do you know what is the main point of all low- to mid-level job interviews? To let employers see if you're a relatively normal human being.
Sounds easy, right? After all, anyone capable of writing a decent resume must be a well-functioning individual.
Still, recruiters know very well why they don’t hire based on a resume alone.
We bring you the list of the 10 worst job interview stories that have ever happened to hiring managers.
These stories range from an applicant who let out an epic fart during an interview, to a man who refused to take off his motorcycle helmet. The utter lack of self-awareness on their part is simply baffling.
In any case, take this list of the worst job interview stories as an encouragement for the next time you feel nervous about an interview. After all, succeeding at an interview is no rocket science.
If you dress well, stay honest, and have some manners, there's no way you won't make a great impression on a hiring manager. And if you're not satisfied with not being terrible, check out our tips for acing job interviews with flair.
- 1. Texted his mother.
- 2. A flatulent applicant.
- 3. Acted like he knew Bill Gates.
- 4. If you don't take off your helmet, you're set up for the worst job interview ever.
- 5. Eating and interviewing? She can multi-task.
- 6. Applied for a promotion, got fired.
- 7. Brought her meth-head boyfriend.
- 8. The Not-Sure-How-To-Call-This.
- 9. He was too serious about his naps.
- 10. She gave her previous boss herpes.
1. Texted his mother.
“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.” — kibara at studypool.com
2. A flatulent applicant.
“This one however really took my breath away, literally almost. Now I've had people swear, cry, laugh, burp, make phone calls, leave the room so full of BO that we quarantined it off for over an hour. This person, took the cake however.
Mid-way through our interview, in a fairly serious moment, this person's body decided it was time to expel some excess air, no he didn't burp. Now this was loud, extremely audible, in so much as the receptionist asked me a question about this "noise" after the interview. My candidate continued on like nothing had happened, no smirk, no "oops" or excuse me... nothing.
I am rarely lost for words but this one stumped me.” — Dan Nuroo at recrutingblogs.com
3. Acted like he knew Bill Gates.
“My candidate had an outstanding IT resume and I was anxious to meet with him in person.
When we were meeting, he constantly looked at his watch. Finally, I asked him if he had another commitment and he responded that he was waiting for a phone call from "Bill". ‘You know who Bill is, right?’ he demanded. I told him that I did not who he was referring to.
‘Bill Gates, as in Microsoft!’, he shouted. At this time, I encouraged him to go and take his call from the owner of Microsoft and he replied that ‘Bill’ would leave him a message as he always does.
I determined that he was trying to impress me, but he was really starting to scare me, and it backfired. He became very irate at the end of our meeting when he could see I wasn't impressed nor was I buying his story. After he left, he threatened me when he called me from the parking lot. ‘I know where your office is and you're going to be sorry!’ Sorry that I met him...yes. Sorry that I didn't hire him, NO!!!” — Kate Purdy at recruitingblogs.com
4. If you don't take off your helmet, you're set up for the worst job interview ever.
“Mine would have to be the guy that came in wearing a motorcycle helmet. Instead of taking it off, he just flipped the visor up during the interview.” — Ryan Tweedy at recruitingblogs.com
5. Eating and interviewing? She can multi-task.
“Not a recruiter but I am a restaurant manager. We were opening a new location and doing interviews. Woman comes in for a management position. During the interview, she reaches into her purse and pulls out a bag from Wendy's and starts eating. The other manager tells her to put it away and she tells him it is okay, she can multi-task.” — Mynameisinuse at reddit.com
6. Applied for a promotion, got fired.
“I once sat in on an interviewer's debrief for a large organisation where you need professional skills. They were open to recruiting internally for a new position at a higher level, so a few people already in the organisation at a slightly lower level applied and were interviewed that day.
One candidate performed so poorly in the interview and demonstrated such a severe lack of skill, not only did she not get the new position, they decided to have a private meeting about whether or not to fire her from the job she already had.
That was in my view, a really terrible interview.” — Waitingforadragon at reddit.com
7. Brought her meth-head boyfriend.
“I've had people bring their dogs with them to the interview, people faint, and someone leave a chair soaked with menstrual blood after their interview.
But my worst was last week - a woman brought her meth head boyfriend who made her leave early and proceeded to beat her outside our windows. We had to call the police.” — HR_bot at reddit.com
8. The Not-Sure-How-To-Call-This.
“I work in a financial institution: I had a person say that they cannot work more that 4 hours a day and only Monday, Wednesday and Friday. She did not want to interfere with her Welfare Benefits. She also asked what we do if there is cash missing at the end of a shift.” — mjmurphy984 at reddit.com
9. He was too serious about his naps.
"I had a recent college grad interview for a job. Asked if we had a nap room. Said his doctor required him to take an hour nap a day. If he got hired he will provide the appropriate medical records but requires a nap room.
He also asked if when he got hired if he would be one of the bosses of the developers who interviewed him. I asked why and he said he felt off about the developer and said he would let him go. He then asked where his office would be located and whether they would compensate him with stock options or ownership.
Finally he ended the bad interview saying he had an 3pm appointment and it was nice talking to me. I asked him to leave. He was applying for an entry level support analyst position." — mgoode87 at reddit.com
10. She gave her previous boss herpes.
"I once interviewed a woman who kept flirting with me, touching me, telling me how she was willing to anything for this job, 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.'" — kibara at studypool.com
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- Editor in Chief
Martin Poduska is a resume expert and career advice writer at Kickresume. He leads Kickresume’s team of writers and is the main person responsible for upholding the standards of expertise and quality on the blog. In addition to having written nearly 100 in-depth, painstakingly researched resume advice articles, as chief editor he has also edited and revised every single article on this blog. Tens of thousands of job seekers read Martin’s resume advice every month. Martin holds a degree in English from the University of St Andrews and a degree in Comparative Literature from the University of Amsterdam.
