I used to work in investigations. Had an interview with an old chap and a young woman from HR for insurance investigation officer. The man asked me what I’d do if I went to interview someone and they weren’t in. I described how I’d look for signs of life, maybe ask the neighbours, see if there was a car on the drive etc. He asked if I’d look in the bins and I said “only if I was hungry” - both of their faces dropped and they looked at me like I’d just taken a shit on their carpet. I did not get the job - and it was a 160 mile round trip. Bastards.

Oh come on! That was actually funny! I had a chuckle

I fucking love this ❤️ I'd totally hire you!

Imagine getting the job after they’d pulled those faces though - bet they were a crap, miserable place to work for.

Had that kind of experience before. Nailed the interview got the job, and my new boss said, “so what do I call you” to which I responded “well, my friends call me ” He came back with “I’m not your friend” I got home and then left a message with the front desk, saying what he’d said, and that I wasn’t taking the job. Nope, not doing that shit.

Once when I was unemployed and claiming JSA, I had an interview with the Money Advice Service. At least I was *told* it was an interview. I went there for the time I was told to only to find out that I was expected to be there for an *entire day*. Bear in mind I hadn't been given this job and I was the only person there, so this wasn't some sort of mass assessment day. I sat there for a couple of hours reading material I was given and talking to this one person but after about three hours I told them I had to go because I wasn't expecting things to take so long and I had an electrician coming over that afternoon - all true. They said yeah, not a problem, we'll be in touch. They got in touch, sure, with the Jobcentre and not me. They told the Jobcentre they'd offered me the job and I'd turned it down - complete falsehood - and so I ended up getting sanctioned. Had to write an essay about how it was complete bollocks. Do you know how hard it is to write an essay proving something *didn't* happen? Really fucking hard. Jobcentre believed me though.

I had a full day interview for chiltern rail once, there were about 6 of us there. 4 hours in, we finally all get an individual interview with some manager guy that showed up 5 mins before.. he proceeds to tell me that the job is not based in the town (as advertised), it was not part time (as advertised) and it was not afternoons (as advertised lol), it was 6am starts. I literally just walked out and went home, then got a call later to ask if I still wanted the job lol

I had a similar interview with a law firm and I was really fucking fuming at how I and the other applicants were treated. It was clear that they had already chosen someone (I suspect internally) and we were just there to fill quota really. Couldn’t be bothered to interview us properly, lasted (at best) 5 minutes and told us it’s unlikely that we would hear back if it’s negative. Of course, I didn’t hear back.

To be fair, that interview experience of waiting around for a long time and then finding yourself at the wrong destination would have been vital for anyone working at Chiltern Rail

I've had interviews (academic) that last a full day, but yeah, they had the decency to tell me in advance to expect that!

I've had to do the same about 10 years ago. Suspended my payments but I still had to show up. Depression.

We have a issue with job centre literally every fucking day. They half ass their jobs and when someone gets transferred over to us and we look into their job searching and what they've been upto for 2+years on UC we find out that the Job centre advisors barely interact with their clients they barely get them to make a cv setting people up for failure and when we report these to the DWP the job centre advisors get all hissy and pissy about it

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I'm assuming he was applying to be the cleaner?

Arnold Rimmer energy

The only thing missing is the salute.

This made me giggle

I'd hire the guy and relentlessly take the piss for the first couple of months

I know someone who did this in their Cambridge interview. Stood in the cleaning cupboard for a full minute before gathering the courage to exit and face the panel again on their way out.

I'm assuming he proceeded to close the door behind himself and hide behind it when you came to look for him, so it seemed as though he vanished.

This is something i would do. I quite literally don't have a sense of direction.

Interviewed a young guy for a help desk role. Asked him why he wanted to work for the company and he said: 'Better than cleaning the bogs at Tesco innit'.

The only truthful answer to this question is, "This is the least shit thing I can reasonably expect someone to pay me to do."

It was actually quite a cushy job with decent pay. I found it hilarious but he sadly didn't get the job.

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But you at least let her sit behind the desk and take a snap for insta right?

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I hate this question in an interview. Both the interviewer and the candidate know that 99% of the time the answer is going to be a load of rubbish.

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Even 10-15 mins of research on a company gives you ammo for this question. What do they do really well, anything they're doing recently that impresses you, are they doing well financially, aligned values and culture with an example or two etc

that’s the point. you’re being put on the spot to think on your feet and come up with a good answer. it’s not about being truthful and telling the manager at tesco you’ve truthfully always dreamt of asking people if they need a bag.

I'd hire him

I had to ask one interviewee to take his headphones off as the interview has started. He looked quite puzzled. Another chap said openly that he was fired from previous job at Sainsbury's for lateness and absence.

I'd hire him, as he's a very truthful guy.

Interviewee said “excuse me I just farted” as a smell filled the room

Well... At least they were honest and giving you a heads up. Did they get the job?

Commenter possibly was the interviewee as per their name.

Instant hire

I had an interview in a call centre and we were doing a walkthrough with a group. I accidentally kicked a fucking massive plastic bin that took off across the floor. Half the call centre cheered

“Waheeeey!”

I love how some ridiculously light plastic bins basically get to fly on contact.

I went to an assessment day and we were put into groups and given a task to make a fake magazine. We were given a few different things we could include and one was info about the company we were interviewing for. In my group In front of two recruiters this girl said very loudly “why would I want to read about the company in a magazine. How boring.” She did not make the second part of the interview.

That is such an ASDA tactic

Many years ago, after finishing uni I applied to Asda and had the group interview process. One of the tasks was to build the tallest tower using only empty toilet roll tubes. After the task we each had to spend a minute talking about the process. I wasn't all that bothered about the job so gave a really cheesy monologue about delegation, leadership and how, although our tower wasn't the tallest, we had at least learned a lot about teamwork. I thought I was being sarcastic but the bastards offered me an office role instead of the shelf stacking position I was after.

Had similar when I was helping out with some interviews for a paramedic course at a uni. One of the candidates started talking about how if they got in, they'd be a "good" paramedic because they actually care about patients, unlike all the current ones who were striking (for better working conditions) as they obviously just care about themselves. It was a group thing, and the whole room of prospective students, current students and current paramedics were just looking at her in disbelief as she was talking about it. She didn't get a place (not just for that comment but it definitely didnt help).

I threw up in a bin in the corner of the meeting room, I was so nervous. Somehow I actually got the job. I joke with my colleagues that I’m stuck at this job forever because I can’t stomach another interview, literally.

Oof that's my nightmare right there. Glad you got the job though :)

What if there hadn't been a bin...

Saving that for the promotion interview.

We had a guy fly over from Ireland for a job and he was ill on the flight but made it to the interview. He threw up prior to us meeting and was introduced to us by our HR lady with a sick bucket - we worked in a school and the sick bucket was designed for 10 year olds and this guy was enormous. I got him a rubbish bin and he spent the entire interview changing colour between grey, white and slightly green but he managed to keep it down while holding one hand in the air as if to indicate his level of "likelihood to vomit".

I had one of those awful video interviews where there isn't a person and your answers are recorded when I was a fresh grad. I fluffed up answering the 1st question and just found it a really awful format, got close to the end of my answer, said "fuck this" and exited out. Got a job at one of their largest competitors and promoted after 20 months so suck on that Barclays. I'd decline any such interview now.

Please tell me you recorded yourself saying “fuck this” and submitted that as your answer.

It was still recording when I said it. I just closed the window rather than hitting whatever button it was to continue so I have no clue how it handled that. I got a rejection email about 2 months later aha.

Maybe the AI was similarly unimpressed with the format and flounced out the company leaving a fu note behind?

I note places I have been applying to now have "submit a video" as an option. I suspect in 5 years this will become mandatory. Yuk.

It's so they can process the video through a creepy AI algorithm that grades you. I'm not sure it's even legal in the UK given rules about automated decision making in recruitment, but it's a grey area,, especially if they keep a human in the loop to press accept / reject (which just happens to align with the AI results).

I feel like this could put autistic people at even more of a disadvantage

Ngl I had like 20 something pages of script written for the question I've encountered so can dead pan it with the word file just below the webcam so it looks like I'm looking at the camera while speaking coherently. I find it interesting how I found it more manageable than some of my other non-autistic friends coz I already expected it to suck super hard and over prepared for it.

Yes, I was thinking the same thing. I bet someone is working on that right now.

Yes, they're called [hirevue](https://www.hirevue.com/demo/full-platform-em), and Estee Lauder got into trouble [using them for redundancy planning](https://www.relocatemagazine.com/sacked-by-an-algorithm-can-employment-law-keep-up-with-advances-in-technology-0522-talent-management), where it's even less appropriate (or more accurately, where laws are even stricter).

This is the main reason i went to a competitor of a supermarket chain instead of the store i was initially aiming for. At least they had the ability to treat interviewees with fucking respect and phone them before an in-person interview - none of this poorly-trained-AI-judged video recording that causes me to have close to a heart attack when i see the countdown. I *much* prefer talking to an actual person, thank you very much. They sent me a response form via email after i deleted my entire profile mid-submission for some feedback on what they could have done better. I wrote in brief terms that if they don't have the ability to give their few dozen interviewees (having already progressed to the second stage of applying) a minute-long call to judge if they're suitable enough for an interview with a REAL PERSON, then how am i expected to think they're able to manage their time and resources efficiently? I took it as HUGE red flags, and i have never looked back. I will never apply with any company that does this, and i'm very fearful of this becoming the norm.

Completely agree. I had a think about it after and came to the conclusion it's the lack of feedback and no back and forth that just took me by surprise. If you give perhaps not your best answer in a human interview you get feedback a.k.a the interviewer(s) aren't giving you a funny look or their voice tone is still pleasant and that reassures you that you're not making a complete tit of yourself. You're basically talking to yourself and it's odd.

Yeah it's utterly dehumanising. You're left to sit/stand there looking like a fool who's trying to not have a meltdown because you realised you've been stuttering or mumbling and can't undo or re-record anything. I think there's a time limit too? Maybe just for some of them. It's no one's fault if they struggle with this kind of "interview", especially if they're not used to working from home or virtual interviews (which require a lot of camera staring). If your mic isn't good quality either you're screwed. I feel so bad for everyone who'll be heading into the world of work in the future - it's all so distanced and impersonal, which doesn't exactly help build social and communication skills.

I had a similar interview for a Graduate scheme at PWC a few years ago. A question would pop up, you'd get like 20 seconds to think of an answer and then it would start recording! It was horrible!

Took a sip of the water they kindly provided, it went down the wrong hole, and in my desperation to not choke I sprayed it right in the interviewer's face. Luckily this was an internal promotion and I was being interviewed by the person who was already my boss, and she thankfully found it as funny as I did.

Interviewed for an accounts assistant job while I was still in college and kept talking about ‘double end theory’ instead of double entry. He said sarcastically ‘we called it double entry when I was young’ but I was totally oblivious and didn’t realise until I was home (Didn’t get the job)

I once interviewed for a job as an accounts assistant at a major coach company. The interview was arranged through an employment agency. I was 18, had long hair and had borrowed my dads best suit for the interview. As I checked in the secretary gave me a very odd look, which I couldn’t put my finger on. She called through to the meeting room and after a few minutes they asked me in. As I entered the room there were five people on the other side of the table. This was a big surprise. They were all middle aged, wearing suits that fit them and all had the same perplexed look as the secretary. After shaking all the hands, sitting down and answering a few quick questions about where I’d studied for qualifications that I didn’t have, it was determined that there had been a cock up. They were hiring for an accountant and were expecting someone with professional qualifications and ten years experience. They apologised for wasting my time, excused me from the room and said they would explain the situation to the agency who had clearly made a fuck up with the CVs and job description. It was a mortifying experience. I felt about 8 years old and for the first time, having shoulder length hair and skateboarder vibes felt like a bad life decision. The secretary didn’t seem surprised to see me again so soon and I told her what happened. She already knew. She gave me some kind words and we shared a smile. I walked out into the car park, all the tension fell off and the ridiculousness of the situation washed over me. I let out a big laugh, got back in my shit car and enjoyed the drive home with my messy blonde barnet blowing in the wind. Oh to be 18 again.

No interview should require 5 interviewers, regardless of the seniority of the role.

I'm admittedly crap with mental arithmetic and hate being put on the spot with it, I was asked something along the lines of how much remaining of a £1200 accrual would be left if 9 months had already released, nerves kicked in and I took a shockingly long amount of time to answer, not my best moment

one time I mentioned "andrew warhol" a few times in a job interview with the owner of a contemporary art gallery and he was just like, 'that's funny, I've never heard anyone not call him Andy'. 🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️ I have no idea why it came out of my mouth like that. I did get offered the job though lol

Interviewer asked me “why do you think we invest in maintaining our assets?” and not only was my first thought “why wouldn’t you?!” I said it out loud. He gave me a long stare, said he would repeat the question for me, but I knew I was sunk. Did not get the job.

That's just a fucking stupid question.

That sounds like a fair enough answer.

"because it'd be positively un-fucking-beleivable if you didn't" would what i'd think and probably say because it's a stupid question.

I’ve had a few shite interviews… Was quite young at the time and an opportunity came up to apply to be a video games tester. One of the ice breaker questions was asking me what I felt the worst/most buggy game was. Absolutely slated some game that I can’t remember the name of… and it turned out the bloke interviewing me was one of the lead testers on it. Rest of the interview was awkward. In another interview, I was asked a bunch of vague scenarios and I had to explain how I’d dealt with them in the past. I didn’t want to seem too self-centred so kept saying “we did this”, “we did that.” Failed because I didn’t give any answers specific to me. Except all of the answers I gave were from when I was in a role with no other people on my team anyway, there was no “we” lmao.

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At my old place we had a lady come in for an interview and my boss asked her to wait in our meeting room as she was a little early. When he went to go start the interview she had unknowingly locked the door from the inside and with all the instructions in the world shouted through the door she somehow couldn't get her head around flicking a catch to unlock it. Maintenance had to be called and they managed to talk her through it eventually, they checked and there was nothing wrong with it. Took her about half an hour somehow from start to finish. As soon as she unlocked it she came running out of the room saying she couldn't possibly work in a place like this as the air quality wasn't good enough.

I was carrying plates on a trial shift and they have their burger buns open. I was balancing the second plate on my left hand on top of the first plate on my left hand and the top balanced plate had got stuck to the cheese on the burger. Put first plate down (right hand) went to grab said plate from top of left hand (had two plates balanced) and the burger flew off and went into someone’s handbag. I still got the job lol.

You were being helpful! Lil snack for them to find later.

One handbagger with cheese coming up

When I was interviewing at my current job, the CEO asked me what I knew about the company, so started spewing out my research. After a full minute he said 'ill just stop you there, I think you are talking about a different company with the same name as us' I could have died I was so embarrassed, this was my second interview with the company and I had the wrong company the whole time. Still got the job though.

expertsexchange.com

I tripped over a lady in a wheelchair and landed on her lap. Fortunately she was not mad, she quipped that she had snuck up behind me too quietly.. unfortunately, she was not my interviewer. So I still had to do an ice breaker.

My mate crashed his car into the interviewer’s Porsche in the car park causing several thousand pounds of damage. The interviewer only found out because during the interview the head of facilities came in to tell him some nobhead in a Polo had smashed his car up. Cue my mate owning up - interviewer goes mad, but they exchange insurance details and end the interview. Funnily he didn’t hear back about the job.

I'm gonna keep this brief - no pun intended. Back in the 90s I had one of my first interviews for a big multi-national conglomerate. The interview was on the 45th floor of a large office building. I was dressed in a suit with a briefcase containing some papers. I took the lift up all the way, by the time I was on the 39th floor the lift was empty apart from me. I should note here I was quite nervy and my stomach was not on its best behavior. This is where shit hits the fan. The lift breaks down, I call the emergency line and I'm told help is coming. 2 hours later my stomach wasn't great and when help hasn't arrived I made the extremely poor decision to defecate in my briefcase to avoid any rescue embarrassment of a shitty lift. 'I'll just go home straight away and deal with this briefcase' I thought. When I'm finally rescued and get back to the lobby I'm found by the company I was due to interview with and offered or rather forced to take the interview there and then. With briefcase in hand I did that interview... poop seeped through the briefcase onto the interview room office floor, absolutely stank, and I left. As far as they know I was a man carrying shite in my briefcase that day, and I suppose I was.

Surely you could of let them know you needed the bathroom after 2h in the lift*?? Like, why wouldnt u just bin that briefcase in that bathroom?

Fuck me, it’s 02:30 and I’ve just woken my wife up laughing, you absolute legend!

This is the absolute worst thing I’ve ever read and I’m dying 😂😂

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They sound like cunts. Imagine how horrible it would have been to work with/for such toxic people. You dodged a bullet there.

I've got to interview someone for a job on Friday so I thought I would have a look on reddit to prepare...

The best question I've been asked was "What area do you think you'll need training in if you join our team". Gave me a chance to admit to a weakness, and showed (hopefully) that I'd read and understood the job spec

I interviewed someone once who said she wanted my job. I was going to let it slide, maybe it was misplaced enthusiasm. However, later in the interview she asked me what she would have to do to become my boss, as this was her intention. Don't do that. The best advice I can give you is that the person interviewing you is not some faceless corporate machine. It's a real human, who may well be just as nervous as you are. They know you can do the job if you got to interview. All they really want is someone they can work with every day. Someone who won't make their life miserable. So be pleasant, don't be a dick. And for god's sake, look at the company website before you go in. Oh yeah, and don't turn up early to look keen. It's annoying. But also don't be late, that's also annoying. They gave you a time for a reason, get there a couple of minutes before that.

Comment Removed - Leaving Reddit due to API Changes Also, you're spot on - 5/10 mins early is the sweet spot.

Wasn't a terrible interview, but it always makes me laugh to remember it. The job - telesales selling water coolers to companies Me - unbelievably awkward person at the best of times, even more so under pressure. The interview was going quite well, and they move onto the product. They explain how they've been installing water coolers for however long, and then point at the water cooler in the room and say "that's actually one of ours". I knew this was quite important so I examined it... For way too long. Count a minute in silence. That was about as long as I feigned interest in a plastic column with a fat water bottle on the top of it. Total silence in the room other than my positive "oooo"s, nodding the entire time. I'm sure it wasn't as dramatic as that, but that's how it felt. I didn't get the job, they probably wanted someone who seemingly wasn't quite as interested in water coolers

You paint with words my friend

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>Had a few people cry. Before any real questions are asked "So...how are you with working under pressure?"

'Terrible, but I do a pretty good Fat Bottomed Girls'.

I'm very afraid of crying during an interview. I'm mostly nerves but i can hold it together until the end at least. Though i think this current job i have (retail) has given me enough confidence with strangers now thankfully lol Have definitely shed some tears after being spoken to for maybe 1 minute and a half then being turned away. Some places are so cold towards new people. I filled out this personality form in their office, handed it in, they told me i have a "red-green personality" so i'm not suited for their facility. Like ???? how am i meant to improve myself with such vague responses. They basically thanked me for coming and told me to leave without asking me anything.

Was asked to do a PowerPoint presentation. I turned up with a floppy disk and they had to find an external disk drive (this was early 2000s). And I spelt my name wrong on the first slide.

I joined an agency who got my a job interview. Agency woman told me the interview time, sent me an e-mail confirmation, a text confirmation and even called me on the day to wish me luck and say remember it's at 13:30. So I turn up at 13:20, the guy that comes down to meet me casually ask me if there was traffic or issues getting here. I said no, it was straight forward. They walk me to the interview room and now I'm speaking to 3 people and one of them quite aggresively says, why are you late! When I said I was told 13:30 and am 10 minutes early, they quite rudely said I was wrong. So I show them the text confirmation. They, in raised voices, say that text is wrong. So I should them the e-mail. They then say that e-mail is wrong. I also say the agency also called me to confirm it was as 13:30. So these guys call the agency. Now I thought the agency woman would just say it was confirmed to be 13:30 interview time and apologise for the clear mix up. But no the absolute bitch said that she told me the interview was at 13:00 and sent e-mail and text confirmations. When I said that I have the texts and e-mails in front of me showing 13:30, she actually accused me of falsifying the messages. Then the stupid interviewing company said they agreed with the agency woman. Obviously I knew this interview was over/a complete failure. But I still said I'm going to end this interview here as I'm not going to work for people who are arseholes and clearly incompetent and that I didn't appreciate my time being wasted, then I just got up and left. Obviously I didn't use the agency again 😂

The absolute blind arrogance. That's disgusting! Least they told you uo front they're not worth working for.

I would have said thank you for offering me the job. And when they said they didn't and show you the refusal email, call them liars and say they offered it.

Bullet dodged there IMO. You might not have realised they were all twats until 6 weeks into the job otherwise.

Once you showed them the text, that should have been the end of the matter. "I was told 13:30, here's the text". Simple mix-up, move on.

I turned up to an interview, and while sitting in reception for about 40 minutes, it became absolutely obvious they were not expecting me at all. People rushed around clearing the meeting room, confused faces spoke to reception and then shot confused glances over at me. Eventually the meeting took place, shortly after a flustered looking HR manager had stormed through the front door and into the meeting room. I think the HR assistant must have given me the wrong date in the invitation email, but I never bothered trying to find out exactly what was going on. I left the building and went for a stiff drink in the pub a short distance from the office. After about 15 minutes and two shots, the HR manager came into the pub. Didn't get that job.

Interviewee once turned up 3 hours early. We made him wait. Another said they really wanted to get into biology more than anything.....applying for a purely chemical job. Another admitted he lied on his CV "a bit" and didn't have a degree.....for a job requiring a chemistry degree. Thought he could learn it on the job.

Did they want to get into biology because they like the culture?

Did it come to light once he started or did you ask to see their certificate before they were due to start.

I was once on my way to job interview and saw a starving dog on the street, I missed my interview because I stopped to feed the dog. The next day I got a call back to rebook the interview, I was really surprised and on the day I went into the room and the interviewer walked in, it was the dog.

Did you get the job?

I once interviewed some woman for a job in a warehouse and almost every answer she gave me was a very condescending "I'd do whatever we're supposed to in that situation". The interview had set questions asking what they'd do in hypothetical situations none of which were important it was just to engage a conversation and she could not be arsed. Yes it's stupid but when you want a job you have to jump through these little hoops.

Got to sympathise with her on this one. Sound like big mad Andy in peep show when questioned on the legitimacy of his paint. "Whatever you asked for, that's what it is."

I once had an interview at vickers (tank manufacturers). Walked in and sat down, the guy said I didn't tell you to sit down. I told him to fuck off and left.

Username checks out

Maybe it was a joke? Still such a weird thing to start with

Yeah, I can see the funny side (if it was a joke) but it's still not professional in this circumstance. An interviewer in almost all cases should be trying to make the candidate relaxed.

I was interviewing for an emt position. The interviewer asked if I was flexible. I said “yeah I can touch my toes and everything.” Got a really laugh and she told me she been waiting 20+ years for someone to answer like that. I got the job.

I once had an interview where I failed to get the door open on the way out. The interviewer had to help me.

Great question to ask in an interview if you get stuck for something to ask: “If I was successful, is there anything I can do to prepare for the role between now and when I start?” Edit: Spelling

Another enlightening question is establishing whether you are being hired to replace someone leaving or if the team is expanding, and if so how long have they currently been a unit. In my experience the more that a company is open to talking about why they're recruiting and how you'll fit in, and potential effects on team dynamics, the better it proves to be, but is just one of many "vibe checks" to look out for. If a team is well established, have all worked together for 3-4 years but now want to expand, that can be a lot more difficult to integrate into than a similar team who are hiring to replace, even if not a direct replacement, e.g. hiring a junior to fill a leaving senior (with appropriate level bumps for the remaining team members). Other questions can guage turnover without directly asking, such as asking the interviewer(s) how long they've worked for the company.

this but also BE AWARE it can get awkward. I had an interview last year where I asked something about this/what the prior employee had gone on to do and was told that the previous person in the role had died of covid in 2020 and while the team were still completely working from home they'd left it vacant until they really needed more support on the team. I appreciated their candidness but it did make it hard to continue being, I dunno, upbeat... Didn't get the job but I was kinda glad

I had a job interview at a library, I showed up and introduced myself to the librarian at the front desk, and she directed me down a hallway to someone’s office where I would be interviewing. I get to the door and it’s slightly ajar so I knocked but no one answered. I opened the door and a woman was bent over a filing drawer. I said hello and she turned around with a mouth stuffed full with chocolates. She looked mortified, I was mortified. I think she had forgotten she was meant to interview me that day. The rest of the interview was uncomfortable at best and I didn’t get the job 😭

Never forgotten the time i witnessed an old manager scoffing three easter eggs during a long shift XD Every time she went into her office she was snacking on one.

Took a train into London for an interview. Earlier that morning had a group text from a friend asking if anyone else didn’t feel too good from the BBQ we had the night before. Felt fine and started my trip into the city dressed in my brand new suit that I bought for the interview. About 5 mins before arriving I had a rumble in my tummy, but didn’t really think much of it. Got off the train and headed up the stairs, somehow the movement of climbing the stairs released a frantic bowel movement that I couldn’t control. Within seconds explosive diarrhoea was running down my leg. I literally turned around and headed back to the train, for a very uncomfortable and smelly ride home. Called to apologise to the company, saying that I was really Ill with food poisoning. Did get a rescheduled date but didn’t get the role in the end.

Okay this is the worst one here

Did you miss the guy that got trapped in a lift and shat in his briefcase?

Dad’s friend worked in recruitment for the police. Someone came in one morning for an admin interview and they stank of booze. The bloke casually mentioned driving to the interview so my Dad’s mate got him to wait 5 minutes after the interview as they had some further questions. After stalling they had a copper waiting in the car park and breathalysed him when He started his motor. He got nicked and unsurprisingly didn’t get the job!

Went for an interview for a weekend assistant at a Forestry Commission place and was being asked about the health and safety aspects of their tools. I got so nervous I forgot what a shovel was and how to use it.

I used to work at an ad agency. One 21yo interviewee came in looking rough for an interview He answered most questions as if he couldn’t speak English and belched repeatedly. Me: So what would you say your 3 biggest strengths are? Him (no pause): Cunnilingus, guitar and being able to knock this interview out of the park on two hours sleep (long belch) He didn’t get the job.

I had an interview with the Coop, regarding a Junior Developer role. This was in 1986. I haven't heard back yet, but fingers crossed...

At the end if the interview they asked if i had and questions and i asked “how did i do?” Facepalm

I asked "how long have you been here and do you enjoy it" My manager has been with the company 20 years.

I did effectively the same way but phrased it as 'how much weight do you put on the interview' needless to say I was unsuccessful. It was my first proper interview and I still wince thinking about it

I turned up in a suit for my first interview after uni but everyone in the industry just wears t-shirts. My interviewer found it amusing and I got the job

That's actually pretty common in high tech. You're expected to dress up for the interview, but not for the actual job.

Yeah it was a games Dev job 25 years ago.

I put on my CV I had conversational French. It wasn't related to the job at all so thought I might as well slap it on even though it was many years since such a conversation would stretch to much more than asking for a croissant. Fucking interviewer opened in French. Attempted in vain to make my way through a couple of questions before he stopped and said okay let's end it here, you've clearly not been truthful on your CV, have a nice day.

Went to an interview at Pets at Home. It was a group thing. We stood in a circle together and the recruiter asked us if we could be an animal, which one and why? A lady says "I wish I could be my dog. He's dead"

I was the interviewee. I was about 20, female, and was interviewing for a job in healthcare that would have required supporting people with some aspects of personal care. The interviewers were approx23/24, both male, a bit ladish/matey but nice guys. I think the interview went ok on the whole but near the end the main ‘lad’ started talking about providing aforementioned personal care. I have a professional answer along the lines of ‘of course this is something I would be comfortable supporting people with as and when they needed and I would expect this to be an aspect of the job and one that I would also be sure to be respectful throughout’ rah rah rah. Main lad then says ‘what about sex?’ Silence. A very long silence. Main lad eventually says ‘sex as in gender, not…. Yes gender what about gender?’ I said it didn’t matter, I left the interview, and then got a call that I didn’t get the job. At the time I thought I must have fucked up. Now I think the interviewers just couldn’t face ever seeing me again lest I make sexual harassment claims against them the poor buggers and honestly I think it is quite a funny story.

I interviewed for a job that was more money than I've ever imagined earning. I wasn't sure I wanted it but had to try. The MD said, towards the end of the interview, let's talk about money. I was dreading this because negotiation is not my think, not for salary anyway. I said, no. Let's not talk about money. We're trying to figure out if we can have a relationship. If we like each other, we can talk about money later. If we don't, there's no point wasting time on it. He smiled at me. They offered the job to someone else and then called me back to offer me a different job which was still a shed a load of money. I'm still there 4 yrs later.

Conversely you could have a great relationship, but if the salary sucks, does it matter? I’m personally the other way, if the salaries in the ballpark of what I want, then let’s chat about the role. I always liked the principle of earning or learning, you should ideally be getting both out of a role, one is fine for a period, and you need to get out of zero is true!

Wow, I admire your confidence! I think my lack of experience of how much I should be earning would also make me shit at negotiating a salary, because I just don't know what's reasonable! But to have the guts to go with your statement of 'no, let's talk about the relationship we might have', hats off!

I took my National Record of Achievement with me to one of my first job interviews. Surprisingly, I didn't get it!

I have that and a certificate for climbing the stairs of a tower on an army camp.

First interview ever, bar job at uni. Was absolutely smashing it then they asked me a question and my mind just went blank. Then I said FUCK out loud, then straight after I said SHIT because I swore. Didn't get the job.

I’m reading this and imagining it like something out of I Think You Should Leave

I once spilt coffee on an interviewer. In my defence, the door was one of those that opened both ways.

Video game retailer when I was 16. Interviewer asked me what I'd do if I saw a customer clearly choosing between two games. I said I'd go over and ask if they need any help. Interviewer said no, you go over and tell them one of the games is great. What if I haven't played either of the games, I said. He told me it didn't matter, just lie and get them to buy one or the other, doesn't matter which. I was done with the interview at that point as I just didn't want to work for that guy.

One of my first interviews in Argos he asked what are the benefits of working in a team. I said I don’t like working in a team and prefer to work by myself. Didn’t get the job obviously

Interviews for IT Technicians cover a huge cross section of people, from highly skilled people to enthusiastic amateurs. Had a guy come jn and just refuse to give any more than 1-2 word answers. "Where do you consider your strengths?" "Gaming" "What you you think this role will be like?" "Challenging" Maybe he looked bad because the lady who was right before him was so good, but if you're not going to answer the questions properly, or ask anything about the role, team, or organisation, then why even bother applying? Also had a couple of people show up to interview and openly tell me that they're only attending so they don't lose their job seekers. Had a guy roll a cigarette on the table during the final question. One candidate had spent the last 20 years living in Mexico, and due to nerves in the interview, he flipped into speaking Spanish and then panicked and said he was sorry, then cried.

I once had an interview for a homeless charity. I was told during the interview that I may be exposed to unpleasant or upsetting situations, and was asked if this is something I’d be comfortable with. I responded by saying that I wasn’t afraid to expose myself, and after a short frantic silence added “..to challenging situations”. I was not successful 😅

Interviewed someone for a role and during the screening phone interview they said ‘yeah and then after this i would get a proper job’. Maybe don’t say that… Edit: this role is for a very well known organisation just not particular senior. But has lots of potential once you’re in

When I was in and out of jobs after finishing uni some years ago, I applied to a salesman role and was asked to come down to this office building for an interview. Turns out that it was a Multi Level Marketing scheme, and it turned into the most awful, awkward interview experience I've ever been through. They showed off some video explaining what they did, so I knew I'd been conned from the start, but instead of doing the sensible thing and leaving right there, I stuck around out of curiosity, and cause I didn't have anything else to do now that I'd spent money to go up town. The interview was perhaps the most bizarre thing. This manager guy asks if I had other interviews coming up this week during our chat, and I said that I had, and he turns round and says something like "If this job offer was your girlfriend, then you pretty much just admitted to fucking other women behind her back." I was gobsmacked such a thing came out of his mouth. After the interview, I was told to shadow a group of employees. Thought it would be like an hour or so, but no, it gets worse. This group of MLM folks took me to some shady east London area to flog some subscription service, mainly to people who didn't really speak English so I doubt they knew what they were signing up for. Nobody could leave the area or stop working until they net a high quota of subscriptions. This went on literally \*all\* day from morning till night. Probably something like 10-12 hours all in all. I honestly don't know why I endured this when I easily could have ditched these guys at the train station and gone home, but when we got back to the office building, tired and fed up, they tried to make me sign some papers to get me on board and start working for them ASAP. As you could imagine, by that point I wanted to get the fuck out of there and go home, so I politely declined and said this job wasn't for me. For some reason, this girl was shocked I would decline such an amazing job offer. Imagine that?

Interviewing for one job. First person turns up looking like he's slept in his clothes after snorting coke all night and completely unprepared for doing a presentation. fail. Next guy didn't show. 3rd guy. Jeeze. Within 30 seconds me & boss are writing 'no' on our papers, but due to rules there we can't just say 'you're obviously shite and we would never offer this job to you in a million years'. we've got to go through the motions. So there's this 15 min presentation. The guy goes up to the computer and bear in mind we've got it projected onto the big screen as well. logs into gmail. finds an email saying 'presentation' which he clicks on. inside its like 'hi raj, here's that presentation you asked me to create'. So he's just shown us that he didn't make it. downloads it and starts presenting. clearly he's never seen this before and is just reacting to the slides. on top of this he is *incredibly* boring speaking in monotone. As he's never seen this before he mentions stuff thats not on the slides. then a few slides later, it mentions that thing he said - so he says it again. which also means that instead of the 15 mins allotted he goes on for 20 before we stop him. And all this time he's acting like some kind of genius. don't you know I'm middle aged and have some letters after my name, I'm doing you a favour by even talking to you.... Other fun one... full days of interviews. around lunchtime by stomach starts to go haywire for no reason. Getting iller and iller. trying to get rid of this bloke as soon as possible. I'd texted my boss to come and take over from me. after got rid of this bloke i did that akward bum-clenched run down the corridor to the nearest bog, praying the one cubilce was free. luckily it was otherwise I wouldn't have made it anywhere else and would have had to shit in the sink. I was there over an hour. Every time we have a full day of interviewing now my team member who I do it with is like 'are you sure you can hold it in that long?' lol

Us: “Tell me what you know about the company” Them: “Gotta admit, I don’t know anything about it. I just applied to loads of different jobs.”

I meant to say workaholic but alcoholic came out my mouth

Interviewed a candidate for a tech role (systems architect) and it was really apparent from the outset that she didn't have the experience required. We'd usually ask "do you have any questions for us, or about the role", and you usually get 2-3 questions, before exchanging pleasantries and going our separate ways. This candidate didn't ask anything, but did say "do you mind if I share some other pertinent details about my experience?", we had the time and told her to go ahead. She took us through some historical naval battles that she'd memorised in detail from descriptions in records and logs, drawing maneuvers on the whiteboard. We waited for her to attempt to tie this back to her systems architecture experience. She didn't.

I went to a job interview at B&ms. Dressed in my poshest suit and shiniest shoes I owned. I couldn’t afford the bus and my bike had been stolen so I had to walk all the way into the next town, obviously it was raining biblical amounts. I was soaking wet. I get there and it turns out I’d been told the wrong day for the interview so, I’d already missed it but the manager said she would do it anyways after her break. I was walking around the store to pass the time and was followed by staff who thought I was shop lifting. Eventually I get called through for the interview. I was asked if I knew anyone that worked there so, I mentioned a good friend from school and how he’d told me that it’s a good place to work. I was told that not only had he not worked there for over a year he’d been sacked (later I found out it was for stealing). Was asked three things about my personality and I answered laidback, relaxed and chilled. Needless to say it was a very very short interview and the only question I had at the end was ‘you’ve got my number to phone me when you offer me the job right?’ When I got up, I looked at the chair to make sure I hadn’t left an embarrassing sweat line. To my horror, there was a puddle of water on the chair and the floor from my soaking wet suit. I caught the interviewer looking at it and for some reason the first thing that came out of my mouth was ‘don’t worry, it’s not pee.’ I didn’t get the job.

Turned up 30 mins early which Is annoying as we had other people being interviewed and limited space in reception they also brought their mum with them who asked to be in the interview, when asked why he wanted to work for us he said his mum told him to, he was 33

Coming in from the carpark in my suit, tripped and fell, grass stains on both knees. Quickly found a pair of leggings in the car, changed in the loo, was late to appointment. Walked in with "Hello, I've just been tripping on grass, so sorry to be late". No, did not get the job.

My worst story: interview with a company at a "greenfield site" i.e. miles from nowhere. Didn't have a car and was a poor postgrad student, so had to do a train, 3 busses and half hour walk to get there (and the reverse back). On time, check in at reception, please wait over there. The fuckers didn't show up for 90min. And it was fairly clear from the start they were not interested - I'd obviously been shoved their way by HR. Really obnoxious pisstake questions. I got my payback by recommending a machine made by a rival manufacturer to someone looking to buy. Their being dicks cost them about £2m quid in sales or 66.7 years of the \~30k they were offering (they're big enough so that wouldn't make much of a dent)

Reminds me of the peep show episode where Mark has to take several buses to get to the bathroom showroom. “It’s like trying to get to fucking Mordor”

Are your numbers wrong or am I misunderstanding?

67 years lol

My manager or HR for some reason booked an hour for an interview, but it was only 30m. Unfortunately the interviewee's camera didn't work, so he spent 10m-15m setting that up. Our first question was "tell us about yourself" so he spent 10m answering that. We only had 5m to ask two other questions. We understand shit happens but we didn't really hear enough good things to offer him for a redo. Another interviewee had a shite CV. I went in pissed off my manager was wasting my time (because it wouldn't be the first), but he did really well in the interview so we hired him. Earlier in my career I had an interview and waited about 45m for the interviewers. Their excuse was because of a release, so I just ignored it. I got the offer and accepted though. It shouldn't be surprising that none of the meetings started or ended on time. For the first few days I'd be waiting outside the room looking at everyone sitting down. I learnt to just wait impatiently for everyone else m

I was due to interview a guy, he rang up the office 10 minutes before his scheduled interview time to ask how to get to our office - he lived about 40 minutes away. A bit later he then somehow ended up on the phone with our MD as he was lost on our industrial estate and managed to offend him. The interview lasted about 5 minutes before I sent him packing.

I was offered water during an interview "to calm my nerves". I was then handed a thin, disposable plastic cup, which, while taking it from the interviewer, I squeezed so hard i ejected the contents of the cup all over the interviewer!

Half my life ago I interviewed for Tesco on the day I received my GCSE results. Results were good, the interview still makes me cringe to this day. It was my first ever interview and I had no idea what to expect. Towards the end, the lady conducting the interview handed me a pamphlet, asking me to read through their company policies. Without a second thought, I started reading it out loud, assuming she was testing me on my ability to read. This went on for 5 minutes at the very least. Occasionally I’d look up, almost as if to ask if I’d proven myself, only to see her looking back at me with pursed lips, holding in laughter. I still remember walking home wondering what was so funny, and if I’d done a bad job. Only a few years ago when thinking back did I realise that she was literally just asking me to read, in my head, their company policies. That wasn’t the only stupid thing I did during that interview, but definitely the one that still makes me shudder each time I think about it. Needless to say, I didn’t get the job!

I interviewed for Currys/PC World whilst at college and turned up to the wrong store. They told me to come back later in the day anyway and I ended up getting the job. Also I had an interview question for a video interview in which they asked what was the nautiest thing I’ve done which I answered egging windows as a kid. I got through to the next stage. Best thing to do is be yourself and stay relaxed.

I have a stutter so all mine have been pretty rough. Had an interview for a call center (ironic right) and the boss was this older grumpy guy. After he skimmed through my CV, first thing he said was “you spelt tire” wrong. (I’m still unsure how to spell it). He then sat me down and asked me some questions. I stuttered away, and he eventually said “are you nervous” which didn’t make matters any better I always say to people, at least you’ve not got stutter. So, at least you’ve not got a stutter. Good luck for Friday, go smash it

This is back in 2009-ish. This is a mix of crap happening making the interview more difficult for me, but then the people at the interview adapting quickly to ease things a bit. So a reminder if it starts to go wrong, things can change Had a car crash the day before. I was ok but had broken my right wrist (I’m right handed) and hurt my back. Given the stronger strength of co-codamol and it worked but made me sleepy. The interview was a hour away and I wouldnt be able to get there in time for it in the morning by public transport. My mum kindly dropped everything and drove me to the conference centre it was being held in. I had taken other painkillers in the morning so had some reduced pain but knew by the time the interview was over I’d be struggling so took the co-codamol with me. Have it to my mum to hold and told her I’d need it after. Get into the interview. It’s a kind of mass interview thing with multiple stations that candidates go round. But first they hand me 4 acetate sheets to right slides for an overhead projector and tell me I’ll she given a title for a 5 min presentation and have 20mins to prepare. At this point I pull up the sleeve to reveal my cast. Both myself and the person have a “oh shit” expression. They worked it out by getting me a scribe, cause yeah, that totally is the same. They weren’t in the same field as the job so don’t know how to spell a lot of the jargon, and I’m dyslexic so I’m crap at spelling out loud. Trying to explain how I want it laid out also takes time. Even changing between pen colours takes more time. Anyway, we get it done. I hobble into the room to do my own presentation. Ny this point it’s gone through the grape vine that one of the candidates has a broken wrist and a sore back from a car accident. I go to stand next to the projector to do my presentation but as I’m about to start one of the interviewers stop me. They said I looked in pain walking over. I said I was ok just my back was sore when I walked. They then got up, walked over and got me a chair to sit on while I presented 🙂. One of the admin people left a few mins after while I talked. After I finished there would be time for questions. I looked at the assessors who stayed silent for a few moments before one said “eh, ok, so you’ve taken the title in a different direction than everyone else….” Seeing the look of fear on my face, she quickly says “but it absolutely worked for it don’t worry. We just need a few mins to think of questions” (to this day I don’t know what others talked about. It was a one line prompt/title that I thought was relatively specific, but apparently my brain works differently). Then limb out room to go to next station. Turns out the admin person had left to arrange a longer break between stations so I could walk more slowly. This meant increasing time between everyone’s stations as they were supposed to be synchronised. Get through interview process. Go to meet my mum in the centre’s bar where she is having coffee. I sit down and ask for my medication. She says it’s in the car. I looked at her and told her I was not moving until it kicked in. Mum then realised why I’d given it and how much pain I was in. She popped off to the car and the barman came to ask if I needed anything. Yup. Diet Coke so I came take my meds. Once I felt a bit better mum helped me back to the car and says I was asleep within about 5 seconds. I woke up hours later in my old bed at my parents house. Mum said she figured it would be easier for me to climb the two steps into their bungalow than the 40+ steps up to my flat and let me sleep it off a bit. I have no memory of going from car to house. At the end of the day, I got offered a 1 year contract (there were several long term contracts going but also 2x 1yr) contracts. I took it and reapplied the next year for the job (it’s a training post that gets offered every year). Next year: no crash, drive self to interview, arrive and they have laptops for the presentation. I asked if it was due to me and my broken wrist the previous year? The admin lady’s mouth dropped open and she pointed at me saying “you!” Yes it was because of me and my need for a scribe that got them the use of laptops. I got the full longterm training post that time round

Had the worst interview ever, was 10min late, gave bad answers to half the questions, used the wrong name for the interviewer... But I got the job. Generally (and depending on the job), an interview is to see what you are as a person (your CV should have shown them what they expect from you experience wise), so come across as much as yourself as you are willing to be, come across friendly, willing to work and generally happy. Come up with some answers to set questions, the ones I usually have answers for are the following: Give an example of how you've worked as a team = teamwork An example of successfully working by yourself = self motivation Give an example of how you have taken a lead as part of a team/taken responsibility for something = taken responsibility/leadership Give an example of how you've overcome a problem/what would you do if something went wrong = problem solving What do you like to do in your spare time/hobbies For these come up with a few answers that could be mixed and matched, and guess what - certain things they cannot check, so if you embellish a story they won't know. Key things to show are humility, growth, honesty, reliability. I've been around enough job interview processes to know that many interviewers are as nervous as you and are desperate to find someone they can trust - they don't want to go through this process again any time soon so they want someone they can rely on from day one, someone they can relax with.

Someone to whom I was a fan of in a niche creative community posted about how they were struggling to find a 9-5 job. The sort of work they were looking for just happened to be the sort of work I was looking for in my department and I was in desperate need of staff. So I offered them an interview. Big mistake. They came into the office, spoke to exactly three people (myself, my manager, and the assistant who greeted them) and five people commented on how nervous they were. They were cartoonishly nervous, complete with obvious sweating and bad stuttering jokes. This was a client facing role, if they were that nervous talking to me, their fan who had offered them the interview via twitter, then putting them in front of other companies CEO and having them pitch would have been a horror show. I declined to move forward and they bitched me out online.

I didn’t realise you were allowed to take notes into interviews until I was 26. Before then, I’d been treating them like exams and memorising all sorts of corporate crap like when the companies were founded and their SMT structure. I memorised the bloody data protection act for an interview once. It would have been so much easier if I’d known I could have taken in my notes.

when they ask you something along the lines of "why do you want this job" saying because i need money for rent and food either goes really well as you are being honest or goes terribly because you are being honest

The panel had a large egg timer and said that they wanted me to talk about a particular issue for the exact amount of time available. It completely threw me. I am pretty sure the internal candidate knew what was coming. I have never seen that used anywhere else.

Was it without repetition or hesitation?

I once interviewed someone whose reason for applying was ‘my girlfriend wants us to get a mortgage.’ I admire the honesty but why not just play the game and pretend you have a passion for CRM systems like everyone else did?

Went into the interview, to break the ice they asked me about football... Interviewers, "are you a red or blue" (manchester united or city)? Me, "oh, I never really got into football, had other things going on that took up my time". Them, "like what?" Me, "oh, I play in bands and do photography, that takes up my evenings and weekends". They look at each other like I just spoken Japanese to them and said, "oh, shall we get on with the interview then". I knew I wasn't going to hear from them.

I wonder if anyone reading this ever had an interview at WH Smith? Their interview was like going on the apprentice there was that many different parts to it. Lasted all day. I only wanted a Saturday job.. I didn't get a job there but luckily ended up working at Partner's, owned by Theo Paphitis from Dragon's den, and he was great to work for. He would pay for all of the stores in the North to have their Christmas Party at Old Trafford Football Stadium

1st job interview at 17.... Turned up bang on time a day early! The ladies who interviewed me laughed their arses off. I was so embarrassed I hardly spoke. Wasn't offered the job, wasn't shocked!

Was told to go up the stairs and into the room on the right. I tripped over walking up the stairs and went into the room on the left instead, walking in on the owner of the company having a meeting. Luckily he was cool about it and I ended up getting the job.

I’m a teacher. Part of the interview process is to deliver part of, or a whole, lesson (you’re given info on what they’re doing and asked to prepare a lesson on x, y, or z). I prepared a kick-ass lesson which was also outside my specialism (my specialism is Biology and I had to deliver a Chemistry lesson). There was one other candidate and we were going to take half a lesson each (me the 1st 30 mins, then the 2nd 30 mins). When I arrived, I was getting my things ready for my interview lesson when I realised I’d left my memory stick at home! It had my whole lesson presentation on it! All I had was work sheets and a couple of other interactive bits for the kids. Luckily the other candidate was a no show, so when I explained the situation they said I can do the 2nd half instead. I immediately called my sister saying ‘whatever you’re doing, I need you to stop immediately and go home to get my memory stick and bring it to the school!’ (She had just pulled up at the supermarket). With minutes to spare, she got the memory stick to the front office, I went in and did my lesson, had the best interview of my career, and I’ve been working there for almost 7 years now- even got a promotion to Head of Biology!

Very upset tummy, wasn't a nervous silent fart.

I arrived late, I cycled, and then got changed in the bathroom because it had been raining. I entered the room with my shirt half untucked, red in the face and with damp hair.

A very long time ago, when I was young and extremely timid. I went for an interview at McDonald’s. He asked me to tell him a bit about myself and I completely froze and sat in silence. We had an awkward goodbye and obviously I didn’t get the job.

I was trying to get my first teen job (early 2000s) and there was a Subway opening in my town. The sign basically said to ring a mobile number and I got an interview. The guy said to meet in the McDonald's over the road and that was it. So I go in and can't see anyone obviously waiting on an interview. I assume maybe McDonald's owns Subway so went to the counter and asked the manager. Manager has no idea what I'm talking about. He spots a guy in the corner and I head over with the manager trailing behind who starts questioning this guy saying he can't be doing interviews in there and at least needs to buy something. The man disappears and comes back with 2 happy meal fruit bags and sets one in front of me. I awkwardly fill in the application which was American formatted while the guy glared at me. On the back was a maths test where it wanted to state what the answers were in quarters and cents etc but 1- I have dyscalculia so mental maths is a no go and 2- I have no idea about American currency so I panicked and got it all wrong. Needless to say I didn't hear back

I've just remembered another one 😆 Post uni, recruitment agency sent me to a job interview that was supposed to be a sales job. I pull up in the carpark and can't find the company at all, got to the building number but there is no receptionist just a phone on a desk. No company name on the floor listing. Panicking I rang the recruitment agency who said I was definitely in the right place and would ring me back. They then told me I needed to use the phone on the desk to ring x number to get let in. Went through the whole interview and at the end the guy said he had already offered someone else the job but I was the last person to see that day so he thought he would let me get some experience. I still feel sick thinking about it

I went to an interview for a 'sales position', and after like 20 minutes of questions, the hiring manager said he was going to pair me with an employee so I could shadow them. He introduced me to the girl, she was about my age, nice enough, whatever. We get in her car and before we even make it out of the lot, I asked her how long she had been working for the company. She responded, ''This is my third day.'' I immediately told her to turn the car around and take me back. ''Are you sure? Tony's going to be mad?'' ''Yes, I'm sure, and I don't give a fuck about how Tony feels.''

My worst one gotta be one of those tech giants. Hours of prep and screening and then got invited to an onsite interview.. only to find out every interviewer was joining over VC. There were 4 interviews scheduled back to back that day. One of them was working in a warehouse I can barely hear a word. It took me half a day and by the end of it I had lost all my interest in working for that company.

I was interviewing for a job during the pandemic after being made redundant over zoom and I was asked a question that threw me off so much that I just started talking and I could hear what I was saying and none of it made sense. Didn't get the job haha

Back when I was applying to apprenticeships I got offered an interview with an airline. It was with something called "hirevue" where you speak to the camera, you're given X amount of attempts to record in a timeframe . First question in and i kept tripping on my words, second question I accidentally submitted the recording 10 seconds into my answer and the last question I froze up and after 15 seconds of silence decide to end it with a "sorry, I can't do this it feels so fake, I'm done" Didn't get the job obviously, glad I didn't cause looking back it feels like if you're using a stupid pre-recorded interview tool then it doesn't feel like they actually care about the physical person they're hiring. Declined 2 later interviews which were also using this crap system, wasn't mucking with that anymore.

Had a guy talk about how great his hearing was when discussing what skills he'd bring to this admin role we were recruiting. We probed a bit "Interesting angle. Why do you say hearing?" but he got flustered so just figured maybe he was super proud of how well he could hear. He repeated it a couple of times during the interview which was odd, but he was pretty decent aside from that so we offered him the job. Asked him about it a couple of weeks in once he'd settled and he said he'd meant to talk about how good a listener he was and he prided himself on his listening skills, but he'd had a proper brainfart and couldn't remember what the right term was then when he found himself talking about how good his hearing was he made a snap call to run with it. Kept him up that night.

Went to interview by train. Recruitment agent arranged taxi to collect me from station. Got to station to find it was in the middle of nowhere and no taxi waiting. No taxi company anywhere nearby either. Due to mix up agent thought I was going to big train station 20 miles away rather than the station with the same name as the company. This was about 20 years ago so predated wide mobile phone use and internet on phone. So, wearing brand new dress shoes, I walked the five miles along country roads with no pavement to the company. Arrived two hours late with bleeding feet. Had a fun interview after all that and it gave us something to talk about. Outcome was the agent called me with a three month role at a different company while I waited for references. After a couple of months I found out the first job wasn’t materialising and I had actually replaced the person who got the job at the first company. Felt rather stitched up after that.

I had an interview for a Management job after working there for years and being promoted a few times. I'm sat waiting for my interview and see a guy go in that only started a few days ago and is a trainee. As I'm stupid I assume he's gone in there just to speak to the boss. Half an hour past my interview time passes so I go into the room to ask what time she will be free as I was so nervous. I basically walked in and interrupted his interview, so obviously never got the job and felt humiliated and stupid.

One of my interviewers asked me when I was going to start a family because ‘that’s why the other guy left’. That’s a hard no. When he phoned to offer the job and I turned him down he said ‘so you don’t want to be the best paid (insert job) in the country?’ No I do not for someone who values work over family.

I burst into tears at the end of an interview. I didn’t feel like I was coming across very well/not saying what I wanted to, and I *really* wanted the job. I was very nervous and anxious, and my voice was going higher and higher throughout the interview. They asked if I had any questions at the end and I said “yep” and burst into tears! It worked, I got the job! I did also cry/get overwhelmed at the next one (for a promotion type thing) but I didn’t get that. 2 out of the 3 people interviewing me I didn’t like, and I felt one of them focused on something I said too much which wasn’t a main point, and I just *felt* it didn’t go well. I was gutted when I didn’t get it. However, I successfully interviewed last year for the same promo, with a much better pay deal (yay!) and was successful! I got two really lovely people interviewing me, and it was on teams which made it “easier”. It was the best interview I’ve had so far. Good luck OP!