Most of the time, dress codes are there for a reason. Sure, there are the unfair instances of "no spaghetti straps at school" and "no jeans at the office". But at the same time, there are certain work environments that don't call for inappropriate wear. And when you go in for that first interview, you've got to leave a good impression.
u/Rusty-Unicorn asked:
Hirers of Reddit, what did a candidate wear to an interview that cost them the job?
Not off to a good start.
His beat headphones over his neck. I don't know if it counts though because there were many other reasons also including 3 f bombs to start the interview.
Ha I actually interviewed a girl about a year ago who didn't even take her earbuds out of her ears. She came in with a group of 3 or 4 friends. I sent her on her way after talking to her for about 45 seconds.
Wow.
Giphy
Once had a guy come to interview at the software company I worked at wearing a "Female Body Inspector" shirt... that ended quickly.
Trying to milk the unemployment for as long as possible?
Hire him for the costume department.
I was working for a concessionaire for a MLB team where we do a mass hiring event before the season starts. This man came into the waiting room in street clothes, asked to go to the restroom, and changed into a Halloween-style pimp suit. This included a hat and a cane.
Thanks for the mental image.
A T-shirt of Mickey mounting Minnie from behind. It was disturbing on so many levels, not the least of which was how well done it was. This was for a minimum wage position, but still.
Email addresses can make or break an interview.
Giphy
Not what they wore but their email address on their resume was a description of their breast size preference.
I had a guy use an email with a domain that was REALLY strange-sounding, so we went and looked it up. It was his own personal cult website about how he believes he's the next coming of Christ and that the world is ending really soon.
... we decided to pass.
That doesn't seem fair.
I used to be the physician lead for my group's NP program; as such, I was involved with the interviews/hirings. Our business manager refused to consider a qualified candidate because she wore baby-doll socks with her outfit. I never understood that one...
These Actors Seemed Miscast But Absolutely Nailed The Role | George Takei’s Oh Myyy
The Actors Who Seemed Miscast But Absolutely Nailed The RoleFew people bought into the idea of Bryan Cranston in the role of Walter White before Breaking Bad...An unexpected prodigy.
I sometimes do campus recruiting and interviews, but don't make final hiring decisions. With that said, at a campus event, my partner and I were going through a line of over 300 people. We scan their resume, ask a bunch of questions to get them in our system, and add some quick comments/suggestions.
Had a person wait in line for several hours. When she got to me, she had no resume, and still had on pajamas. Now I never try to judge a book by it's cover, but I have to get through a person in under 4 minutes on average, and have about 20 questions to ask to put info for HR into our system.
I was ready to power through this as fast as possible, to get to a candidate that was an actual potential hire. However, this girl was graduating with a 4.0 BS Computer Science...at the age of 17. She spoke 7 languages fluently (I could not verify this). She said she had started working on PHD research when she was 14, but didn't want to continue with school. I had to convince her to go make a resume, as I could not complete her in our system without it, and wanted to make sure she was visible to the right people.
Honestly I was surprised she even wanted to work at our fortune 500 company. It's a great start for most people, but I would think prodigies would have other options than a 70k salary in Texas. She did go make a resume...and waited in line again. I made sure HR found her profile, but I have no idea if she signed on with us.
Bad call.
Giphy
Not an interview, but...I worked for a video webcast company and we hired freelancers to operate our cameras sometimes when we were short staffed. The rule is that you wear all black so you blend into the background. Freelancer showed up in a tie dye sweatshirt and cargo shorts.
He ended up operating a camera right next to the head of the bioethics committee that reports directly to the President. Not only did we not ever hire him again, the client asked us to never bring him back.
A dress code for Furries, maybe.
Interviewing for our Food Service department within a well known hospital in St. Louis. Young girl, lower 20's, comes in wearing bright yellow uggs and a Davey Crockett hat. As if that wasn't enough she also had one of those tails. Not the butt plug type just attached to her pants.
Nothing like an ice-cold Sprite.
Probably very late to this party...
I used to do interviews for a retail store, due to the frequency of applicants we'd have group interviews. Anyway, this one time two dudes came to the interview, obviously friends and obviously stoned. The first kid was decently dressed (jeans and a t shirt) but, the second kid was dressed in Green Cookie Monster pajamas and an oversized T down to about his knees.
The worst part was one of them opened a can of sprite in the middle of the interview. They wound up going sip for sip sharing the 12oz can.
The Green Guy.
Giphy
He wore all green. Green rimmed glasses, green sweater, green shirt, green jeans, green socks and shoes. Even have a green bag with a button with his face on it labelled green guy.
What was his thought process?
I've interviewed a few job candidates, I've never come across anything objectionable. But I've heard stories.
In university I heard a story from someone giving a presentation about being prepared for job interviews. She said she once passed on a female candidate wearing a belt buckle that said "Shaved" on it.
I also recall going to a networking event in university with a bunch of students from the Ivey School of Business, most of us wore dress shirts or suits, and one guy showed up in jeans, a beater top, and a sideways ball cap. I don't know what that guy was thinking.
Gross.
I was interviewing for a teaching position at a local school. The principal was conducting the interview and eating lunch at the same time. He wore a towel (with a hole cut in the middle) over his head like a bib.
This towel/bib looked like it had seen 1000 lunches already and never been washed. He was literally interviewing me with a mouth full of mashed potatoes and wiping his face on the bib as he went. I never broke eye contact because I knew if I looked at that bib I was going to start giggling. Got the job!
Oh my God....
Giphy
I used to hire for a retailer that had been sued for a lack of diversity. As a result, the interview included the series of questions, "What is diversity and inclusion? Is this important in the work place? Why or why not?"
I had someone basically define segregation then tell me that it was important because not everyone gets along. The best part was that this was a group interview with young adults. The sheer horror on one of the guy's faces I will never forget. He had the look on his face that I was feeling. When I asked him, his response he emphatically said, "The exact opposite of what she said!"
Potty mouth.
Every single question was answered with some version of 'Well... like... you know ... " Or "F*** does that really happen here?" When asked why they wanted the position they said 'McDonald's fired me and you guys pay better, so what the F*** right?" Yeah... No.
Not all outfits are up to snuff. A little extra effort can go a long way.
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I once had a guy ask me if I was willing to follow him into the woods, depending on the price of the meal.
Yeah. No steak is worth that.
Plans After...
Wait What Wtf GIF by Saturday Night LiveGiphy"Thanks for the ride but I have a date with someone else, I figured you wouldn't drive me if you knew I was going on a date with someone else and I really needed a ride."
"Online dating, talked to her for a while, finally got the courage to ask her out and then she said that as we got there."
iareyours
Mirror Image
“'You look just like my wife!'”
catalinachild
"I did have a guy tell me I reminded him of his son. I don’t believe English has a word to adequately describe my feelings at that time."
UnicornMagicRainbow
"That would definitely do it."
chaotica78
Third Wheel
"'Hope you don't mind if my mother joins us.'"
ofsquire
"Actually had a girl do this on a first date because she had anxiety issues. Honestly wasn’t bad except that 90% of the time she was silent and her mom talked over her."
"I didn’t mind that much and wouldn’t have minded trying again when she was more comfortable except that she was let go at the company we worked at and she deleted her social media profiles and she never responded on her number. Ah well."
Seightx
Liar
Lying Simon Rex GIF by Simon Rex / Dirt NastyGiphy"'Hey bro aren't you gay? I made out with you last night.'"
"Random dude I've never seen before in front of my (f) date."
JHXC16
Was he lying though?
Filter Issues
"'You looked better on Tinder.'"
waqasnaseem07
"Isn’t it basic knowledge that everybody looks slightly worse than the worst picture you can find?"
no_user_ID_found
The Past
"'My ex used to do that too.'"
xxIvyOF
"Yep. I’ve definitely had two otherwise-decent-guy date-situations sour because the ex-comparisons just would not stop flowing. No woman wants to be seen as interchangeable—I’m not here to perfectly fill that ex-sized hole in your life. Focusing on the present moment and a future we could build together is a courtesy we need to grant each other in earliest dates of dating."
LarkScarlett
Powerless
"'I'm an alpha, you cant handle my top energy.'"
Midnightgay28
"I actually left a dude in the middle of dinner, in part, for saying this. I ordered an Uber under the table while pretending to listen to him. Went to the bathroom, and never came back. That was when I was young. Now I’d just say, 'How about we enjoy this meal in silence, before we head our separate ways.'”
UnicornMagicRainbow
Mommy...
"'Mother says I should be back by 9.'"
"Saying 'mother says' just feels weird."
bunnyrut
"That gives me Norman Bates vibes."
Werewolf_lover20
"'Mother says alligators are aggressive because they have an overabundance of teeth, but lack a toothbrush.'"
sodaextraiceplease
Obvs...
just kidding jk GIFGiphy"'If you were going to be murdered, what method would you prefer. Purely hypothetical. Obvs.'"
Specific_Tap7296
If it looks anything like a Dateline NBC episode... RUN!
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Or so you would think.
Do people still knit to pass the time? Are people actively collecting stamps?
It depends on who's asking.
Curious to hear about hobby trends, Redditor gizehgizeh asked:
"What are once popular hobbies that are slowly dying these days?"
Before we've become conditioned to living on our phones, these activities used to keep people occupied.
Before Texting, There Was This
"Letter writing."
– littlekingMT
Literal And Tangible Joy
"Well the internet killed pen pals for sure. I do remember I had a Japanese girl for a penpal maybe back in 2007 or so. I honestly don't remember how it started, pretty sure some website, but that was a fun experience. But now I can just straight up talk to foreign people real time, lol. But yea getting a physical letter that someone took the time to write and mail still is hard to beat feelings wise."
– skyburnsred
Model Trains
"When I was growing up, every town had a model train store in it. Now I have one in region and everything else has to be bought online."
– Hairy_Effective1172
Pretty Rocks
"Don’t see anyone playing marbles anymore, I had an awesome collection in school."
– sheeple85
"I had some marbles as a kid in the 90s. My grandma got them for me and I had no idea what I was supposed to do with them. I always imagined them as a thing kids in the 40s played with."
– Ryoukugan
People Were Moving Canvases
"Paintball has been dying a slow death since 2006. Sad, really."
– hobo_recycler
Before the general population began hating clutter, collecting was once a "thing."
Precious Coins
"Coin collecting... I'm a silver/gold nut and I'm always hunting for precious metal coins. whenever I go into a shop they get all excited because 'no one under 70 collects coins anymore.'"
– ThatFishySmell99
Post It
"Stamp collecting."
– spooky_scully_mulder
"Collecting in general, really. Of course there are still prominent collectors but it's slipped more into enthusiast and niche territory than being a popular hobby that you might expect anyone to have."
– iuytrefdgh436yujhe2
What A Gem
"Rockhounding was immensely popular back in the 1950's and 1960's. Personally, I think it's a fascinating and fulfilling hobby, but when I go to a meeting at a rock and gem club, I'm usually the youngest one in the room by several decades."
– filthy_lucre
People once enjoyed making things.
Admiring The View
"Stained glass. I learned how to make it from my old man, and my junior high art class teacher also taught it. Very few artisans are still around."
– brobeanzhitler
Metal Vocation
"Black smithing."
– kenworth117
"I bought a forge to try. It’s insanely hard work, and crazy expensive. I still haven’t finished a piece."
– DSentvalue
Scrapbooking
"Yeah. I'm watching the arts and crafts stores around me completely uninstalling their racks for specialty paper. Now the only thing they have is mega packs of repeating colors/images. To boot all the inclusions like papercraft/die-cut things, washi tape, scissors, stickers, etc have gotten so expensive I would rather go buy $5 bags at value village to get an assortment of things versus buying anything new. I really, really miss yard sales for the same reasons."
– Phantasmai
I envy people who have jobs that are basically their hobbies.
Not everyone gets paid doing what they actually enjoy and have a profound level of passion for.
If they do, kudos to them.
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While the process could take time, some people make our jobs much easier after spotting instant red flags.
Curious to hear about our general radar of people, Redditor xxFluffie asked:
"What is something that makes you immediately dislike someone?"
Some people just think they are absolutely hilarious and never realize they're the only ones laughing.
Next In Line
"They laugh about having screwed someone else over. If you think you're not next, well, you'll learn."
– whiznat
Unfunny
"when you mention you don't like a thing and they immediately do that thing 'as a joke.'"
– wayfinder
Playing Devil's Advocate
"Kneejerk contrarians. People who, no matter what you say you like or believe, just have to dismiss it and say they like or think the opposite."
– BubbhaJebus
People who put others down get slammed here.
Bad Parents
"When they treat their kids sh**ty in public. I don't mean handling tantrums, setting a rule, having to hurry to the train etc. I mean perfectly normal-behaved kids getting in trouble for trailing along peacefully, looking at things, asking questions etc."
"If you don't like tiny humans who learn the world, why have them??"
– raxeira-etterath
Public Humiliation
"Treating people sh**ty in public for laughs. Like being rude to service workers because they think it’s funny. Big red flag."
– Ok_Personality_1080
Simply Uncalled For
"Someone who is a d*ck to other people or animals for no reason."
– xebt1000
Those with ulterior motives rubs people the wrong way.
The Scheme
"If they try to get me to join their MLM scheme."
– spazmcgee1
Hard Sell
"A guy I used to be friends with in high school reached out a couple of years after graduating about a business opportunity he wanted my opinion on because 'you've always been smart', then he set up a Skype call and brought some other dude into the call and they started trying to sell me on what was clearly an MLM scheme. The guy went from friend to 'I'm never talking to you again' in a matter of 10 minutes."
– Mental-Afternoon-164
A Timeline
"Good gawd, this! I've had more than one exposure to this abject bullsh**tery..."
- Back in the late 80's/early 90's I was invited to a meeting of literally the OG "Pyramid" where you're recruited to pay in, and then you go out and recruit others to pay in, and the last in line got f'kall.
- In 1995 I had a coworker try to reel me into Amway, which was a hard no.
- In 2000 it was Pampered Chef, though to be fair they did have useful products.
- In 2009 a coworker tried to get me into some stupid video calling service that was obviously stupid from the description. He even got offended when I called bullsh*t.
– Mystical_Cat
Too much ego is a no-go.
I Can Do Better
"Being a b*tch just to stroke their own ego."
"We get it, you can lift 5lbs more than the 12 year old, you don't have to rub it in their face just because you're slightly better"
– Livia_Pivia
Can't Top This
"Oh, you did <story that's been told>? That's nothing! I did <implausible story>.
"I get the whole empathy through relating common experience, and I'm someone who does that (which drives some people crazy on its own), but there's a big different by empathising through common experience, and one-upmanship."
– Tisarwat
Lacking Conversational Etiquette
"Starting to talk over me when I was already talking."
"Stop it you rude, arrogant jerk."
– R33Gtst
If one or more of these traits sound familiar to you, you're not alone.
We don't have time for braggadocios, pyramid-schemers, and conversation interrupters.
And that's just for starters.
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Pleading to deaf ears...
"My dad told me he had hearing loss and couldn't hear me if I whined because my pitch would get too high."
"Would completely ignore me until I asked him questions in a normal voice."
"Trusted him implicitly until I was 12 and he yelled at my younger brother for whining."- Tyrion_Stark.
Get it while you can.
"That they took everything off the shelves when the supermarket closed."- fgyfddg.
venezuela empty shelves GIF by euronewsGiphySilly superstitions.
"My grandfather used to tell me that if I played with the fire, I'd pee the bed."
"I believed him for a while, until I got older."
"I think he was just trying to protect me from the fire."- teddypa1981.
"Rain, rain go away..."
"That if it was raining where I was, it was raining everywhere in the world."- morningshartz.
Age is just a number.
"My parents used to seem really old to me, so much so I believed they grew up like cave people as children, wearing giant leaves for clothes and what not."- Laleena_.
Hammer Floor GIF by VPROGiphySo that's how they're made!
"That smokestacks from the power plant created clouds."- Scaniarix.
An instant cure.
"The sun gives you sunburns, therefore, moonlight should heal them."- velocipeter.
Better safe than sorry.
"Don't drink and drive meant all drinks."
"My dad was super confused when I told him he wasn't allowed to have any soda until we got home."- hulagirlslovetoparty.
Don't believe everything you see on TV.
"There was an episode of Mickey Mouse where Mickey couldn’t reach something at first, so he tried again and somehow his arm was long enough to reach it."
"As a small kid I believed that if I couldn’t reach something, I should just try reaching for it again and my arm would then somehow be long enough to reach it."- That-Dutch-Person.
love him one piece GIFGiphyThe miracle of childbirth.
"That babies are pooped out."
"When I was like 7 I was listening to my aunt as she explained that childbirth was pretty intense and painful for her, and I was all solemnly like, 'yeah, sometimes just my poops are painful, I don’t think I could get a baby out' and she went 'um, WHAT?' and her reaction made me realize real quick that I had f*cked up somewhere and I tried to change the subject while my mind was just reeling lol."- thesoundingfurrows.
Oh to be a child again.
And to believe literally everything you're told.
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