Interviews are a vital part of the hiring process.
Not only do they give you a chance to learn what the office environment is like, it gives the office time to get to know if you're a good fit. That's a huge part of a hiring managers job.
One Reddit user asked:
Hiring managers of Reddit, what are some red flags you've gotten during an interview/on a resume?
So I've bombed some interviews, but I have never ever in my life pulled any of this. The dog licking guy ... just ... what?!
Lick Every Last Drop Of Sweat
dog licking GIF by Badass BK
Giphy
We interviewed a guy once for an engineering position. We Asked the typical, " what do you like to do in your free time?" He said he really enjoyed taking his dog with him on a long run to decompress (so far so good)
—then he went into excruciating detail of how his dog likes to lick every last drop of sweat off his body as he undresses for the shower. It was cringey!
We figured if he didn't have the innate judgement to keep that Info to himself in an interview, that he likely wouldn't exercise good judgment with our customers.
Snatching Defeat From The Jaws Of Victory
I was hiring for a field technician position and brought three equally qualified candidates in for interviews. They all had sufficient experience with other contractors so all I really cared about was how they presented themselves and how they spoke to someone in a position of authority.
First two candidates were excellent. I figured it was going to be a super tough choice between the two of them at least. Then the third candidate completely blows away the other two in how he presents himself. He's clearly very gifted and is super ambitious and I'm about ten seconds away from telling him he'll receive and offer before the end of the week.
He starts telling me he's excited for this opportunity because he feels his current employer is going under because of some poor business decisions over the last year. Signing contracts that they can't complete and things like that.
I ask an open ended question like "how would you do it better?" And this fella tells me something to the effect of:
"Well, I don't know much about business but one time I was working on interac (credit card) machines and found a way to add my personal bank account information to the machine. So I did that to help boost my personal income because I figured it wouldn't be easy to trace. But don't worry I cleared it all up with the cops and had to pay all the money back. Oh and that's what the company should have done - find a way to generate passive income until something more profitable came along."
I was floored. I just stared at him. I couldn't even respond. He just confessed to a felony and flat out told me he believed companies should do the same thing.
He asked me straight up how that story would affect his chances. I told him I had other candidates that probably fit the role a little better but would keep him in consideration for future opportunities.
- anonymat
School Days
Had a guy come in wearing his HS wrestling medals. I don't recall exactly how old he was, but minimum age for the job was 21 so he was at least that.
I did similar. Had an interview for a mobile phone shop and brought in my rowing trophies from university. I was 22 and still cringe at that.
My defense is I'd been applying for loads of different jobs and not getting anywhere so thought I'd go more visual.
There is a local lawyer that has a commercial about how he was good at football so that's why he should be on your "team". How does being good at football translate to being a great legal mind? And no its not in Texas.
- fied1k
"I Hate The Truth"
I was interviewing a candidate for a technical position ( electronic design )
I handed them a dry erase marker and asked them to draw ( this particular easy circuit) on the white board and explain how it works.
The candidate stood in front of the white board looking uncomfortable and I heard them say under their breath "I hate the truth"
"Is It A Flesh Colored T-shirt?"
My boss had a zoom interview with a dude who didn't bother to put on a shirt. He didn't get the job.
It was for a job as a baker in Ontario. Apparently he looked like he just rolled out of bed. No shirt. My boss barely remembered his interview answers because she spent the whole time thinking "why isn't he wearing a shirt? is it a flesh coloured t-shirt. Nope."
Punching Proficiency
fight you chuck norris GIF by GritTV
Giphy
This one kid was very proud of the fact that he got so mad one time, he punched a couple windows on a bus and broke them. Somehow he thought this was a good story to tell us in the interview.
Maybe that's why I've struggled with getting interviews previously... I have failed to list my punching proficiency on my resume.
Yes, anger management and destruction of proper is exactly what we look for in an employee.
Having A Meeting About Not Hiring Them EVER
The building was key card access, so everyone else had to sign in with security. Because we work with special needs populations, certain things are simply not allowed in the building. All of this is explained when they get the interview.
Security asks me to come talk to this guy because he has a chain wallet, a key ring with a pill holder and a pepper spray bottle - all of which is banned. He is refusing to leave at security to come in for his interview. I tell him those are the rules.
Interview goes acceptably until I ask how he would handle a client offering him money or favors in return for privileges or contraband. He laughed and asked how cute they were.
The job he was applying for would have had him on a ward with teenagers. I literally had a meeting about how we were not hiring this person EVER later that day with others just in case he tried to interview again with another manager.
Wardrobe Change
Some years ago (my early 20s) when I was first promoted to a supervisory position, my manager was demonstrating interview techniques. He asked me to collect the lady coming in from reception so I could get a first impression.
She was smartly dressed in a trouser suit and carrying quite a large bag, I would guess age around 50. She asked who would be doing the interview so I gave the job title and she asked to clarify if it was male or female, so I confirmed it was male. This was when it got weird.
She asked to use the bathroom on the way to the interview meeting room, so I showed her where it was and waited outside for her.
10 minutes later (and now late for the interview)she came out, total change of outfit. Now it was mini skirt, very low top, high heels and hair down. We carried on to the meeting room for the interview and I sat and watched my managers interview technique dissipate.
She was constantly crossing and uncrossing legs, leaning forwards and playing with her hair. The interview lasted 15 minutes and I ended up showing her out. She didn't get the job but it gave us a helluva laugh.
Media Matters
I was managing a sushi restaurant owned by an Asian family who are actually Chinese not Japanese, this will be an important fact in a moment.
We were hiring and a guy came in to hand in his resume. He had a full length leather jacket on and slicked back long black hair.
He handed me his resume and told me he was fluent in Japanese from watching anime. Safe to say, this was not an important skill at a restaurant owned by a Chinese family in a mainly white town. I did not call him for an interview.
- Rule34FF
We had someone claim to be bilingual in English and Spanish (a requirement for the position). When the Spanish speaking manager began asking questions, the applicant revealed she only knew what she had picked up from watching telenovelas.
That was just one portion of her highly entertaining interview. Another highlight was when she tried to hide her grocery bags in our lobby plants while she was waiting.
Trying To Hide My Expression
I wasn't the manager, but was part of the hiring process.
My boss would walk over with the interviewee, who was supposed to sit with me so I could show them about a half hour of "a day in the life". I was also the laid back part of the interview to see if they said something incredibly stupid.
This time, when I looked up, I very quickly had to hide my expression. It was someone that I had worked with previously, and had absolutely hated.
Not only would she have been a bad fit personality wise, but her work ethic was god awful. The interviewee automatically assumed she had it in the bag, and dropped her veneer of professionalism.
She sat back, leaned back in the chair, and told me that I didn't need to show her anything, she was sure she would get the hang of the job "sooner or later" and since I was there, I would absolutely get her in.
My boss came back to get her, and I walked into her boss' office and sat down. When my boss walked back in, she asked what the look on my face was for when she brought the interviewee over. She knew something was up, but couldn't tell what.
I explained what it was like working with her before (unprofessional, uncoachable, played by whatever rules she decided she wanted to follow), and then what she had done in this interview.
My boss and her boss then called the agency and said that they needed new candidates.
Want to "know" more? Never miss another big, odd, funny, or heartbreaking moment again. Sign up for the Knowable newsletter here.
But we should also be prepared and ready to ask the right questions to have a leg up on the competition.
"What is THE best question to ask on a job interview?"
A company's history or information about a past employee were suggested subjects appropriate for questioning.
Prior Knowledge
"When you were interviewing here, what would you have liked to know before you joined?"
"This worked for me. I asked my interviewer a question about how she had personally dealt with a company policy she had just explained. She bragged about her stellar adherence to the policy. I nodded my approval. I got the job."
A Previous Employee
"One that has always gone over well for me:"
"What were some qualities that the previous employee in this role brought to the job that you would like to see carried forward?"
"Another good thing to do is research the company you are interviewing with and you can ask things about what they may be involved in or you could drop that while reading about the company, you wondered this."
Hypothetical questions were suggested as helpful examples of inquiry.
Indicators Of How Companies Treat Employees
"A question that landed me a job once was: 'If I asked your direct reports about your management style, what do you think they'd tell me?' Stumped a hiring manager and he emailed me personally to tell me about it, no one ever asked him that question but got the job.
"In my current interviews I'm asking 'what did your company do for its employees during [the virus] to improve their day to day, work life balance, etc.' and I ask 'Is there anything your company adopted during [the virus] that they plan to keep post [the virus]?"
"These questions give a lot of insight into whether a company treated their employees well."
Past Performance & Adjustments
"If we were currently sitting in my 1 year review, what would I have done in this year for you to say I excelled in my role?"
"If I could snap my finger right now and change anything about your job or the company, what would it be and why?"
The following questions about a prospective company may not be answered from initial digging on their website.
Measure Of Success & Career Trajectories
"How is success measured in this role?"
"What are some possible career trajectories within the company that could stem from this position?"
Being A Solution
"Ask them what is the biggest problem you can solve for them in your first six months with the company. Similar to 'don't think of a purple hippo,' this forces them to imagine you succeeding in the position."
Simply The Best
"Who is your best employee and why is he/she the best?"
"You will then face 2 situations mostly:"
"panicking CEO who can't answer you 'Bob who works 17 hours a day for a slice of bread' so the fear in their faces must be a big nono for you"
"entusiast CEO who actually follow their business and can tell you who is an added value for the company and why."
– ThePiz91
My experiences with job interviews are different than others seeking work in office environments.
Having had a years-long career as a dancer, my "interview" was the dance audition, where hopefuls dance in small groups of people at a time after learning a routine and then awaiting their fate after the panel evaluates their performances.
The question I may or may not have asked in such a scenario earlier in my career was: "Did I make the cut?"
I did not make the cut. And I learned never to ask that again.
I remember the worst date I ever had. My biggest regret is that I stayed for the entire thing. I should've left as soon as I realized this was not going well, which was basically at hello. But he was paying so I drank, a lot. I'll keep names and dates to myself to protect the innocent.
0/10
Big Brother Reaction GIF by Big Brother After DarkGiphy"Went to brewery, date said I had hairy arms and that meant I was horny, said "you look really awful in this light" and then tried to dig out of that hole by saying in his native language that was a term of endearment long term couples said to each other. 0/10 did not date again."
Lucky 13?
"My wife wanted to plan our 13th wedding anniversary. I was excited because usually, I plan it. She bought us some new disc golf discs and after a quick supper, we went to play. We hadn't played in forever. We were laughing and I had a great time. She served me with divorce papers and told me that the date was a test to see if she still had feelings for me. I also learned that she was having an affair that started well before our anniversary."
- rmorlock
Two Hours from Home
"Not necessarily a date but a person I was dating invited me to his parent's house for the afternoon. He wanted to introduce me to them and show me the house he grew up in. I thought it was super sweet and had no problems going. He was also in the middle of moving and needed to pick up a few things, so it really didn't seem that unusual."
"Yeah, we got there and it was awful. His entire family was there. They traveled from hours away too. This was not just meeting the parents, it was meeting the ENTIRE family. Even worse? At some point, this idiot told his parents that he had proposed. We had been dating TWO months. I spent the entire afternoon dumbfounded and just playing along."
"We were two hours from home and I had no cell service, no way to leave at all. We ended up spending the afternoon brainstorming wedding ideas and planning an Alaskan honeymoon that his parents planned to gift us. His brother even called to say congratulations! We drove back to his apartment in silence. When we got there, I got in my car and left, didn't even bother grabbing my stuff. Weirdest experience ever. I have no idea how he broke it to his parents that we weren't getting married."
You're Cut Off!
"Got set up on a blind date once between mutual friends. She shows up to the restaurant already a little tipsy, orders multiple appetizers and only takes like one or two bites from each one. Then she proceeds to order 3 or 4 more drinks and is visibly drunk at this point. She gets up and says she's going to the bathroom and staggers off. About 15-20 minutes go by so I try to call her several times but no answer."
"Finally I decide to pay the check and just leave. About 2 hours later I'm sitting at home and I get a call from an unknown number. It's the police department. She was picked up on a DUI on her way home after she ditched me and gave the cops my number to see if I could go bail her out!"
- mox44ah
Sorry?
Bbc Three Idk GIF by BBCGiphy"Well, I gave this answer on a different topic, but it ties in with this. We were out on a date, we had been seeing each other for a while, close to a year maybe. She gets a phone call. Suddenly she looks destroyed. Her fiancé had just died in a motorcycle accident."
What in the world? I mean how can we ever expect to pair off with the dating pool being inundated with liars and nut jobs? I'm going to delete my apps.
Girl, Bye.
Sassy Beyonce GIFGiphy"Had a girl openly flirt with the bartender in front of me. She says she wasn't. But handing him her own phone and asking for his contact info in front of her date seems like it to me."
Crazy!
"Came out from a movie, late at night, and date's Camaro was stolen. Apparently, he called his WIFE (that I did not know he had) and let her know where he was and what happened. She showed up and realized he was on a date! She started chasing ME around the parking lot telling me she was going to kill me. Saved by the cops who showed up just in time to take the auto theft report."
Hey Mom
"Met a girl at a country bar one night in my 20s. We were both pretty drunk but hit it off pretty good. Ended up getting her number and we agreed we'd go on a real date. Fast forward to the date, she gets in my vehicle and... she looks almost identical to my mom. I was mortified. I was polite and we went for lunch where I found out she also had a boyfriend she "wasn't sure if she was into". Never talked to her again."
- SgtGo
Liars...
"When I was in college many years ago, before the advancement of cell phones and social media, I was chatting with a girl I met on a BBS who lived on Long Island, NY. I was 18 at the time, but lied and said I was 22 because she said she was 25. We spent a few weeks emailing each other, as well as calling each other."
"We even exchanged pics. When we finally met up, things blew up. Turns out we both lied about our ages: She was really 33, and lied because she thought she looked younger. She admitted she sent a college photo to me. We still had dinner together, but it was awkward as hell. We never spoke again."
Doubles
Kill Me Now Season 1 GIF by FriendsGiphy"It was a double date. She was more interested talking to the other girl throughout the whole thing. Found out later from the other guy that his girl cheated on him with my date."
Ummm... I think I'm just going to stay single. That is a handful of crazy. Why can't people just be honest? I swear the search for love warps people's brains. Be careful out there people.
Want to "know" more? Never miss another big, odd, funny, or heartbreaking moment again. Sign up for the Knowable newsletter here.