When I first started interviewing for jobs, I was under the impression that job interviews only go badly if the candidate is unprepared. I was wrong.
I walked into an interview for a staff writer position at a company. As part of the interview, they had me create written pitches for three blog ideas. In addition to pitches, I had to provide writing points.
I left feeling good about the interview and thought my blog pitches were top-notch. I was, at least, right about that part.
After I made several attempts to follow up, I noticed my exact blog pitches on the company’s website. They didn’t even bother to change the grammar. My writing points were fragments, but the company just copy and pasted them, word-for-word, using my pitch as a title.
Then they told me the position was filled. I felt used. I’m still not sure if there was a position available or if they just brought people in to lessen their workload.
According to Redditors, this type of thing happens a lot. Sometimes even worse things happen during an interview. It seems Redditors have gone through all kinds of horrible interview experiences, and are ready to share.
It all started when Redditor itsPatrii_ asked:
“What happened in your worst job interview?”
Different Position
“I applied for a particular position in a sporting goods store. It was for the hockey/skates section.”
“The manager posted the wrong position, it was supposed to be in a department I know nothing about. She got mad at me because it was apparently my fault that she messed up on the job ad. Like actual mad saying I was wasting her time and this and that.”
– David2022Wallace
“Had something similar. Internship at the governor's office while I was in college. I wanted to work with the judicial nomination committee, applied just for that. Get there, and that internship was actually already full, but she never notified me beforehand. She let me interview on the spot for something else, showed me the list of what was available, and I selected the constituent services office.”
“We start the interview and she asks me all these questions about the governor’s policy positions, which I’m not 100 percent familiar with. She scolds me for being unprepared, so I remind her curtly that this wasn’t even the internship I had applied for and that I WAS prepared to interview for the judicial committee, and that SHE didn’t warn me that it was already full until I got there, so how I could be prepared to interview for something else randomly? She mumbled something like, “oh yeah, right…”
“I got the internship. It was good, but citizens can be nuts.”
– v_rose23
The Phone Keeps Ringing
"Reading these, mine is pretty tame, but here it goes:
I had an interview for a sales position at a life insurance company. I show up and it's actually a group interview - huge red flag there. One person audibly says "f*ck this sh*t" and walks out 10 minutes in. I want to do the same but I'm polite so I stick it out and then leave at the end without saying anything.
2 days later they call back and ask me if I want to come in for an interview. I assume they mean a follow up interview, and I decline and say I wasn't interested. 2 days later they call me again for the same thing. Eventually I realize they aren't asking me back for a 2nd interview, they are so disorganized and their turnover is so high that they don't realize they are calling the same people over and over again. This goes on every couple of days for 2 weeks before the calls finally stop."
– Pizza__Pants
Age Is Just A Number
"I sat down, and these two women stared at me. Finally one of them said, "We thought you were younger." (I am in my 60s). After she said this, she got up and left."
"The other one (turns out she is the manager), was rude and cold, tossed a few questions at me, then got on her cell phone."
"I finally said, "Look if we're done here, (she was staring at her desk, ignoring me), I have another interview." I left."
"Later, I reported both of them to the district office. District manger said, "We've had many reports about her.""
"The manager got fired. I was offered another interview. Declined."
– Ill-Summer-5061
We Just Need Your Help
"It's was for a software engineering position. The entire interview was focused around solutioning for a very specific problem. Was about 45 mins of the interview team saying things like "That won't work, we tried that already.""
"Left the interview without getting a solution to the problem. On the way out, I spoke with HR about what the potential next steps in the interview process were. She informed me they already filled the position, but didn't cancel any of the scheduled interviews."
"I was brought in to solve problems the team couldn't solve. For free."
– SpaceGerbil
"I got flown out for a job in Minnesota. Interview seemed to be going very well. Was there all day and they asked me what I thought were a lot of hypothetical questions. At the end of the interview they asked me to do a case study for them as part of the interview process. I went back home to NY and did the case study the next day. Didn't hear anything from them for a week and decided to reach back out. The response I got from the recruiter was that they liked my solutions for the case study but they seemed too "extreme" for their problem. I responded that I thought this was a hypothetical scenario and if they actually had this problem. The recruiter told me it was in fact a real problem they were having and that they wanted outside ideas."
"So... there was never any job? The recruiter said that if any of the candidates ideas panned out they may consider offering them a position. I felt used. They misrepresented themselves and took my ideas free of charge with the allure of possibly getting a position within the company. Is it a grey area of fraud? Is it actual fraud? I don't know but I was pissed and wrote the recruiter, the hiring manager, the SVP of HR and the CEO of the company a pretty harsh letter about their behavior."
– dplans455
People Can Be So Rude!
"Fell down the stairs when I was being shown around the building. Ended up breaking both fibula, a few bones in each foot, tearing some ligaments and cracking my tailbone. This happened in September and I'm still in pain."
"After the fall, I sat at the bottom of the stairs crying for about 15 minutes and finally managed to pull myself up. The woman showing me around said "So does this mean you don't want the rest of the tour?""
– Spacey19802
"They just left you there for 15 minutes, crying in pain? Didn’t bother calling for help? What the hell? And how tone deaf is that person to even ask if didn’t want the rest of the tour. Jfc"
– TheBigBluePit
No One Works For Free
"We'd evaluate your performance for a month then you'll start getting payment from second month"
– enticingdystopia
"I'll start evaluating the salary for a month and then I'll come to work for the 2nd month if I like it."
– crazy-diam0nd
Awkward...
"Logged onto a scheduled zoom interview for a highly paid position. Someone was also logged in, waiting. I assumed this was my interviewer. Nope. They were also waiting to be interviewed. Okay…. So we’re competing for the position? Cool, I guess. 4 more people proceed to log on, waiting for their interview. Never done a group interview before but was ready. It was awkwardly silent between us all. About 15 minutes go by… no one is logged in to interview us. 30 minutes in, we all start conspiring that one of us is secretly the interviewer and conducting a social experiment. Nope, we all just got scammed. Logged off."
– Severe_Chipmunk_8954
"Group interviews usually mean MLM"
– HOA-President
The Audacity!
"My background: I’m an Iraq war Army Veteran. Shortly after returning home to civilian life, I had an interview. Interviewer made a comment after seeing Army on my resume that she hoped I understood that if an issue arises at work that I can’t just go war mode and shoot the place up. I was appalled someone would even say something that stupid to me. I literally just stood up and told her to interview someone else and left. Looking back I bet she didn’t think it was her audacious comment, but that I actually would have some crazy reaction and walked out."
– dtownalltheway84
"Should have gone into war mode."
– DogsAreOurFriends
Ouch!
"Not me, but a guy interviewing to join my team was so nervous he passed out, faceplanted on the table, and ended up with a nosebleed. We didn't hire him."
– LionNo3221
Yikes!
"A long, long time ago, fairly fresh out of college, pounding the pavement in Manhattan, looking for work, probably office work but doing anything. I was interviewing at a direct marketing company. “Now, you know what direct marketing is, right?”"
"“Yeah, I said. “That’s what’s called junk mail, right?”"
"He paused for a minute and said, “Well, that’s not what we call it.”"
"It was a short interview."
– DWright_5
Yikes!
"I got a nose bleed. Gushed all over the conference table and down my blouse. Ran to the bathroom and after the bleeding stopped they wanted to continue the interview. So there I was with blood stains all down my shirt and blood all over the table. 🤦🏼♀️"
– geewhizliz
Well, That Went Well
"Went in for an interview for a writing job. The guy started asking me if I would do sales stuff as well and I said I didn't really have any experience in sales. He told me to hold on a minute and left the room. I sat there for a while and realized he wasn't coming back so I got up and left. As I was leaving he was standing outside the door smoking. He said sorry you aren't hired."
– Puzzled-Shampoo5154
That's The Way To Make An Exit!
"She started to gossip about all the other employees, about 5 others. She told me a lot. I ended up taking the job and had to quit thee days later because she made the workplace miserable. As I left I told everyone the stuff she said about them and two others walked out with me. It was awesome."
– Rrath876
Take It Off!
“They asked me to take off my shirt to prove I didn't have gang tattoos, I walked out without saying another word.”
– Flashy_Adeptness8597
“Um yeah, asking someone to remove their clothes in an interview at all is crazy.”
– MsFrisi
“*Silently mouths the words: "I'm wearing a wire - the FBI wants to raid you" while vigorously pointing at my chest”
– apathyduck
I think I just lost all faith in humanity.
These Redditors cannot be alone. Do you have any crazy stories to share? Let us know in the comments below.
Jobs are hard, we all agree, but the one thing tougher than any job might be the interview that nailed it down. You might flub a sentence, show up nervous, or worse, unprepared, because you didn't a good sleep the night before because your cat discovered a new sound it can make at the back of its throat at 3 o'clock in the morning. No one loves going to interviews but for the interviewer it can be a completely different, and awful, view of the world.
Reddit user, u/SplungerPlunger, wanted to know about the best of the worst when they asked:
Interviewers of Reddit, what was the worst applicant you have ever interviewed?
Job hunting can be stressful and trying to fill a position can be equally as frustrating. So let's all work together shall we? When interviewing or applying for a job for the love of all that is holy, at least know your basics!
Make sure your contact info is on your resume. (I'm serious, it's a real issue) Don't oversell your abilities. Stick with your goals and your facts. The list is endless. You'd think resume building was never taught. Pay attention!
Redditor khlose wanted recruiters to help us out by asking... Recruiters of Reddit, what is the one instant turn-off that people still have on their resumes?