Interview horror stories

[Anonymous]

Any awful interview stories to share?

[Anonymous]

I had an interview for an internship with a county commissioner in Ohio. His staffer asked me if I had a thick skin because he often made her cry when she first started but she learned to cope. I passed on that opportunity. One of my friends who interned with another commissioner ended up being primarily responsible for taking his elderly mother around town.

[Anonymous]

This isnt horrible but it was mortifying at the time. I was interviewing for my first job out of college and one of the first get-to-know-you sessions was over dinner, just me and the boss and his wife. I was so nervous I was guzzling water. No straw so I was drinking out of a glass with ice, and you know when you're taking that last sip and the ice suddenly comes off the bottom of the glass and whacks you in the face? Happened at least three times. I got soaked the last time - it even went up my nose. I finally just stopped drinking *duh*.

[Anonymous]

I remember interviewing for a position. As I was approaching the receptionist, a man cut in front of me. He gave her a piece of paper and said "These are the ones getting fired this week". It went down hill from there.

[Anonymous]

We were meeting with this candidate who had already been pre-screened by phone and approved to proceed to client interview (Fed contract).

Before talking with the client our procedure was to meet in person with project leads and address any of the candidate's questions. As soon as we all sat down in the PM's office, he pulled out a laptop and started typing. He was basically transcribing everything we told him about job responsibilities, the project and the organization, barely ever making eye contact and making sparse conversation. Needless to say, all 3 of us were not pleased with this behavior. However, to save face with the Feds, we gently asked him not to use the laptop in the upcoming conversation, so as to maximize human interaction. He was genuinely surprised by our request but complied.
The client rejected this candidate and their feedback was "qualified, but personality is not a good fit for our organization".

Looking back, I now think that the candidate maybe was a plant from a competitor, looking for information about our project... or simply an arrogant jerk.

[Anonymous]

Back in the first .com era, in 1999, I a senior developer. I had been thinking of looking for a new position. I interviewed for database company based in Tysons Corner....and all of the interviewers were 22 to 23.

The interviewers were taken aback that they would have to waist their time with someone over 30. One finally referred to me as "grandpa".

I did not get the job .

Oh yeah, and they got in big trouble with the SEC for an accounting scandal. Immaturity did not think the rules applied.

[Anonymous]

One interviewer once asked me what kind of name my last name was. I cut to the chase and told him it was Jewish. He looked perplexed and distracted.

A few minutes later he struggled to formulate a question. "Would your, um, Judaism, interfere in anyway with your duties? Would you need to leave or eat special food or have different things?"

I didn't even know how to begin to respond.

[Anonymous]

The interviewer forgot about our interview. He tried to blame me until his assistant showed him the email that proved I was right. At that point I had no interest in the job (seriously who would want to work for him) but since I was a new graduate I figured it was a good opportunity to brush up on my interviewing skills.

Well he was clearly mad about the confusion and decided to take it out on me. He grilled me with questions that had no relation to the job whatsoever and then would look smug if I didn't know the answer. At the end I went to shake his hand and he refused.

A friend of mine ended up getting a job in the same building and apparently this guy had a reputation of being a complete jackass.

[Anonymous]

Went to an interview for a simple, mid-level supervisor job. Turns out it was a panel interview with 6 white guys asking questions. Then they said it would take them a month to make a decision.

NOPE.

[Anonymous]

Member of Congress dosed off during my interview. Granted, the interview was being handled by staff, but he was there, and looked like a chicken bobbing his head up and down.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The interviewer forgot about our interview. He tried to blame me until his assistant showed him the email that proved I was right. At that point I had no interest in the job (seriously who would want to work for him) but since I was a new graduate I figured it was a good opportunity to brush up on my interviewing skills.

Well he was clearly mad about the confusion and decided to take it out on me. He grilled me with questions that had no relation to the job whatsoever and then would look smug if I didn't know the answer. At the end I went to shake his hand and he refused.

A friend of mine ended up getting a job in the same building and apparently this guy had a reputation of being a complete jackass.

I think I interviewed for him too.

[Anonymous]

I had interviewed for a job at a US Attorney's office as an AUSA. There was a two on one interview where they kept asking my personal opinions about the death penalty. I basically said, the law is the law and my personal opinion was irrelevant. They kept on me for 20 minutes trying to pry an answer out. I didn't budge. Finally, I mentioned that this line of questioning could go to someone's religious beliefs and is problematic from a employment discrimination standpoint. They ended the interview. I didn't get that job.

I was hired by a different US Attorney's office a few weeks later. Fantastic interview and best job. I consider it a sign that I was right to stick to my guns and protect my privacy.

[Anonymous]

Went to an interview for an Assistant Director level position. I was supposed to meet with four different people at different locations. It all went fine until I got to the last location. No one met me there (they just didn't show up) and there was no one to walk me out. Very strange end to an interview. I didn't get the job - but honestly that might have been for the best.

[Anonymous]

Not a horror story, but in my current job, I interviewed with my boss in a hotel meeting space.

I'm pretty sure I had my wife going for a couple weeks that it was a standard hotel room and I was at the desk and he was in the lazy boy.

[Anonymous]

Not for a job but for a PhD program. I was interviewing with one of the faculty and he leaned over, sniffed, and ask if I was wearing a vanilla scent. I (shocked) said no, and he proceeds to tell that some scents should be outlawed because they are too enticing. Yuck! Thank goodness I got in somewhere else.