What was your most awkward job interview experience?

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  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,811 Member
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    My first one - right at the end when we were just having a bit of a chat...

    Interviewer - Do you play golf?

    18 year old naive me - No way, that's an old fart's game!

    Interviewer - That's a shame, because I'm the President of the Golf Society.

    (When he finished laughing he gave me the job.)
  • maz504
    maz504 Posts: 450
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    When I first moved to Houston from New Orleans I was interviewing for a waitressing job at this chain restaurant and when it came out where I'd moved from, he goes "Oh... there's a lot of.... democrats.... there, huh?"

    At first I thought it was wildly inappropriate that he'd bring up political parties during an interview. Then I realized he was talking about black people and called them, reported him, and declined a follow up interview. Ew.
  • MadelineGraceG
    MadelineGraceG Posts: 34 Member
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    When I was 17, I was going to an interview to work for a man who owned his own printing press. (I didn't know it would be just me and him working there till the interview was over, so I declined the job offer after that.) But when he answered the door, his dog was with him. (a Weimaraner) He said "Hello, I'm Steve. This is Betsy." (pointing to the dog) "She farts." I was slightly floored. Why would someone say that right after introducing themselves? Well, I found out he was simply trying to prepare me for the farty-est dog I've EVER known! She lay right next to my chair and stank up the place during the whole interview!
  • KinzieElise
    KinzieElise Posts: 584 Member
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    I was interviewing to be a criminal defense lawyer's assistant and they wanted to know if I was alright with drinking because the office liked to go out for drinks and they dealt with a lot of drunk clients. I said sure I was alright with it but I don't really drink myself. It got super awkward after that. I didn't get that one and I can't say that I really regret it.
  • lik_11
    lik_11 Posts: 433 Member
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    As an 18 year old, I applied to be a server at Outback steakhouse. The first 2 interviews went great, when I went in the 3rd time to meet the owner- I tripped and fell down as I was went to shake his hand. The questioning went well, but he was very blunt when he told me after seeing me fall, he couldn't hire me as a server... but he offered me job as hostess :(
  • DoingitWell
    DoingitWell Posts: 560 Member
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    My interviewer had Tourette's and I was not warned ahead of time.
  • bethlaf
    bethlaf Posts: 954 Member
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    UMMMM- my interviews for work have never been an issue for me -
    Applicants I am interviewing however.....Completely different

    1. had a guy show up in tank top and flip flops...
    2. had someone show up for the interview full makeup nails dressed to the 9s ( better than me really) for a field technician position..
    3. I pre qual all people, before i set up interviews, DL , Clean Bkg, and Legal cit.... - have people who show up ALL the TIME for interviews, oh you guys really do bkg checks, I Thought it was just in the ad to discourage people...
  • BigBellyGoAway
    BigBellyGoAway Posts: 781 Member
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    Luckily, when I've been the one being interviewed, they were all pretty standard and straight forward. If there was an awkward moment, it would have to be the interview for the job I'm at now (and just had my 10 year anniversary with the company). I was an out of work geek, living in New Orleans, and after a month of not being able to find anything local, I expanded my search nation wide. A few weeks later, I got a call from a small company in Buffalo, NY, and after a few phone interviews, they flew me up here for an in-person interview. I'm not a flashy guy when it comes to clothes, but I wanted to make a decent impression, so I put on my best jeans and a button up shirt. When I got to Buffalo, the owner of the company met me at the airport, and after introducing himself, he said, "Glad you got my email before you left New Orleans." I had no idea what he was talking about, so I asked, "What email?" Then he tells me about the email he sent right before I was supposed to leaving New Orleans telling me not to dress up because they were pretty casual. I didn't tell him that this was some of the best clothes I have. :laugh:

    Worked out great though. Turns out it wasn't really an interview as he had made up his mind to hire me, and wanted to get me up here to convince me that we should move to Buffalo. Three weeks later, I became the 5th employee at the company.
  • CassandraBurgos83
    CassandraBurgos83 Posts: 544 Member
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    How about being @ my lady DR legs all up in the stirrups and it feels like my male Gyno is interviewing me for a possible date-that was awkward to me at least.
  • Serenitytoo
    Serenitytoo Posts: 449 Member
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    I once interviewed a girl wearing boy shorts and a halter. I had to stop mid interview and tell her it was not going to happen. I did refer her to some websites on how to dress for an interview.

    I had the opposite, she wore a nice pants suit to the interview, showed up for her first day of work in a miniskirt and halter (it was for a store that required getting up on ladders to do displays), when I told her that was inappropriate she showed up the next day in yoga pants and a crop top. She didn't last long. :noway:
  • Andreaviolet89
    Andreaviolet89 Posts: 290 Member
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    How about being @ my lady DR legs all up in the stirrups and it feels like my male Gyno is interviewing me for a possible date-that was awkward to me at least.

    That may take the cake for awkward!!!
  • seltzermint555
    seltzermint555 Posts: 10,742 Member
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    Mine was slightly similar. I must have been about 24. I walked into the office where I would be interviewed and because of the way it was arranged, I sat in the interviewer's chair instead of the guest chair! He insisted that I could just stay...so I felt awkward from that point on LOL

    The ad mentioned typing, customer service, etc, but it turned out to be a straight-up hardcore collections job and I immediately let the guy know I wasn't interested at all because I don't have that type of personality. He was extremely nice and kept talking to me and even suggested 2-3 nearby offices that he knew were hiring and wrote down some names and numbers for me. I was like, "wow that's so nice".

    The next afternoon he called me and asked me out to dinner. AWKWARD. He was cute and only about 30 but no thanks.
  • Jerrypeoples
    Jerrypeoples Posts: 1,541 Member
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    my last job the owner of the company interviewed me while he at pizza. chewed with his mouth open.


    i have this abnormality where im truthful in interviews. at my current job they asked me why i left my previous job (not pizza eater, the one before that). I told him i was fired because i just didnt get along with my supervisor. he asked why and i explained the situation and he said it happens.

    it came down to me and the other candidate and i explained if he needed me to start tomorrow i would but i would prefer to give two weeks to the pizza eater just because its the right thing to do.

    turns out they hired the other guy cause he could start right away. the first day of orientation they break and he says he needs to go have a smoke break and they tell him this is a no smoking campus. guy flips out about how he needs to have a cig and ends up being escorted from the premise. i was called back that morning for another interview.

    thank god for smokers.
  • CassandraBurgos83
    CassandraBurgos83 Posts: 544 Member
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    How about being @ my lady DR legs all up in the stirrups and it feels like my male Gyno is interviewing me for a possible date-that was awkward to me at least.

    That may take the cake for awkward!!!

    Yepp and he said he could tell I was an athlete by my grip... I'm hoping he was referring to how tight my hands were holding onto the table bc the Lord knows I I hate going to those types of appts.
  • fozzie500
    fozzie500 Posts: 177 Member
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    a colleague of mine and myself were interviewing a guy once for a job,and right at the end of the interview we go to shake hands,the guy we're interviewing has some form of epilepsy that occurs when he's nervous we're not aware of,and as he brings his hand up his whole arm begins to shake my colleague jumps back and shouts "he's got a gun!".........
  • BigBellyGoAway
    BigBellyGoAway Posts: 781 Member
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    Yepp and he said he could tell I was an athlete by my grip...

    How YOU doin'? :laugh:
  • Linli_Anne
    Linli_Anne Posts: 1,360 Member
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    I showed up for an interview - gave my name to the receptionist and was taken to the board room to wait for the human resources director.

    5 minutes later, the HR director walks in so I stand up from my chair to meet her properly, shake hands etc. The words out of her mouth surprised the heck out of me "Oh, you're Linli? I was really expecting a Chinese girl."

    Even if they had offered me the job, I wouldn't have taken it.
  • ImaWaterBender
    ImaWaterBender Posts: 516 Member
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    a colleague of mine and myself were interviewing a guy once for a job,and right at the end of the interview we go to shake hands,the guy we're interviewing has some form of epilepsy that occurs when he's nervous we're not aware of,and as he brings his hand up his whole arm begins to shake my colleague jumps back and shouts "he's got a gun!".........

    Made me snort.
  • maz504
    maz504 Posts: 450
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    Yepp and he said he could tell I was an athlete by my grip...

    NNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! omgomgomg :noway:

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