What was your most awkward job interview experience?

Prettymisssparkles

Great thread

The first awkward interview that I had was when I was 21, It was to be the caretaker of about 30 horses at a horse ranch. The interview went great, the lady said she loved me but that she had only wished that she could hire me because I was too young. I was shocked..."too young?! I'm 21!" Heh, she thought I was like 15. I got the job!

Second awkward interview was when I tried to get a job as a receptionist at a tattoo parlor. They practically gave me the job over the phone and said to just stop by the shop for a quick interview and that I could pretty much count on starting work on Monday. Sadly I did not get the job I guess they decided that I was too much of a goody goody to work there as I answered no to most of their questions. The main question being, "Do you take drugs?" :ohwell:

alisonmarytuck

1. Standing up to walk out, feeling a pull on my skirt and thinking that one rather 'creepy' interviewer was putting his hand on my leg ...turning round to comment on that vociferously, only to find that my skirt hem had caught on the chair arm and I was dragging the chair behind me!!

2. Half way through an interview, ,telephone on the table next to me rings. Interviewers all look flustered so I ask if they would like me to answer. They say yes. Pick it up and a voice says "get her interview over, George says we definitely are going to employ Mary!" Telling interviewers the message and watching their faces ...it wasn't me who was embarrassed!!

tmanfromtexas

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.

****, it made me laugh out loud, glad my coworkers weren't in here.

My project manager and I were interviewing a person for a construction job. We went to lunch and were sitting there having a relaxed conversation about the work and hours etc. The guy asked about pay and I told him we weren't in a position to discuss that. He immediately went into telling us what he wanted to come to work for us. The expected pay, benefits, time off etc. I looked at Steve and he looked at me. Steve said, ok, well we will take that under advisement and let you know our decision. At this time, he becomes aggressive and says, what? you aren't hiring me today. I need to start work immediately. We looked at each other again and mind you we are both pretty good size guys. Steve says well the interview is over and we are headed back to the site, we will call you. The guy looks like he is about to get out of his chair and attack. Steve and I both stood up and leered at him and he cowered back down. We immediately left and the dumbass had the nerve to call me and ask when he would be starting. I told him we filled the position and his services weren't needed and I hung up. Never did hear back from him.

Andreaviolet89

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.

Oh gosh! Some people are so ignorant lol.

Timshel_

I've had a few.

First, I was interviewing for an IT position and I walk into the room where the two interviewers are. They are two rather attractive ladies and BOTH are rather blessed chest wise. Usually not an issue for me, but BOTH are wearing low cut tops with all kinds of cleavage showing. I kinda knew where this was heading and needless to say, yes my eyes dropped just once and I knew I was done. Pretty much felt like the questions where moot and it was all about eye contact.

Second was for a recreation position for the City. I was asked to show up at a building with some rather cryptic instructions about driving though a gate, seeing empty buildings, pick the last one on the left under the freeway and just enter the red door, or something odd like that. Well the oddity increased exponentially as I found it was old abandoned warehouse builds, and upon entering it was a HUGE empty building and waaaaaay far ahead in the center was a table with 4 interviewers sitting there, and one lone chair in front of them about 20 feet away. I actually got a bit scared, thinking it was secretly some CIA interrogation or mafia hit. It was EXACTLY like you see in movie scenes.


I mean, just like this.



But yeah, I also entered one interview where there was actually 12 people on the interview team sitting almost in a circle around me. That was really tough to try and make eye contact. I told them I felt like I was watching a tennis match from the middle of the court trying to talk with all of them. That got a chuckle.

WW_Jude_V2

Has to be the one ten years ago for my current position. It was on Halloween day. I was ushered into a meeting room where Howdy Doody and Annie Oakley were waiting for me. I responded pretty well to questions but was having a super hard time making eye contact. I have an easily triggered sense of humor and I knew if I looked at either of them for more than a second or two I was going to be in trouble.

Sure enough. Howdy asked me a serious question and just glancing at his earnest face covered with eyebrow pencil freckles and the bright red wig almost covering his real hair put me over the edge. I started howling with laughter - tears in the eyes, struggling for breath...the works. SOO professional. :blushing:

I apologized like crazy once I could speak and figured that was the end of that potential job. Turns out they liked me just fine. November 4th will be ten years there.

seltzermint555

I was helping to interview people for a programmer job a few years back when one of the candidates (he was about 30 years old) was asked by the department head, "What do you like to do outside of work?". To which he answered that he collected Transformers.

Same job opening, but this time a woman told us that she would be the best choice for the job. When asked why, she told us that she was a witch and could use her 'powers' to help the company grow....she was dead serious, and got quite upset when we laughed at what we thought was a joke.

OMG that's awesome. I have been in hiring (or related) positions in the past and experienced some pretty funny stuff, too!

It NEVER fails to amaze me when mothers come to an interview and talk about their kids the entire time, or write on their application and/or resume that their long term goal is to become a SAHM...what!? And it's not just women looking for very basic or part-time positions who do that...I have seen professional women in their late 30s with that as the objective at the top of their resume.

When I was in college & working as the assistant manager of a chain bookstore, we asked applicants questions about their reading habits during the interview. Nothing complicated...questions like "Who is your favorite author?" or "What's the best book you have read in the past year?" and about 80% of the applicants would get a deer-in-headlights look and admit that they didn't really read or enjoy books. LOL

Andreaviolet89

I was helping to interview people for a programmer job a few years back when one of the candidates (he was about 30 years old) was asked by the department head, "What do you like to do outside of work?". To which he answered that he collected Transformers.

Same job opening, but this time a woman told us that she would be the best choice for the job. When asked why, she told us that she was a witch and could use her 'powers' to help the company grow....she was dead serious, and got quite upset when we laughed at what we thought was a joke.

OMG that's awesome. I have been in hiring (or related) positions in the past and experienced some pretty funny stuff, too!

It NEVER fails to amaze me when mothers come to an interview and talk about their kids the entire time, or write on their application and/or resume that their long term goal is to become a SAHM...what!? And it's not just women looking for very basic or part-time positions who do that...I have seen professional women in their late 30s with that as the objective at the top of their resume.

When I was in college & working as the assistant manager of a chain bookstore, we asked applicants questions about their reading habits during the interview. Nothing complicated...questions like "Who is your favorite author?" or "What's the best book you have read in the past year?" and about 80% of the applicants would get a deer-in-headlights look and admit that they didn't really read or enjoy books. LOL

If you put being a stay at home mom on your objective then why would anyone hire you lol? smh

BlueBombers

The man who was interviewing me was wearing a women's pant suit and it was very, very distracting.

^ For the win!!

BlueBombers

My lip started bleeding A LOT during one interview. FML.

decblessings

The man who was interviewing me was wearing a women's pant suit and it was very, very distracting.

Was the man's name Michael Scott?

Booksandbeaches

It was years ago for a summer job at a law firm. When asked if I became a lawyer what kind of law I'd like to do, I told the interviewer my answer, and because he was so close to my age I felt comfortable just being myself, so I tacked to my answer the type of law I hated. "I would never do tax law. It seems incredibly tedious and boring." Silence. Then he said "You do realize I'm a tax attorney, don't you?"

:laugh:

auntiemsgr8

I haven't had too many bad experiences with interviews- from either side but am always surprised at how some people come dressed.

But as I have prepared in the past there are some pretty wacky questions they say to be prepared for.

My favorite is "What color is your brain"

There was also one about filling a pool with ping pong balls and water and which do you put in first

The books say its not about what your answer is but how you handle the unexpectedness of the odd question

seltzermint555

I was helping to interview people for a programmer job a few years back when one of the candidates (he was about 30 years old) was asked by the department head, "What do you like to do outside of work?". To which he answered that he collected Transformers.

Same job opening, but this time a woman told us that she would be the best choice for the job. When asked why, she told us that she was a witch and could use her 'powers' to help the company grow....she was dead serious, and got quite upset when we laughed at what we thought was a joke.

OMG that's awesome. I have been in hiring (or related) positions in the past and experienced some pretty funny stuff, too!

It NEVER fails to amaze me when mothers come to an interview and talk about their kids the entire time, or write on their application and/or resume that their long term goal is to become a SAHM...what!? And it's not just women looking for very basic or part-time positions who do that...I have seen professional women in their late 30s with that as the objective at the top of their resume.

When I was in college & working as the assistant manager of a chain bookstore, we asked applicants questions about their reading habits during the interview. Nothing complicated...questions like "Who is your favorite author?" or "What's the best book you have read in the past year?" and about 80% of the applicants would get a deer-in-headlights look and admit that they didn't really read or enjoy books. LOL

If you put being a stay at home mom on your objective then why would anyone hire you lol? smh

I know!! It's like the one thing that a lot of working mothers want to AVOID coming up in their interview at all costs, y'know? Because they have to fight the assumption some employers have that they are biding their time until they can stop working and stay at home. One of my past supervisors had faced that kind of discrimination in her past as a mom of two who has a very public and active career, so she was extra peeved when she saw that on resumes. It blew my mind too.

decblessings

I was desperately trying to find a teaching job and interviewed at a school for children with disabilities. I was interviewing for a preschool co-teacher position and the principal was telling me that they had a big need for one-on-one companions for some of their students. He wanted to set me up as the companion for an 18 year old, 6'+, 250 pound male student with anger management issues, among other things. I'm 5'1" and just slightly overweight, but still petite. I just got a blank look on my face but all I could think was, "Do I LOOK like the kind of person who is physically prepared to deal with that sort of individual?" They called me back for a second interview, which I passed on.

neandermagnon

I haven't had too many bad experiences with interviews- from either side but am always surprised at how some people come dressed.

But as I have prepared in the past there are some pretty wacky questions they say to be prepared for.

My favorite is "What color is your brain"

There was also one about filling a pool with ping pong balls and water and which do you put in first

The books say its not about what your answer is but how you handle the unexpectedness of the odd question

I'd be totally literal with the brain one, as in "it's a kind of brownish-grey colour with a hint of pink... why? because that's what colour brains are. if you watch some brain surgery you'll see. Maybe if you get a sheep's brain from the butchers you can dissect one." and "it doesn't matter whether you put the ping pong balls or the water in first, because they ping pong balls will float either way... but if you fill the ping pong balls with water, then put them in the pool, then they'll have the same relative density as the water, and will just sit there while you pour in enough water to fill in the gaps between the ping pong balls"

in my line of work I think those would be adequate answers. :drinker:



no really bad interview experiences... I remember when I was about 16 I interviewed for a Saturday job and had to borrow my mum's blouse because I didn't have a suitable one, and I felt really self conscious that I looked like I was about 20 years older than I was........... and when I didn't get the job I though it was because of the blouse :laugh: .... no it was because when asked why I'd left my previous Saturday job I had nothing positive to say about it whatsoever... in spite of the fact I was interviewing for the same kind of job :laugh:

JGT2004

One of mine was on an office visit with other potential interns for a Big 4 accounting firm. A few days before I got an ulcer in my eye from dirt under my contacts. I had to wear a black eye patch otherwise my eye burned like crazy. I showed up and they looked at me funny, I said "oh we weren't supposed to come in costume?" Didn't even get a chuckle much less a highly coveted internship.

MissAnjy

When I was 7 I decided I wanted to work for a specific natural gas company in my hometown. As I grew up, I still held on to that dream. I went to school for what I would need in order to be employed there, with the hopes of. I realized that I needed more experience so I took many jobs in a related field in the interim to build up my resume. I went to an interview one afternoon for another natural gas company in town (but much smaller). My interviewer had once worked for the place I longed to work.

During the interview they asked me "what are your goals and aspirations" and my response was "to work for [insert other natural gas company name here].........LOL I didn't get the job......

I now work at my dream job LOL

Hey, I was honest.

pobalita

During my first interview out of college, the interviewer kept picking her nose with a hairpin and wiping it on a tissue right in front of me.

A year later, I interviewed for another company and was told that they wanted to hire me, but they were afraid that since I was a female, I'd be offended my the rough language used by contractors and that would result in problems for them. I convinced them that I could swear as much as any contractor and got the job. (Stayed there for 13 years.)