56 Jaw-Dropping Job Interview Fails You Won’t Believe Actually Happened
I literally looked around to see if I was on some candid camera show.
- Identify specific interpersonal requirements for the role
- Draft revealing questions for those requirements
- Define ideal responses and red flags
- Ask follow-up questions
- Develop a personal assessment
- Validate with multiple sources
In short, focus on specific examples of how these workplace leaders handled real situations, not just hypothetical scenarios. Set their charisma aside for now and look for traits like accountability, collaboration, and developing other colleagues.
For instance, you could ask the job candidate about projects that they were part of that failed, and how they contributed to this result. Or you could ask them about others disagreeing with their approach and how that went, as well as how they handled others turning out to be right instead.
Was interviewing mechanical engineers for a junior position. Typically we will ask candidates about why or how they left their previous job. A common reason for people to quit is a lengthy commute. One particular candidate informed me that his current commute was too long. “How long?” I asked. “There are 37 traffic lights between my home and the office”, he replies. “I see”, says I. Then he continues unprompted “There are only 15 between my home and your office so that’s much better”.
I and the other hiring manager laughed our heads off after he left and called him back with a job offer that afternoon. He’s a great engineer too.
Interview went great, got to last 2 questions about test [for illegal substances] and background search. He said all was great, and don’t expect any problems. After the interview, during small talk walking to the car, he informed me that he just got out of prison for stealing payroll money from his previous employees, at a little over 1 million dollars.
I did the hiring for a bar that I worked at for a while. Basically I would do the initial interview, give the owner my thoughts, he would do a quick meet and hire them based on my opinion. I wrote “NO” on several applications, most often because they thought it being a bar, the interview process was casual. I interviewed many many people who would swear constantly, or would laugh about how they handled customers who needed to be cut off. One admitted to illegally pouring them only the mixer (no alcohol) then telling them it had alcohol in it and charging them as if it did just so that she didn’t have to actually cut them off. Another said she didn’t think she could handle working unsupervised. At least a half a dozen of them interrupted the interview to check their phones or answer calls.
Bottom line, guys, a bar is still a business. You still need to treat the interview like an interview. I was the only employee for over a month because I couldn’t find anyone that seemed like they could handle the job. I finally found one and she and I are good friends now. It’s not rocket science but you do need to show some professionalism.
Nothing will compare to the girl who immediately after the interview proceeded to get drunk with her friends at the bar (normally totally okay) and then tried to walk around in her bra. I definitely didn’t recommend her.
What advice would you give anyone new to the job industry who feels incredibly overwhelmed and stressed about landing their very first job?
Share your perspectives and worst work stories below.
I’m a recruiter. There was candidate who sent in a resume for a hard to find skill set. It looked great, he had all the required skills. When I called him and asked him a few questions and wanted him to expand on his skills, he couldn’t do it. I’m used to people fabricating their experience and skills, but this guy actually admitted he lied.
“But my resume says I can. Submit me to your client. I’ll get job.”
I told him there’s no way I’m going to submit a fake resume. He then asked if he could refer a friend who could do the job. No, thanks, buddy.
I’ve also had one person do the phone interview for a contract job and then a completely different person show up on site to do the work. One time a man did the interview and a woman showed up.
I work for a chemical company that hires local college students every semester to do routine lab work for us. We have a fairly constant stream of candidates, but this was by far the worst. The interview in question occurred three days before Halloween that year, and coincidentally was the same day as our Halloween office party.
Our office manager had hired a psychic for the afternoon events. So when a young woman showed up in black lace, a black corset, black eyeliner, and spider themed jewelry, we just assumed she was the entertainment. Nope! It was our candidate. Okay, so after the initial awkward exchanges, we rolled with the punches. The non-professional presentation was bad, but not enough to outright dismiss her. Plus it was nearly Halloween, so we let it slide. Got her into the interview room and sitting with some engineers ASAP.
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