17 Job Interviews You’ll Be Glad Didn’t Happen To You

The global turnover has increased to 20% as of 2024 as professionals change jobs frequently, looking for better opportunities. Along the way, they encounter good and bad interview experiences that form who they are. These events help them identify what they need from workplaces and what to avoid. Let’s dive into the article and read 17 stories that are truly unique.

• Not me, but a friend was applying for a Christmas temp job, and the last question was,s “Is Die Hard a Christmas movie?” Her reply was, “No. It’s a Christmas classic”. She got the job, obviously. © Crimsonlobelia / Reddit
• I got tired of my job, so I decided to look for another one. They invited me to a job interview. And my friend says, “Put your panties on inside out. No one will know but you. They say it’s good luck.” So I did. Suddenly I find out that I’m being fired from my current job. That same day! And they never hired me at the new one. © Overheard / Ideer
• During the summer break for college, I applied for a general position at a Taco Bell in my small town of about 6000. (Yeah, this story will be great...) The manager calls and sets up a time for an interview at about 12:30 on a Wednesday. I get there at 12:20 and they say to get a drink and we’ll be with you shortly. 15 minutes later, they said that they were too busy and, come back tomorrow at about 1. I go back the next day at about 12:50 and the manager says to get something to drink and I’ll be out there momentarily, we’re just finishing up from our lunch rush. That was the last time I saw her. I sat, waiting in an empty dining room with a scarce few cars in the drive-thru, for two hours before I got a refill and left. © Head5hot811 / Reddit

• “If you were a tree, what kind of tree would you be?” I was interviewing for an analyst position so I went for a “decision tree”. I got the job. © ntlslayer95 / Reddit
• Interviewed for a job at Sears. The guy kept me waiting for 45 minutes while he went to get McDonalds. I saw him leave and come back with his food. During the interview, he insulted me, talking about my “poor employment history” because I only worked over the summers during college and called me fat. As he was finishing up being so mean to me, he paused to lick a spot of ketchup off his shirt. It’s not surprising that Sears went bankrupt if this was the kind of guy they had in charge of job interviews. © ITeechYoKidsArt / Reddit
• I was interviewing for just a standard position behind the bar at a hotel/wedding venue. The interviewer, who was the general manager, asked why I’d left my last job. I was honest and said that the place’s security kind of sucked, and after being robbed, I’d had enough. The manager gave me a puzzled look and said, “Well, you’re gonna get robbed every so often here, too.” I stared at him for a moment and then realized he wasn’t joking. I stood up, told him it wasn’t going to work, thanked him for his time, and left. © attheark / Reddit
• While at college I interviewed for a job in a sportswear shop. They asked me ’What is your biggest weakness?’ For some reason, I replied, ’sausage rolls!’. I didn’t get the job! © GeekyStevie / Reddit

• I was at an interview for a job at an archival library in London. Three interviewers and I were crammed into a tiny room, and it wasn’t going well. I had to take the train starting at 5 am and I had a bad headache. The interview seemed to drone on.
  Then the fire alarm went off. The interviewers tried to ignore it but someone opened the door and told us it was a real incident and we had to evacuate. We went outside and, it being London, the rain was chucking down. I was the only one who’d brought an umbrella so all four of us had to huddle under it. To say it was awkward was an understatement. None of the three said a word during the 15 minutes we were out there, which felt like 15 hours. At one point someone banged on the doors to the library and demanded to be let in, and the arriving fire department had to tell him to calm down.
  Finally, a couple of firefighters emerged from the building to tell us the coast was clear, and we all trooper back in. Amazingly, the three interviewers wanted to go on for another 15 minutes, even though we’d all been in there for 45 minutes already and it was pretty obvious I wasn’t getting the job. And no, I didn’t get the job, which at that point was something of a relief. © gladlywalkontheocean / Reddit
• Had a job interview in another town. In my hometown it was a sunny and fairly hot day, so I dressed in a pair of jeans and a T-shirt and hopped on the train for my job interview. As I approached the city, I saw dark clouds hanging above, and soon it started pouring rain on the windows. I didn’t think of bringing a jacket or umbrella, so when I got off the train, I was the only one not wearing a jacket. Turns out it was a historic amount of rain that just so happened to fall on that particular day. I walked through the streets toward my job interview in my T-shirt and pants, 100% soaked by the time I got there. I went in through the back entrance and had to take off my T-shirt and wring out a decent amount of water before putting this wet and soggy piece of cloth back on. The interviewer/boss was pretty cool about it but did laugh when she saw me walking through the second door like a wet dog. The interview got on alright, but was suddenly interrupted by what sounded like someone tipping over a wheelbarrow full of water outside the door to the office. She got up and flung the door open. Apparently, the rain had pooled somewhere, and a fairly sizeable amount of roof tiles were now dangling from the chunk of ceiling that had given way. She made a phone call and I just stood there and couldn’t help but enjoy the moment, of this probably being the most crazy interview I had ever been to or was ever going to get to. She kept the rest of the interview short after that, seemingly a bit flustered, we wrapped it up and I went back out into the rain in my T-shirt and jeans. I got the job. © Eremitic23 / Reddit

• I got told I was going to do an interview over chat, which turned out to be with an “AI chatbot”, not an actual person. The chatbot asked me 30+ questions, and I answered them all with a fair amount of detail. Afterward, I received an email that had an analysis of all my answers and what it told them about my personality, etc. Their analysis was complete garbage, and clearly seemed to work off trigger words rather than actual analysis of the entire response. They noted at the end of the document that it was the analysis and not my responses that would be sent to the company that was looking to fill the role. © villan / Reddit
• Meet this guy at a job fair, he loves my work, gives me his card, and tells me to call him the next day. I called him and we set up an interview. I go to his office, and he looks at my portfolio and tells me it’s great and that I’m a great fit for his company. He proceeds to give me a tour of his entire office, introduces me to a bunch of people, and tells me about the great lunch spots in the area. At the end of the interview, we sit back down and he says, “Love your work and you seem great, but we’re not hiring right now, but I’ll keep you in mind.” © Burrito_Loyalist / Reddit
• A potential employer scheduled an interview with my brother... without telling him. They were upset when he didn’t show up, even after he explained the situation. “The best they could do” was to reschedule it for later that day. They did not understand why he was unwilling to immediately drop everything and get on a last-second flight across the country to attend. He politely asked that they not contact him again. © sorator / Reddit
• Phone call. A voice tells me that before inviting me for an interview, they want to have a little chat with me. At first, there were standard questions, and then weirdness started, “Are you married? And who do you live with? What do your parents and other relatives do?” I replied that I categorically would not talk on these topics, all my professional skills are in my CV, read it. The voice was indignant that their boss had such a policy. I replied, “I don’t!” and ended the call.
  But the story didn’t end there. A couple of days later, I got a call back from a young lady who introduced herself as the boss of the previous voice on the phone and said that she would like me to answer their questions and not lose my chance to get a good job. © Aline Dichka / ADME

• The manager called me into the office for an interview but didn’t ask me a single question when I got there. He just proceeded to introduce me to people and describe the responsibilities of the job. Then he asked me to fill out a paper application, shook my hand, and told me I’d be starting soon. The next day I got an email saying they passed on me because I didn’t have a car. © CPSux / Reddit
• I had an interview for an engineering position. The lady grilled me about completely unrelated stuff and I finally had it when she said “Sell me this pen”. I was like “I’m not a salesperson I’m an engineer” and she flipped out and said I’m unqualified and bad at dealing with stressful situations and I calmly said, “Well I’m dealing with you right now”. She was not amused but her co interviewer was trying not to laugh. The workers in the back looked miserable and I had already decided I didn’t want to work for her at that point. ©_sirch / Reddit
• I was specifically looking for a job without traveling, I hate this. At first, I liked everything, they confirmed that I didn’t have to travel anywhere. At the second interview, the potential boss said that the work would include a lot of traveling. When I politely asked why I was told the exact opposite the first time, the recruiter smirked and said that she had forgotten. I stood up, politely said goodbye, and went to the exit. They looked at me in such a way that my back almost got on fire. © Tru-ru-ru / ADME
• I was once on my way to an interview. I was all dressed up nicely, got out of my car, started walking into the building where the company was located. As I’m walking up to the door, a bird flies overhead and drops a HUGE load on me. Splashes on my shoulder and gets in my hair, all over my shirt, my arm, etc. So I run into the bathroom and try to clean myself off in the sink, take off my shirt, wash my hair in the sink, trying to dry my shirt with the hand dryer. I ended up going into the interview with a wet, wrinkled shirt and my hair all messed up. Didn’t get the job. © ntengineer / Reddit

Unexpected events during interviews don’t always end in tragedy or frustration. Sometimes, they lead to triumph and great employment. Have you experienced anything similar to the stories shared above?