18 Job Interviews That Stuck in People’s Minds for All the Wrong Reasons

Job seekers dream of nailing interviews with courteous and professional recruiters who stick to relevant questions. Unfortunately, not everyone gets that ideal experience. The people featured in this article share tales of interviews so bizarre or awkward that they're still reeling from their encounters with prospective employers.

• Phone call. Before inviting me for an interview, they wanted to have a little chat with me on the phone. At first, everything was normal, but then they started asking weird questions, "Are you married? Who do you live with? What do your parents do?" I refused to answer and ended the call. 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
• I arrived at a job interview. It was a crumbling, moldy building on the outskirts of town. The first girl came out of the interview with terror in her eyes and shaking hands. I thought, "What's going on in there?" And then I was invited into the boss' office. Wow! The first thing I saw were leather armchairs, oak tables, and semi-darkness. And the boss immediately says, "Have you read all the instructions on how to please the employer?"
  After the interview, the potential boss sent me a picture of a building overgrown with vines in the messenger, saying, "Change something to your taste." My attempts to figure out the details were brushed aside, "You're an artist, you should know better." Certainly not my worst interview, but I blocked his number. © msthhl / Pikabu
• 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 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

• I was interviewed at a bank. It was going perfectly despite how nervous I was, and I was probably in with a great chance. Then as a final question, the panel asked me, "Why should we hire you?" And I replied, "Because I probably won't steal your money!" I was not hired. © Coconutqueen2402 / Reddit
• I urgently needed a job for a couple of months, and I just entered every cafe asking, "Do you need a waiter?" And in one of them, they gave me a questionnaire that I'll never forget. I won't exactly reproduce the questions, but they were something like this, "If you were walking through the mountains and a pink sea urchin flew up to you, how much would you pay him for a mushroom tea?" I sat there for a couple of minutes, laughed, and went on without filling it out. I realized that I wasn't ready to work in such a creative team. © Mme Constant / ADME
• 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
• At the end of a productive two-hour interview for a position I was well-qualified to take, the most arrogant of the three interviewers revealed that the job they would be offering me was two levels down from the one for which I had applied... at a little over half the salary. He did so without the least hint of embarrassment, basically indicating the company made a regular habit of deliberately deceiving their prospective hires. I didn't say anything; I simply gathered my resumes - quite literally yanking one out of the hand of one interviewer - put them in my portfolio, and walked out. © theartfulcodger / Reddit

• I went to the counter of the store and asked if they were hiring. They said they were and gave me an on-the-spot interview right there in the middle of the store with my mom standing right with me (I was 16, and she had given me a ride to the store). My mom proceeded to answer every question for me and kept talking me up. I ended up getting the job and worked there for over 2 years. © Magnifying_Charmx / 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
• I wanted to work as a librarian at the college. The conversation with the deputy director was very pleasant, he even offered me a position with a higher salary. But then he looked at my CV and disgust showed on his face. He said, "There are no vacancies for you!" Later I found out that this man had once been offended by a local newspaper, and he now hates all journalists. And I used to work only as a journalist. I never managed to change my profession. © Merry Old Lady / ADME
• 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

• I got an invitation to a job interview. And it was a strange one: some lady emailed me, simply informing me that I had to come at a certain time to a certain address. She didn't even ask if it would be convenient for me. It's a big, well-known firm. In the search engine, I immediately found information about it and the lady who sent me the invitation. I found out that she yells at everyone, and snaps, and all this goes unpunished. I didn't go to that interview. I don't want a job like this, my nerves are more important. © Overheard / Ideer
• The company looked at my CV, they were delighted with my trial work, invited me for an interview, and everything was going toward employment. And then suddenly they notice that I'm not working in the program they need! They looked at my CV 7 times on the website, during the interview they were leafing through it, and I mentioned where, how, and what I was doing. In the end, those who conducted the interview quietly left their office and didn't even say goodbye. © Todote / Pikabu
• Went to apply for a job and fell in love with the manager who was interviewing me. All I remember is the color of her eyes and the scent of her perfume, but everything about the job is a blur. Next week they should call me and tell me whether they're hiring me or not. I sit and think whether I need this job, maybe it's not for me. But I have to know the girl's name and my duties. © Overheard / Ideer
• I'm sitting at a job interview. Everything is going perfectly, I'm almost hired. But suddenly the boss looks at my printed CV again, his face changes and he says, "Oh, people like you are bad workers." I ask what's wrong. And he says, "You want a too big salary. You're not the right person for us, you're too focused on money." There was another interview. It also went well until I said I didn't work overtime for free. And then I was labeled greedy. © Assassinanny911 / Pikabu

• 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
• A man I know told me this story. He is a big-time engineer, there are 10 people like him in his industry in the whole country. So, he agreed to the job after long persuasion at some enterprise in the capital. He flies there from his hometown. He comes to the personnel department, and there sits a young girl who begins to bombard him with questions, like "Who do you feel yourself to be?" And in the end, she says, "You don't suit us." The applicant in a confused state calls the director and asks, "What's going on here?" The latter also puzzled, calls the personnel department, and they start to give him some nonsense about the psychological profile and lack of teamwork skills. © Anxiety Cake / ADME

Whether it's strange questions, awkward moments, or over-the-top antics, these experiences leave lasting impressions. If you’re in the mood for a laugh, check out this collection of amusing interview stories.