Job Interview Horror Stories

[Belize]

Yeah, I got one.

Back in High School I applied for an internship at an IT office. Where's the horror story? I got the position.


Worse fucking year of my life up to date.

[madmanx]

Almost every single interview I have ever been to has been a f.....ing disaster. The HR person is usually a total moron that is following some book on how to conduct a job interview.

At some point I will lose my patience and tell them to fuck off.

[Deleted]

Uh, of course? It's not a human right to smoke lol

i mean, can they stop you on your break going outside and smoking? i understand in work its no smoking, and the premises might be no smoking, but why would you not be allowed to walk to the end of the street and smoke on your break?

[Nobleshield]

i mean, can they stop you on your break going outside and smoking? i understand in work its no smoking, and the premises might be no smoking, but why would you not be allowed to walk to the end of the street and smoke on your break?

Some companies feel that they own you while you're at work, I guess. I've heard of places refusing to hire smokers whether or not you smoke at work, just the fact that you smoke at home​ means they don't want you working for them. Personally I find that ridiculous. I'm all for freedom of businesses to hire/serve who they want, but some people take it to a tyrannical extreme.

[nevermore]

I had a phone interview once and about 3 minutes into the interview it became pretty obvious the HR person was looking at the wrong CV.

Things got a bit awkward after it.
Didn't get a second callback lmao.

[Tommy T]

Turned up to an interview without my passport or any related ID

Shiiit.

[Captain N]

i mean, can they stop you on your break going outside and smoking? i understand in work its no smoking, and the premises might be no smoking, but why would you not be allowed to walk to the end of the street and smoke on your break?

Like I said it's an obscure rule that they only seem to enforce in hiring sessions and on student conductors in training. People who get out of training are never bothered again about smoking except in the very rare case a management team decides to climb up on an engine and test the crew on rules compliance and one of them is in dire need of a testing failure.

[Yunru]

My worst was years ago....i went for a seller job. It didnt say what is was 100%.
So i went there and i hear this:
You will go to house to house and force a product on a people. You have to be very violent and get in the house by every way posible.
Once you are in house the product is sold already. If you fail to sell at least 3 products worth 600 euros at day, you have to pay us 30 euros for every day to keep the job.

That was student job tho.......

[Zethras]

My worst was years ago....i went for a seller job. It didnt say what is was 100%.
So i went there and i hear this:
You will go to house to house and force a product on a people. You have to be very violent and get in the house by every way posible.
Once you are in house the product is sold already. If you fail to sell at least 3 products worth 600 euros at day, you have to pay us 30 euros for every day to keep the job.

That was student job tho.......

That's why, whenever a door to door salesman/woman comes by(you can always tell) I open the door only a tiny crack. And on more than one occasion, they actually tried to open the door further themselves. Told them "Touch my door again, I call the cops." They did a 180 and left.

[Auxis]

Not horrible, but I went for an interview for a grocery store chain when I was 15 (basically forced by my mum so I could start paying board).

She dropped me off, I went up to the service desk. They PA'd for someone. 5 minutes and another PA call later a man walks up and escorts me to the store managers office. The journey through the store AND the store room (the office/staff-room area was in like, 4 shipping container offices huddled together in the mass void that was the store room) was literally a 5 minute+ epic. Like, the suspense of walking all the way, with this guy who was avoiding conversation and me worrying about the interview; all led to like a really stress free interview.

[Gheld]

Roughly 8 years ago I went to a job interview, and got hired. And now I'm stuck there because nobody else is paying very good around here.

[Fuiking]

I got no true horror story about it. But it was before any interview.

I send in my resume to some company and the only reply I got basically went along the lines of: ''You're surname is German-ish, we dont accept Germans or any foreigners''. Which procced a very angry me, sending them a letter indicating my family was in my country since 1550 atleast. (Back in the days letters were more standard then emails, I was 18, applying for a job at picking Aspergers and strawberries...Even back then having alot of jobs did well on resumes)


The reply I got back was rascistic, basically he told me to get a full Dutch Surname..... I refused. I did later hear his son took over and accepted Eastern Europeans and other foreigners, but this whole deal made me really shy with applying for jobs.

[dextersmith]

After a long interview, the CEO of a start up company announces that they can't pay me until they start being profitable and it won't be retroactive. He and his assistant gets a salary of course since it's their company. Who wouldn't want to volunteer 12 hour days, 7 days a week, doing most of their programming?

Lead dev hired me as a programmer then asked me to work secretly from home since his boss can't find out he's incapable. ....waste of time....

Was interviewed for and left a handful of contracts that turned out to be for making viruses, illegal software, or very little pay.

Back at uni, I was hired at a private college as a tutor and was asked if I minded working with students in the parking lot since they weren't wheelchair accessible.

Another interview for tutoring turned into a partnership offer and he asked me for 50% of the start up costs. Idiot.

- - - Updated - - -

Not my own story, but I know a guy that owns a business of almost 100 people. When he was hiring for a few positions he used to throw 50% of all applications into the bin to avoid hiring unlucky people.

Hilarious! lol

[Gheld]

After a long interview, the CEO of a start up company announces that they can't pay me until they start being profitable and it won't be retroactive. He and his assistant gets a salary of course since it's their company. Who wouldn't want to volunteer 12 hour days, 7 days a week, doing most of their programming?

It's amazing, the 'entitled' mentality that the corporate world has developed in the last few years. Thinking that people should freely devote their lives to their position, "for the cause" when often times "the cause" ultimately boils down to selling cheap plastic crap, nutritionally challenged food items, and various other things that are wrong with society.

I remember one 'pep talk' that was like "C'mon guys, it's not like we're asking you to cure cancer or anything." Well no shit Sherlock, that's why at the end of the day I feel absolutely no emotional obligation to this company. If it went out of business I'd just take my resume to whatever competitor put them six feet under and bought them out and carry on with my life as normal.

And then these people have the nerve to say "Blah blah blah, people in some bygone age that I never actually experienced used to take pride in their workmanship" Yeah, and they also didn't do it for free.

[dextersmith]

It's amazing, the 'entitled' mentality that the corporate world has developed in the last few years. Thinking that people should freely devote their lives to their position, "for the cause" when often times "the cause" ultimately boils down to selling cheap plastic crap, nutritionally challenged food items, and various other things that are wrong with society.

I respectfully declined and was asked why. D'uh! The travel expenses alone would put me in a deficit working for them. Then he asked why I couldn't "work" for him until I found something paying. I can't work 40-80 hours a week here and look for work and suggested he get a college intern. He wanted experience but didn't want to pay for it. He and his assistant bombed my email begging me to reconsider until I blocked them.

I wondered why the guy before me quit. Turns out they were really crooked on multiple fronts too.

[Zaelkath]

I got no true horror story about it. But it was before any interview.

I send in my resume to some company and the only reply I got basically went along the lines of: ''You're surname is German-ish, we dont accept Germans or any foreigners''. Which procced a very angry me, sending them a letter indicating my family was in my country since 1550 atleast. (Back in the days letters were more standard then emails, I was 18, applying for a job at picking Aspergers and strawberries...Even back then having alot of jobs did well on resumes)

I...uhm...what?

[Captain N]

I...uhm...what?

I'm hoping that his auto correct screwed up and he meant asparagus.

[Zaelkath]

I'm hoping that his auto correct screwed up and he meant asparagus.

I imagine so. But I can't stop laughing.

[Deleted]

I imagine so. But I can't stop laughing.

It's called an asperge in Dutch.

[Belize]

It's called an asperge in Dutch.

Same as in French!