Job interviews are the worst, even when they’re not actually that bad. If you’re of a certain age, you’ve been through the drill, and you know it’s one of the most unpleasant experiences you’ll ever have.
These Buzzfeed users shared their job interview horror stories and they are ROUGH.
1. Run!
“I listened to my mom who said, ‘No place takes the time to call your references when you are applying for a position that’s less than part-time.’ I put made-up people with F*ke phone numbers on my application because all I needed was a third job for a few hours a week. I was sitting in a call center, waiting for my interview, and a lady sitting at a near desk was on the phone and said, ‘Hello, this is ____ calling from ____. _____ listed you as a reference on a job application with us….’ I literally got up and ran away.”
2. Good thing you didn’t hire him
“One time I was interviewing someone, and the entire interview was a flop. I decided not to hire him, and a couple of weeks later, I get a phone call from someone who was asking about this guy, thinking he had been hired. I told them that he hadn’t been hired and he didn’t work there. They then asked me ‘Would it be possible for you to describe him to the police?’ Turns out he was a person of interest in a murder case. So yeah, I was face to face with a possible murderer.”
3. Wow, never heard that one before
“I had an older cousin who worked at a temp agency when I was in college, and he offered to help get my friend and me a job. We arrived to our interviews on time and he offered to do our interviews and drug screens together. I passed mine but apparently my friend had been partying all night. I have never seen a 12-panel drug screen with EVERY PANEL MARKED. It immediately went from a job interview to an intervention.”
4. That’s…odd
“My dad told me he went to an interview on Halloween once, and the HR woman was dressed as a scuba diver with a fishbowl as a helmet. Every time she spoke she was m*ffled behind this glass bowl.”
5. A bloody mess
“I had two interviews in one afternoon, and the first one ran over. As I was rushing down a brick sidewalk (in heels), I tripped and fell forward onto the ground, ripping my pantyhose and scr*ping my hands and knees really badly. I had to walk into the second interview with blood dripping down my legs and hands, and ask if they had a first aid kit. I sat through the interview trying not to cry from pain and embarrassment. I did end up getting an offer, but I turned it down because I was too embarrassed to go back.”
6. That sounds made up
“I had an interview that took over two hours. They had already given me the keys to the store and when we were about to sign the contract, they asked me how long I had been unemployed — I had been unemployed a couple months. They said they had some weird rule that they only hire people who have been unemployed for at least two years. I didn’t get the job because of that.”
7. Hang on, please
“I got an asthma attack during a Skype interview and the interviewer just sat there while I was coughing.”
8. Check the tags
“I drove two hours for a series of interviews with a company that I wasn’t quite sure about working for. The interviews went great and we finished after almost four hours. I left and later realized the tag on my blazer was still attached the entire time.”
9. Kicked out
“I had done several very long tests for a job with a company in NYC and they wanted to fly me up for a final interview. I got incredibly carsick on the drive from the airport to the company’s offices and barely managed to not vomit. By the time I arrived, I could barely stand up straight and was totally delirious.
One of them said I didn’t seem smart enough to have done so well on the technical tests they’d given me, and accused me of having someone else do them on my behalf. They insisted I do another one, and I felt like death thrice warmed over. I started writing code and burst into tears, and they kicked me out of the building.”
10. Hang up on that guy
“I had decided to become an au pair in the Netherlands or Germany. I did an interview by video call with one family and it went crazy. The man tried to change my vegetarian diet and said veggies and vegan food were not allowed in his home.
We talked about my duties as an au pair (taking care of the kids and the house) and he told me I had to work for him in his own business. He wanted me to go to shops and find good clothes so he could sell them online. He even said I was not going to be paid for this work. I hung up the video call.”
11. Damn bronzer
“An older woman managing a beauty store told me that being a perfectionist was rare for a millennial. On the floor test, she asked me to apply bronzer to a pale white employee, and when I couldn’t find a bronzer light enough for the employee, she said, ‘You need to work on applying makeup to people with light skin.’ They ended up not hiring me because I wouldn’t give up my part-time job and give them 100% availability.”
12. F*rting
“I got recruited by a founder of a popular travel app who had just founded a new tech company. The entire interview consisted of him interrupting me (34 times, I counted) and F*rting LOUDLY (7 times, also counted).”
13. Intense
“Made the mistake of eating spicy food before an interview. I barely made it off public transportation, and I had explosive diarrhea in the bathroom of the business next door to where I was interviewing. The manager interviewing me was running late, and I thought for sure I’d p*op again. I was so nervous and sweaty during the interview, anticipating the next p*op, and it was the most intense interview I ever had.”
14. No callback
“I was feeling sick that morning when I woke up, but I decided to ignore it. While in the interview, I immediately felt vomit come up. I ran to the drinking fountain and threw up lots of red vomit in the drinking fountain ( I ate red vines earlier that day). I tried to clean it up and then went home to get some rest. I never got a call back.”
15. This is a test
“I went in for a group interview and was told to be at the store at 6:00 A.M. When I got there, the store was closed and a sign on the door read that it opened at 6:30. I thought that maybe the manager gave me the wrong time, but five other people had shown up as well. We got into the store and were told that the manager would be in at 7:00.
We waited and waited until she came in at 9:00, but she didn’t even acknowledge us until 11:00. By 4:00 P.M, two people, including myself, were still waiting. At 7:00 P.M, the manager came over and said, ‘This was a test to see if you really wanted the job!’ We had waited for 13 hours. Sure enough, it was a toxic environment and the worst job I have ever had.”