Worst/bizarre interviews you have ever had...

[Franklymydearidontgiveadam]

I've got a few interviews lined up

Had 3 already this week, one interview I sent my cv, invited for interview during my interview I had to write an application form Inc work history which was painstaking and one I've just had now invloved a game show like quiz.....

I have another this afternoon, i'm drained already!

newyears not a clue - presume Catholic/Protestant thing . Was asked in terms of:

Are you a) Catholic or of an Irish Catholic background or b) Protestant ... I can’t see what bearing that would have on my ability to do a job but apparently somewhat normal ... friend was asked the same but in NE Scotland ...

@Franklymydearidontgiveadam congrats!!

Congratulations on the job OP

Dead in the middle of an interview the guy just stopped and said "sorry, I can't stop staring at your cleavage".

I didn't go back for the second interview

Jumping off a cliff. To be fair, it was for a job jumping off cliffs 😁

I’ve had so many odd interview experiences. One as for a graduate training position at a small accountancy firm. Role advertised as wanting a graduate. I turned up and was told by the interviewer who ran the firm that he didn’t see the point of degrees as he and his son (partner in firm) had done well without it.

Then went on to tell me the current grad was leaving before she heard the results of the accountancy exams as decided to be a musician (think the real reason was the person speaking). So from then on he decided the grad trainee would pay for their own training.

Asked me if I lived with my family 😕 and wasn’t impressed to hear I lived with BF (this was late 90s not 70s).

Told me he wasn’t going to offer me the job as he thought I’d struggle not living at home. I said that was good as I couldn’t afford the training. He got quite offended and said I should think about the offer and let him know 😕 what offer? I never did let him know.

I've had some disasters, I can laugh now but not so much at the time.
Interview for a manager role, I was asked to apply for. Had to do a presentation on how I would build and lead the team. Start my presentation on team motivation and reward. Interviewer says, I don't care about that shit. HR person shushes him. I continue, he interrupts again and tells me that he doesn't give a shit about the team. Fire alarm goes. Go outside, get soaked to the skin. Comeback in and he looks at me, sitting and dripping wet. Says, do you want a break? I replied, this whole thing is screwed up anyway. Why stop now!
Went to another interview workshop. Showing my age, but it used to be the thing that everyone was called into a group session over a few days. 40 people on day one, by lunch, number reduced, less by dinner...you failed part of the assessment centre and were eliminated. By the end of day 2, they had 2 of us left. It was bizarre.
I used to interview as a job, so there were some crackers I saw then. I miss that bit.

Congrats @Franklymydearidontgiveadam

I have both perspectives ;
I applied to be a groom at a dressage yard , I was asked to take a rug off a horse and tack him up , ok perfectly reasonable this horse was a 17 x draught , ( 17 = almost 6 foot at the shoulder , Draught horse = shire , Clydesdale , Suffolk Punch ) in other words BIG in anyone's books . so in I go ye old 'orse is a bit snarky but I get the job done , I come out of the stable to fine the yard owner ( that was interviewing me ) smiling and everyone else sort of gawping , that evening I got a call saying I got the job as long as I was willing to look after that particular horse . I was delighted !
It wasnt until about a week later some one told me he use to bite every other person that came into his stable , and even into the paddock with him . he only bit me once in the 10 years he was there .

Me doing the interviewing many years later in a very different job ;
Over a period of several months for different roles.
I happen to be walking past reception guy while on the phone says to me

HIM , scuse me , I gots a interview thing here today SHUT UP umm talking to this idiot , indicates phone .
ME is in room 20 over there ,
HIM Will you fuck off, to who ever is on the phone

ME what time is your interview
HIM , duno
ME what is your name

HIM what the fuck has it got to do with you ?
ME well I was going to interview you but I am not going to now please leave the building .
HIM well it's your fucking loss then .
I know every one has bad days but good god . . . . .

I haven't had too many weird ones being interviewed myself, but being on the other side as a manager, then yes!

• A CV which included in the hobbies- brewing beer in the garage and growing 'herbs' in the greenhouse
• We had to photocopy ID due to security, and for one candidate, a bag of marijuana fell out of their passport during the photocopy process! (many years ago and not in a country where it was legal)
• One candidate, who already worked within the company and wanted a more senior role, said she kept headphones in her ears all day incase anyone asked her to do anything and to block the world out.
• One candidate explained that in a previous interview, she took them to court as felt they'd been unfair with the questions and selection.This was prior to asking her any questions!
• Another candidate stopped mid way through our questions. He'd been referring to a page in front of him during the interview which we assumed to be his CV, be he said 'Oh, I don't know the answer to that, its not here on my list of answers!'

In another interview I asked for the ladies documents , proof of addres , NI number , right to work in in this country , etc , nope she would not provide them as it was a breach of data protection ,
I explained that with out them we could not employer her , she then rants that I am been raciest and not giving her the job because of her skin colour and age

We are both from the same country , the same skin colour , and about the same age , I terminated the interview .
On her way out she asked if she had got the job and seemed genuinely surprised when I said no [confussed]

Congrats on the new job OP
I was doing really well at an interview when without any prior warning, my period started with an almighty gush. I bled all over the chair
I have never felt so embarrassed in my life but I still got the job.

When I was 16 I had an interview at a bank in London. My dad had set it up for me, I just went along for the interview experience. The interviewer asked me why did I want to work for a bank.. I answered “because I like money” I was shown the door.

Many years later I went for an interview for a specific job, I decided I didn’t really want it when I arrived as I could see from the work place what it would entail. The interviewer just talked about the company, the history, his career, showed me round ( I saw the work place) and didn’t ask me any questions.

At the end of the ‘interview’ I said if I was going to work here I would be interested in working in the maintenance department as a supervisor.. (which wasn’t what I was being interviewed for) he said, “oh I really need someone in maintenance, when can you start ?”

Most bazaar interview but I Got he job and I loved it.

@studentadvice was it a Catholic school? There are some rules about who can teach in Catholic schools in Scotland. You need to have a Catholic Teachers Certificate or have studied at Glasgow uni. The Irish question is just wrong though!

Congrats, Frankly!

Years and years ago when I was temping, I got sent to work in an office above a pub - very odd gig, very odd people. I didn’t do much besides answer the phone and twiddle my thumbs. The office manager seemed quite friendly with a chap who ran some small ‘business’ on the opposite side of the road - it directly faced the one I was in (this is relevant). Anyhow, cue dismal wet afternoon in grimly northern town and I’m sitting there a bit bored out of my tree and I get a call from bloke over the road wishing to call in. He did. He proceeded to plonk himself down, make himself right at home and ask me if I was married....if I wished to be married.....if someone made it worth my while to get married...not a real marriage you understand, but someone he knew who needed a reason to stay in the UK. Strangely enough, I’d had better offers and politely declined. He was unamused. Why not? Was I not healthy? Not desiring marriage? Of child-bearing years? It was all very surreal and I wasn’t completely sure my temporary ‘boss’ had not put him up to it as he had a very weird sense of humour. Eventually man over the road left and I was so worried he might still be watching me, I hid under the desk before leaving for the day and did a sort of Mission Impossible manoeuvre with the lights off as I left. Didn’t go back. Amazingly.

I remember I went for a interview a few years ago , it was for a job was quite experienced in but for some reason 1 of the 2 guys didn't seam keen on me. I wasn't sure why I had all the relevant experience and asked all the right questions etc but this guy didn't seam keen on me for some reason . It was like he really disliked me and was very abrupt and rude . A couple of times when I asked a relevant question he almost sniggered . After 20 minutes of doing my best I could see I was winning a loosing battle and gave up . I just wrote it off as a bad interview and decided I probably wouldn't of got on with him and it was further than I wanted to travel anyway . It was with a recruitment agency and I never bothered asking for feedback, maybe I should've.

If remember another when I was 17 went for a job as office junior I was asked If I had a boyfriend . I thought it was odd question anyway I got the job , I didn't have a boyfriend at the time . I found out after the last office junior got pregnant and they sacked her so she took them to a tribunal . Anyway 18 months later I got pregnant they weren't happy , but they learnt from last time so all was ok and I eventually left to look after my child . This was late 90s .

No me but a friend at my company. My friend and i had worked together at a previous place, professional industry that had a certain skill set, very transferrable if you have the skill set. I left and went to another firm, a couple of years later we had a role come up and my friend had just been made redundant after 15 years at our previous firm.

This role was perfect for my friend, he was looking for a new job, myself and and colleague who knew my friend vouched for my friend. My director said fine, the role is his but i need to interview him just to confirm he has the skill set and the job is his.

All my friend had to do was answer the questions, keep it short and sweet and just show he understood the role, should be a piece of piss. Director comes back from the interview and says i know he's your friend but there's no way i can hire him. I'm shocked by this.

I speak to my friend later and he agrees with the directors decision. My friend is a nervous guy, hasn't interviewed for 15 years, so in his nervousness he just talked about his weaknesses and shortcomings. Completely ballsed it up. I've never heard of anyone blowing an interview like that, we still talk about it 8 years later

If you passed the first interview, the second interview was with the directors dogs. If you passed the dog interview you were then forced to give up one weekend a month to look after the directors dogs whilst he went on holiday, for one days Annual Leave in return. A finance role so not related in the slightest.

Interviewed for a air stewardess job for a Middle Eastern airline in the 2000s. Had to walk up and down a room in front of the interview panel then get weighed! Then asked what was I doing to fix my skin and did I take contraceptive pills?

Will your boyfriend be coming to the Christmas party??

.... Errrr. Bye.

@AdoptedBumpkin sorry should’ve clarified , yes hijab. I think she was just a terrible recruiter as a lot of the staff in Harrods / Selfridges wear it. Didn’t bother me much as I ended up landing a job the following week at a Spa

Many years ago I had an interview with a local authority for a fairly junior management role. At that time the councillors had decided that they needed to be involved in all manager interviews (nothing to do of course with them getting paid expenses for attending the 'meeting' as was the case then).
I had a technical interview with the service managers followed by the councillor panel interview.
I vividly remember them each reading out the questions parrot fashion from a list that had been prepared for them and clearly having little idea what they meant or whether my answers were correct.
It was also a convention at the time that councillors were fed at committee meetings so they were all tucking into cups of tea, sandwiches and cakes throughout. I didn't get the job (thank goodness).

I had an interview where I was asked to sit down and the interviewer just sat and looked at me. For ages. Then she said ”I can tell everything about a person by looking, we’ll be in touch, goodbye”

"So can I-I don't want the job-goodbye"

Worst was the one where the receptionist greeted me with "hope you haven't come far, love?"
London to Oxford for dream job...
"Cos he's going to hire someone who's a temp here already, and I warn you, he's been really rude to the other candidates!"

Very grateful for the heads-up as one of the questions was "who the fuck do you think you are?" and the rest were little better.

My first ever interview was for a uni course. First question was "Fancy a spliff?" I politely declined, the guy spent the next 20 minutes carefully rolling a joint and smoking it, telling me about his work, and at some point saying I had a place anyway. Probably a good introduction to academia...

I was once asked to build a structure out of spaghetti and marshmallows. Not as a team building activity, by myself in a room with 3 people watching me.
Another one I bust the fly on my suit trousers and sat with my jacket across my lap the whole time, while the interviewer kept asking me if I was sure I didn't want to hang my jacket up..in the end I said that I had busted the fly so was ok as I was