Strangest question a recruiter has asked you?

[stickydancefloor]

Had an online meeting this week with a recruitment agency.

It was all the usual questions until she asked me about the role I held previous to my current one...

"So you were there for 7 years?"
"Yes that's right"
"Who do you keep in touch with from there?"
"Well, no-one nowadays"
"Why's that?"
"I think that's natural when you move onto a new employer that you gradually lose touch with your old colleagues"
But why don't you keep in touch with them?"
"Like I said, we drifted after I left, I think that's quite normal really"
"So you don't speak to any of them?"
"No, it was 7 years ago I left there"
"But why don't you speak to them anymore?"
"Because I'd moved on and things change when you move on and aren't at the same employer"
"So you don't keep in touch with anyone there?"
"NO!!!"

Round and round in a circle!!!!! It was most bizarre!!!!

What the strangest questions you've had from a recruiter?!

What crossword puzzle do you do, just as I was leaving. He mustn’t have liked the answer.....I didn’t get the job!

I got asked once in an interview at a law firm "did you actually do your GCSEs as they're not on your CV"

Me - yes I did but as my A Levels, law degree and post grad are all listed and it is GCSEs are an entrance requirement for these courses I didn't think it was relevant.

Dicks.

My husband was asked what kind of porn he watches

I've always had the crappy jobs no one else wants so no interesting questions . I just get asked have you worked for sex chat lines before and which ones 😜

@FinallyFluid

So would I be safe to presume that you are not a member of the IRA ?

Beat that for a jaw dropper.

Ha ha! I shouldnt laugh but they'd have deserved it if you said "yes. Is that a problem? Do i get the job?"

A positive story - a recruitment consultant asked me if I was being bullied at my previous workplace when we were discussing a temporary role I was interested in. I didn't see that coming and she was right. I got the job and I've been at the organisation for many years.

I've had some weird interviews. I had to do an online test in a noisy office. Two administrators made a big deal about talking in loud voices about something one of them had bought.

In another interview someone on the panel crept into the room half way through the interview and didn't say anything.

What was your father's rank in the army, how much money did your house cost, is your husband really a brain surgeon and is that a real designer bag? Sadly all by women.

Not an interviewer, but city job late 90s, posh boy broker asked me "did you grow up with pigs in the kichen?". When I said "no, did you?" he was offended 😅
He also asked me if my Dad was a builder. I said no he is a geography teacher, is your Dad a builder?". Again, he was offended. 😅

I was also asked the IRA question many years ago. I was shocked!

The sublime: are you ok for us to call a first aider to look at that?
On the way through their reception area I had tripped over a raised metal cable cover —remember them?— and was bleeding profusely from a few sites.

Due to the injury to my head and face they took me to A&E to check for concussion.

They called me back for the interview. I went. I got the job, I loved it and stayed for a few years.

The ridiculous: if you were a fruit, what fruit would you be?

Off the top of my head, I said a strawberry and gave my reasons.
I got that job too 🤷🏼‍♀️

I was going for an elected position and was asked if I was ‘the same as x (my main opponent)’ because ‘they didn’t want to back a lesbian candidate’.

Yes, you read that right.

It was 20 years ago.

And I thought mine were rude. IRA? Shameful.

@tigerbread20

My husband was asked what kind of porn he watches

I wonder if it was the same organisation as my "how many people have you slept with?" because that was another one in the same interview

Interviewer ‘what does your husband do for a living?’

Me ‘I’m not married’

Interviewer ‘Oh, sorry, I thought you said you had a child !’

Me ‘Yes I do’

TUMBLEWEED FLOATS PAST.

Didn’t get the job

Have had plenty of childcare questions over the years. The bizarrest question ever asked was if you could be any animal, what would it be & why. The best interview I ever had was the MD sitting me down and saying she was crap at interviewing and me replying I wasn’t so hot at them either. She made me a brew and showed me round the factory. Offered me the job the next day. She was a sneaky one as she didn’t tell me half of what the job entailed until day 2! Was supremely under qualified, had a month to learn accounts & payroll on top of learning their processes & procedures. Still there.... best job ever.

Not me, but my 17 year old DD went for an interview at a restaurant recently and was asked “If you were a Mister Man/Little Miss character, which one would you be”. She responded with Mr Clumsy or Little Miss Chatterbox - she didn’t get the job.

I'd done a personality test beforehand (love those ) and the interviewer said 'I see here you're (e.g.) quiet, introverted and serious. How do you think you'll fit in here?'

I sat open mouthed for a bit before saying 'Are you sure those are my results? That doesn't sound ANYTHING like me!'

He laughed and said he always does that trick to see how people react, if they're people pleasers who try to talk their way out of it.

It was fine for my personality but if someone really was like that then they'd find it quite hard to respond and I'm not sure it's a great test as organisations need a variety of 'types', to play to different strengths.

One recruiter once asked me that he wanted to meet in person before I went to the employer interview...in case I had a limp. It was an I.T job

I once got asked.. there's an elephant in your bath, how did it get there??

I also got asked why the sky is blue.

@cracracatlady

Recent one asked me my star sign

If it was that important to them, they should have been able to work it out from your date of birth!

Maybe these abhorrent interviewers asking women if they plan to have children/what are their childcare arrangements should ask men the same questions? Or just employ post-menopausal women. Except they are also ageist and won’t want them either. 😡

@StCharlotte

I have no stories to add (my interviews have always been boring and 100% about my skills and the role) but what industry are you in?!

@LittleBoxes

'What school did your father go to?'

Posh secretarial agency, mid-90s. DF went to the local state grammar but I don't think that was an acceptable answer

This reminds me of the story of a student who got straight As a A-Level and her headmaster recommended her for Oxford. She passed the Oxford Entrance with flying colours, but was rejected after going for an interview. Her mother commented at the time: "I can't help wondering how many marks she lost when she was asked 'Do you live in your own house?' and replied 'No, in a council house'."

I had one ask me very sharply how do I know you're not a paedophile I was just like 😶😶😶 I'm not and she kept saying yes but how do I KNOW you're not. The answer I finally realised she was looking for was a DBS check but honestly she was a complete loon!

@stickydancefloor

Had an online meeting this week with a recruitment agency.

It was all the usual questions until she asked me about the role I held previous to my current one...

"So you were there for 7 years?"
"Yes that's right"
"Who do you keep in touch with from there?"
"Well, no-one nowadays"
"Why's that?"
"I think that's natural when you move onto a new employer that you gradually lose touch with your old colleagues"
But why don't you keep in touch with them?"
"Like I said, we drifted after I left, I think that's quite normal really"
"So you don't speak to any of them?"
"No, it was 7 years ago I left there"
"But why don't you speak to them anymore?"
"Because I'd moved on and things change when you move on and aren't at the same employer"
"So you don't keep in touch with anyone there?"
"NO!!!"

Round and round in a circle!!!!! It was most bizarre!!!!

What the strangest questions you've had from a recruiter?!

I’m a Recruiter. I work in internal recruitment these days for a food retailer. But started in agency recruitment many moons ago.

Sounds to me like she was on a fishing expedition. Fishing for information about who else she could try to poach from there