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Original poster

To ask for your bad interview stories?

96 replies

luanncountess · 18/02/2022 11:25

I just had an interview for a masters course in social work this morning and it went terribly. They had sent me documents to read and social work values and a bit about professional accountability. It was a group 'discussion' and I had really prepared but rather than a discussion, they asked questions directed at each person and the question was nothing to do with the documents they sent over. I think that's what threw me off. I am cringing at how bad it went, they had to prompt me to talk and when I did I don't think anything I said made much sense, I was rambling on, I can't really remember as my adrenaline was going so much. I remember saying that just because a child is in care doesn't mean they are 'doomed' 🤦‍♀️ I actually used the word doomed. What is wrong with me? I 100 percent will not have gotten a place on the course which I am a bit gutted about, feel like I've let myself down.

Trying to cheer myself up has anyone had some awful interview stories to share?

OP posts:
Original poster
luanncountess · 18/02/2022 12:16

Bump Blush

OP posts:
Thelnebriati · 18/02/2022 12:25

That would have thrown me, I would probably have blurted out something about receiving the wrong documents and being unprepared.
My worst one was a job interview that went really well, but at the end they pointed out I had a tremor and did I know? I did not know, and that wasn't a great way to find out I needed to go to the doctor!

PumpkinPie2016 · 18/02/2022 12:25

Ah sorry to hear it didn't go as well as you hoped Flowers

I once had an interview for a teaching position when I was training and despite planning the demo lesson, it went so badly 😢 literally couldn't have been any worse Blush

It happens! You never know, you may be offered a place.

konasana · 18/02/2022 12:27

The candidate's mobile phone went off - three times! Once I could forgive but three times, no.

Another candidate just didn't answer one of the questions about a challenge they had faced. Literally just sat there in silence. It was so awkward.

Astitichintimesaveswine · 18/02/2022 12:30

My interview for a Masters in social work went badly too, but I got accepted much to my surprise.

I was talking about something personal and I started wellling up! I don't know why, probably nerves and having them looking at me so closely. It was really embarrassing.

It might not have been as bad as you think.

SarahAndQuack · 18/02/2022 12:30

Ouch! That would have thrown me too.

The one I am most cross about, they were interviewing for people working in a broad area and you were meant to bring your own project to it for them to assess. My work is on pregnancy loss and they asked if I thought it was appropriate to work on something that might be upsetting. Hmm Like, yes, of course it's upsetting, that's kind of the point, and the reason we might need some actual research to help people.

The same interview one of the panel asked me about the book I'd just finished writing, which is about lesbians in history, and kept asking how sure we could ever be about sexuality in the past. 1) This is addressed on the first page of my book, just like it is on every single other history of sexuality title written in the last four decades, and 2) it felt really, uncomfortably, personal, like I was meant to confide I had special lesbian powers of lesbian-finding.

A fair few people did say afterwards it might be a good thing I didn't get the job! Grin

Darbs76 · 18/02/2022 12:33

Got my first interview in 15yrs coming up (for a promotion) and I’m scared! Need to start preparing, job for this afternoon

LaBellina · 18/02/2022 12:34

That’s the weirdest interview I have ever heard of. Perhaps you’ve dodged a bullet if you did indeed not perform well, it all seems strange and unprofessional.

I once burst out in tears during an interview because the manager was so nasty and getting really personal. That was one of his techniques to test potential hires. I really needed the job so I accepted it when they offered it to me. Not surprisingly, the manager was not only a twat during the interview.

Though what I hated the most about interviews in my early 30s was the shameless fishing for information about my personal life (I did not mention my marital status on my CV because it’s completely irrelevant for my kind of job. I generally really do not like sharing personal details about my life with complete strangers that I might never see again). Questions like ‘so are you in a relationship’, ‘what’s your living situation, do you live alone’ etc were commonplace. I always found it rude and humiliating in a way having to answer those questions because you know they wouldn’t ask a man these things.

Original poster
luanncountess · 18/02/2022 12:37

Yeah the documents that they sent was 125 pages long, I read them from start to finish, highlighting, taking notes and then the questions were - probably quite simple to others - nothing to do with any of it. I feel like I over prepared and should have just went in relaxed as the questions were actually quite simple but really threw me off as just not what I expected. Ugh keep cringing Blush

These stories are doing the trick though Grin

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Original poster
luanncountess · 18/02/2022 12:38

@Darbs76

Got my first interview in 15yrs coming up (for a promotion) and I’m scared! Need to start preparing, job for this afternoon
Good luck! I'm sure you will do very well. It's hard to prepare for an interview cause you just never know what to expect, I really dislike them.
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Hoppinggreen · 18/02/2022 12:40

I am actually conducting phone interviews at the moment for a professional role.
Had what looked like a good candidate, interview going well - he was a bit cocky but nothing major
Then he asked if he could use his own laptop for the role and I said we preferred people to use the laptop we provided.
He then hung up on me and sent me a text telling me I was an “ignorant peasant” followed by lots of angry face emojis

Original poster
luanncountess · 18/02/2022 12:46

@Hoppinggreen

I am actually conducting phone interviews at the moment for a professional role. Had what looked like a good candidate, interview going well - he was a bit cocky but nothing major Then he asked if he could use his own laptop for the role and I said we preferred people to use the laptop we provided. He then hung up on me and sent me a text telling me I was an “ignorant peasant” followed by lots of angry face emojis
Oh...wow. How random and deranged!
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Original poster
luanncountess · 18/02/2022 12:47

@Astitichintimesaveswine

My interview for a Masters in social work went badly too, but I got accepted much to my surprise.

I was talking about something personal and I started wellling up! I don't know why, probably nerves and having them looking at me so closely. It was really embarrassing.

It might not have been as bad as you think.

Aww there is no hope for me, honestly it was painfully bad!
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MintyFreshBreath · 18/02/2022 15:55

I turned up at 8.30am for a job interview. Quite chuffed as it was early and I could get it out of the way. Then another person came, and another, and another. It turns out it was a group interview and they’d neglected to tell a single one of us. Only that wasn’t the worst part. One of the people who turned up was my former fuck buddy and all I could think was ‘you’ve seen me naked’ 🤦‍♀️

I didn’t get the job.

lastqueenofscotland · 18/02/2022 16:01

I interviewed someone for a job that clearly advertised that one Saturday a month you can to come to the office for 3 hours. Had a woman come in for an interview who before we had even introduced ourselves said “I can’t do those Saturdays I know that won’t be a problem.” To which we explained it was essential. And she actually shrieked “BUT I AM A MOTHER.” So was 90% of the team love.

Another time someone said, well I’m sure you know who I am. And I’m there thinking.. well I have your CV?! We googled him and turned out he used to do porn!

Onlyforcake · 18/02/2022 16:05

Out of absolutely nowhere i cried. There asked me about my plans for the next five years and I just cried. No fucking clue why Blush. I actually got a second interview offered but (thankfully) i was offered a different job I was after.

Longdistance · 18/02/2022 16:15

I was sat in at an interview with my manager. We needed someone for our branch and as I’d have been working with them, I’d have to be there.
The woman turned up acting a little strange, we didn’t think much about it but she whinged about how many buses she had to get there. Thought it was nerves. Manager sat her in the room and gave her a test to do. She was on and off her phone, so the manager went in to speak with her as it could be she was cheating. She was all over the place. Next thing she burst into tears. Manager sat with her had a chat, told her to come back another day. As my manager helped her with her bag, there was a ‘clunk’ noise. She was pissed 🥴

Topaz67 · 18/02/2022 16:16

At one I was asked if I was engaged or planned to have children. Over 20 years ago but even so…. Another one the actual owner asked how I would deal with him and the other business partner watching porn on their laptops in the office. Again over 20 years ago, but I didn’t have the confidence on either occasion to say what I felt.

Partyatnumber10 · 18/02/2022 16:18

A couple of years ago I was on an interview panel and one candidate was incredibly nervous.
She couldn't get the answer to the first question out at all and started to cry.
We sent her out to walk around the block, get her notes and try again.
She came back, cried twice more, had to have every question explained in several different ways and given example answers before she could have a try at answering them.
In the end, my boss who is incredibly kind asked me to give her a tour of the building and work some of the questions into general conversation.
She didn't get the job but my boss found her a colleague course with an apprenticeship type placement with us, she got taken on the year after and is a brilliant employee.

talkingbubble · 18/02/2022 16:24

You might be pleasantly surprised and get on the course. Interviewers know there's going to be nerves and a good interviewer will sort through the nonsense to find the good stuff. They'll be looking for potential. If I'd been in your shoes I would have interjected my answer with 'sorry, feeling a bit nervous and feel like I'm rambling'. 'Doomed' is not really so bad, did any of them look like they were trying not to smile because you made me laugh at that.
My bad interview story was a guy told me that I was attractive and would probably be getting married soon (checking how long I'd stay in the post presumably). And all I could respond was, 'oh! Okay. Thanks'. Cringe.

talkingbubble · 18/02/2022 16:28

@konasana

The candidate's mobile phone went off - three times! Once I could forgive but three times, no.

Another candidate just didn't answer one of the questions about a challenge they had faced. Literally just sat there in silence. It was so awkward.

Why do they ask that stupid question 'tell us about a challenge you've faced'. What a bizarre thing to ask to assess a potential employee. 'Yeah, I never used to be able to lift my body weight, but now I can'. It's stupid.
MrsDamonSalvatore · 18/02/2022 16:28

Not me but my uncle. He’d worked for himself for many years and when his business went to the wall he had to apply for jobs working for someone else. Some of the jobs involved physically demanding work and he was probably in his late 50s by then. To prove how strong and fit he was, he offered to arm wrestle the interviewer there and then! (So he told my mum, in all seriousness!) A few years later, I heard a radio phone in programme about funny interview stories and someone said they’d had an interviewee offer to arm wrestle them! I wonder if it was the same interview?!

HeartofAss · 18/02/2022 16:30

I had a candidate who I had to ask the same question to 6 times (worded differently as I was trying to be encouraging). Each time I asked it she started talking about a different topic instead of answering the question. In the end I said, can I give you some feedback - did you realise I've asked you this question 6 times so far? (It wasn't a personal question, it was a basic question regarding the content of our work). She just laughed and said yes, I was avoiding answering it hahahaha. We rejected her and she sent us THREE emails complaining that we didn't respect diverse ways of thinking

TronDeReplay · 18/02/2022 16:33

@Partyatnumber10

A couple of years ago I was on an interview panel and one candidate was incredibly nervous. She couldn't get the answer to the first question out at all and started to cry. We sent her out to walk around the block, get her notes and try again. She came back, cried twice more, had to have every question explained in several different ways and given example answers before she could have a try at answering them. In the end, my boss who is incredibly kind asked me to give her a tour of the building and work some of the questions into general conversation. She didn't get the job but my boss found her a colleague course with an apprenticeship type placement with us, she got taken on the year after and is a brilliant employee.
That's really nice of your boss! Interviews are weird situations, you can't always predict how you'll react Grin I had one where half of my top was undone - I had a cami on underneath but I felt like such an idiot when I got home and realised.
RedBonnet · 18/02/2022 16:36

Being interviewed by the manager of the team I'd be working for. I mentioned a certain (scientific) thing and he said he'd never heard of it. He said he was an expert in the field. I explained it in more detail so it was obvious to the others on the panel that I wasn't mistaken. I knew I wouldn't get the job. Not many men want a subordinate female who knows more than they do (and shows them up in the interview 🤣)