To ask for your funniest/weirdest/most awkward job interview experiences have been?

[NightandViolets]

Asking as I’m dipping my toes into the jobs hunt after a long time in my current role and it got me thinking about some very random interviews I’ve had from both sides!

my weirdest moment as an interviewee was when I was blathering on and suddenly the main interviewer got up and left without a word. I carried on and she came back with a tissue then proceeded to take a caterpillar off my shoulder and throw it out the window! She said it had been distracting her! It broke the ice in quite a po faced interview but I didn’t get the job 😉

then from the other side I have had some humdingers but one that really stands out is the woman that brought a book of poetry she’d written to recite to us (the job had nothing to do with creative writing!). She didn’t get the job either!

please share yours and say if you got the job or not as I could do with a giggle 🤭

[MsFannySqueers]

I have had a few! The one that made me really angry though was an interview my DS attended with a well known charitable organisation. Part of the interview was held outdoors on a very hot, very sunny day. The two short listed candidates, my DS and another person were sat round as the interviewer asked them various questions. My DS didn’t get the position, fair enough though he thought the interview went well. When he asked for feedback he was told he didn’t get the job because the interviewer couldn’t see his eyes during questioning. My DS’s prescription specs had reacted in the sunlight to darken into sunglasses. He is blind as a bat without his specs and has to wear them. Turned out subsequently that the other candidate was the sister of the interviewer and strangely she was offered the position!

[NightandViolets]

@finished31

Back when I was 19 I went for a junior role in an accounts department. The interview was very laid back back - walked me around the building and into the main office to meet the team . Main interview with boss and assistant they offered hot drinks etc, felt confident until......the boss said something and I literally spat the coffee all over him.
His shirt was splattered with coffee stains.

I go the job and invited on the Christmas night out the following weekend.

Oh cringing on your behalf for the coffee bit- totally something I would do 😳

[Leafblow]

Interviewing for a position that would involve working with children, the interview was held in a childrens support center, they had cahms services there as well as physio and OT etc.
I was ushered into a waiting room that had lots of baby/toddler aimed toys, like bouncy chairs, duplo blocks, light up plastic toys and a lot of jack in the boxes.
The woman who showed me where to go said that someone would be there to interview me shortly, she then left.
About ten minutes later a boy who looked about 13 walked in and sat on one of the other sofas. I said Hi and asked if he was alright, he nodded, said 'yeah fine' got his phone out and angled himself away from me.
We sat there for another 10 minutes and the original woman came back and said I could leave as they didn't think I was the right fit for the company.
Apparently the boy (her son) had been part of the interview, a test to see how I engaged with children- they had been waiting for me to use the toys to interact with him.

Weirdest set up, but I was definitely not going to be the right fit if they wanted someone who would approach a random teenager in a waiting room with a jack in the box.

[NightandViolets]

@TheRookieMum

Countryside ranger type job, for a live-in post. Whole day interview with an old lord in his 80s, his entitled son around about 50 and an unrelated woman who would be my direct boss if appointed.

Got to the end of the day, sat down for the formal interview thinking it was going well for both sides only for the old lord to ask me if my periods were a problem "because we run a tight ship and can't afford someone off ill every month". I was so shocked I only stuttered an answer of "I'm fine", and knew then and there that as good as the actual job sounded, I couldn't have taken it if offered. I wasn't in the end. Can't believe any woman would work for them to be honest.

Wow - I’m glad you didn’t end up in a job where they think it’s acceptable to ask things like that!

[LadyFlumpalot]

An interviewer once asked me "if your friends were to describe you as a vegetable, which vegetable would it be and why?" I just looked at him a bit flabbergasted and he said "ok, let's move on". Didn't get the job funnily enough.

[mackthepony]

Fizz drink made me laugh

I had a friend interview and they were asked if they wanted tea or coffee? Tea, she said. Milk or lemon? Both please, she said

Interviewer was like 🤔🤔

😂😂👏

[AngeloMysterioso]

www.mumsnet.com/talk/_chat/4414830-Holy-hell-just-had-THE-toughest-job-interview-that-I-have-ever-experienced-Come-tell-me-your-interview-horror-stories

[Andrelaxzz]

I got locked out my house about an hour before an interview so had to borrow my friends too small trousers. As I sat down in the silent room they very loudly unzipped. Everyone looked down at me now flying low. I was too embarrassed to zip up so just carried on. I got the job and they all took the piss in the pub!

Two years later, pretty much the same panel I went for an interview. We all knew each other well by then. I am quite annoyingly chatty. But on the first question justfrozen and sat in silence opening and shutting my mouth like a goldfish. Until one if them said "quietest you've ever been" which we all laughed at and I remembered how to speak. Got that job too 😁

[imnotthatkindofmum]

My worst interview was for a recruitment company, I was probably around 20. The interviewer was a patronising twat. Years later my then DH started working there and has now owned his own business for 10 years with patronising twat. I still think he's a patronising twat.

[IbizaToTheNorfolkBroads]

I went for an interview the day I moved out of a flatshare. I did a quick wipe round of the kitchen before I went. A bit later the interviewer stared in astonishment as orange spots appeared on my navy trousers where I'd splashed them with bleach.

[countvoncount]

I was just a kid, ridiculously nervous, flat out fainted, came round to my prospective boss straddling me, fanning my face furiously with a cosmopolitan shouting "ring her mother"
They sent me away in a taxi, I went back 2 days later, got the job and stayed for 16 years, only leaving when the boss retired.

[YetMoreNewBeginnings]

@Leafblow

Interviewing for a position that would involve working with children, the interview was held in a childrens support center, they had cahms services there as well as physio and OT etc.
I was ushered into a waiting room that had lots of baby/toddler aimed toys, like bouncy chairs, duplo blocks, light up plastic toys and a lot of jack in the boxes.
The woman who showed me where to go said that someone would be there to interview me shortly, she then left.
About ten minutes later a boy who looked about 13 walked in and sat on one of the other sofas. I said Hi and asked if he was alright, he nodded, said 'yeah fine' got his phone out and angled himself away from me.
We sat there for another 10 minutes and the original woman came back and said I could leave as they didn't think I was the right fit for the company.
Apparently the boy (her son) had been part of the interview, a test to see how I engaged with children- they had been waiting for me to use the toys to interact with him.

Weirdest set up, but I was definitely not going to be the right fit if they wanted someone who would approach a random teenager in a waiting room with a jack in the box.

I thought that was going to end with the odd set up being that they said no because they wanted you to have come out and said you couldn’t/wouldn’t sit alone in a room with a random child.

[imnotthatkindofmum]

As a teacher my worst interview was when I turned up to interview for a temp RS role and the other interviewee was there for a permanent and HOD position. There weren't 2 roles 🤷🏻‍♀️ For my lesson I was given a really belligerent year 10 class who were usually taught by the head, she was in the room and they were really badly behaved in spite of that. The other candidate had an enthusiastic year 7 class. The head of humanities came to talk to us and basically ignored me and inky spoke to her. In the interview she was in for about 40 mins, mine was 15 mins.

I've no idea why i stayed!

[jayhoo]

As candidate (1985). 'What does your boyfriend do, does he mind you working late, are you planning kids?' Me: 'ha ha ha, you know you can't ask those questions?' Didn't get job, didn't want it.

[BellatrixLestrangesHeatedCurlers]

My first job, working for a well-known catalogue place - ie. Argos. Told to bring something that encapsulated us as a person. Obviously people (normal people) half-assed it, brought in key rings like oh so I enjoy going on holiday… etc.

I brought in a huge encyclopaedia of film from 1918 to 2006 and breathlessly told everyone about how much I loved Fritz Lang’s films. You have to imagine this awkward shy 16 year old rabbiting on about the making of Metropolis, in a room of barely-concealed smirks. I got a job (desperate for staff) and proceeded to be pushed around, bullied by management and other employees, and cornered and sexually harassed multiple times in the stockroom.

They must have looked at this earnest kid and thought “yeah how can we break
that”. Fuckers.

[starpatch]

I had a zoom interview it was during covid but during summertime. My dad was helping me paint the outside of the house. He texted and said he was coming over that morning to paint and I texted back can you make it the afternoon, I didn't explain about he interview, because my parents are of the generation they think every interview you go to you should get the job. Any way I was just getting ready on zoom when my dad appeared painting around my upstairs window on a ladder- I moved to the back room but he then appeared next to that window during the actual interview- the interviewers didn't know about it but I didn't get the job.

[BankOfDave]

I interviewed someone once. Standard questions like give of an example of when you’ve done this (quite a technical thing). They responded and then added “and I’m a twin so there’s that as well”. Eh? Just a v odd interview all round.

Me and the other person were like 🤔 is this a BOGOF recruitment situation?

[mrsjg]

When I was 17, I went for an interview for a YTS placement. The owners, a married couple interviewed me. Part way through the interview the wife asked me 'what are you like every month'. To my shame I answered in a roundabout way. To this day I wished I'd had the guts to tell her to fuck off 😡

[LyndaSnellsSniff]

I applied for a job in an art gallery owned by a couple. In the interview the man sat opposite me and the woman sat beside me and I could sense her staring at my profile. Very odd but took a decided turn when he asked me about my partner and "how would I cope financially if we split up"? 🤨 Then the woman said, "do you always wear your hair like that?" 🤔😒

They kept chasing me for a second interview, but no thanks!

As an interviewer, I once interviewed someone who answered their phone halfway through. Good grief.

[DuesToTheDirt]

@DRS1970

I was asked at interview "if you were a wood, what wood would you be". I said walnut, which may have been wrong as I never got the job.

WTF! What the hell would be a good answer to that one? "Ebony, smooth and dark like chocolate." "Oak, sturdy and reliable." "Balsa, light and great for making model aeroplanes."

Have I got the job yet?

[Jellycatspyjamas]

I’ve interviewed a lot and had some very odd candidates.

I’ve also had some cracking interviews as a candidate. One I was called back for second interview with the HR director and the person who would be my line manager. I arrived 10 minutes early and the receptionist sat me in a waiting area just out of sight of the reception desk. While I was waiting someone appeared at reception and asked the receptionist for a report she had been working on. She went to print it and the printer jammed, the person looking for the report called her for everything, shouting, swearing and being a complete arse. A couple of minutes later I was ushered into the interview with said arse. I sat down, thanked them for inviting me and explained I didn’t think their ethos would suit me and left. The HR director called me to ask why I had left, she bloody knew what had happened, the whole office must have heard it.

[Polik]

Earlier this year I went for an Assistant Head job (large secondary academy). Teachers reading will appreciate the unique way teaching interviews usually work. It was nothing like that.

• I didn't meet a single child. No teaching, no pupil panel, not even a child showing me around the school.
• It was Senior DSL, school has 2 existing DDSL. I didn't meet either. I didn't see where the work, or told how they work. When it became clear the tour wasn't taking us to these people/areas I specifically asked if I could see/meet then. To be told by the (parachuted in) Principle that it wasn't possible.
• New Principle did the tour. He just loved the sound of his voice and told us all his plans. No opportunity for candidates to talk or question. Instead a 45 minute walking one-way lecture.
• formal interview they described as quick fire. Turned out there was a 60 second timer and that was the maximum for every answer. They only wanted short answers. No chance to get to know me or what skills or knowledge I have.
• I had to prepare and present a 20 min training session. Turns out they didn't want me to present it, they wanted to see how I dealt with a difficult staff member who refused to cooperate when I started the training.
• No down-time whatsoever in a full day interview. Moving from one fast paced task immediately to the next. It felt like a production line.

It was clear they wanted to see how I coped under pressure throughout. But really that's the only thing they learnt. They didn't appear to want to know how well I could do the actual job.

[InLoveWithPandora]

Interviewing a candidate for a Child Development Officer in a nursery (Scotland). She had a degree in English literature and a second degree in Childhood Practice.

I asked, "What is your understanding of a Curriculum for Excellence?"

She answered, "Well it's the various curricular areas like maths, literacy, science and all that."

I then asked, "Yes, but what is your understanding of its ethos?"

She replied, "Well it's the various curricular areas like I said. I mean - I have been writing about it in uni for the past 4 years!" She then looked proper put out at my perceived impertinence.

No - she did NOT get the job (despite looking like a fantastic applicant on paper).

[Interviewawfulness]

Most awkward as an interviewee - the one for a junior role 20 years ago where the interviewer tried to show me pictures of his kids on his computer and instead brought up porn 😱Some kind of email spam I think, but really not what you expect!!

As an interviewer - finding out in the toilet just beforehand that I was probably miscarrying and having to carry on with the interview 😥

[NightandViolets]

@Interviewawfulness

Most awkward as an interviewee - the one for a junior role 20 years ago where the interviewer tried to show me pictures of his kids on his computer and instead brought up porn 😱Some kind of email spam I think, but really not what you expect!!

As an interviewer - finding out in the toilet just beforehand that I was probably miscarrying and having to carry on with the interview 😥

I’m so sorry 😢