Most HR professionals have interesting interview stories, but some of these ones take strange interviews to a new level.
A question posted on AskReddit asking HR professionals and managers to tell their worst job interview stories yielded some bizarre and hilarious results. Here are a few of our favourites.
The thumb-sucker
“Last year, I went to a job fair at a local college to tell people about the internship at my office. A young lady stops at my table, asks what kind of jobs I have available, and hands me her resume. I look down to skim her resume. When I look back up, she has her thumb in her mouth.
“I asked her about her major, her previous jobs, her availability, and she answered all my questions while she sucked her thumb. Sad thing is, other than that, she was probably the most qualified person I saw all day.”
The squirrel-talker
“I have a standard question: ‘If you could choose a superpower, what would it be?’ The best answer ever was ‘the ability to speak to squirrels’. The worst: ‘Ummmm...the Soviet Union?’”
The gas-bag
“Me: What’s one of your weaknesses?
“Him: Well. Sometimes after lunch, I can get a little gassy.”
The drinker
“During an interview we asked the candidate for an example of when they had to do something, which was out of their comfort zone. She replied with: ‘On a night out last year I drank way too many shots and had to have my stomach pumped. That was really uncomfortable’.”
The unfortunate answer
“During a job interview one time I said, ‘I love children’. That’s usually a good thing to say, except the question was, ‘What’s your greatest weakness?’”
The mummy’s boy
“Oh god, I have a million. Most recent was a guy who filled out his application via texts from his mother. He would take a picture of the question on the app and she would text him back the answer. He took an hour to fill out a two page basic application.”
The thumb-sucker
“Last year, I went to a job fair at a local college to tell people about the internship at my office. A young lady stops at my table, asks what kind of jobs I have available, and hands me her resume. I look down to skim her resume. When I look back up, she has her thumb in her mouth.
“I asked her about her major, her previous jobs, her availability, and she answered all my questions while she sucked her thumb. Sad thing is, other than that, she was probably the most qualified person I saw all day.”
The squirrel-talker
“I have a standard question: ‘If you could choose a superpower, what would it be?’ The best answer ever was ‘the ability to speak to squirrels’. The worst: ‘Ummmm...the Soviet Union?’”
The gas-bag
“Me: What’s one of your weaknesses?
“Him: Well. Sometimes after lunch, I can get a little gassy.”
The drinker
“During an interview we asked the candidate for an example of when they had to do something, which was out of their comfort zone. She replied with: ‘On a night out last year I drank way too many shots and had to have my stomach pumped. That was really uncomfortable’.”
The unfortunate answer
“During a job interview one time I said, ‘I love children’. That’s usually a good thing to say, except the question was, ‘What’s your greatest weakness?’”
The mummy’s boy
“Oh god, I have a million. Most recent was a guy who filled out his application via texts from his mother. He would take a picture of the question on the app and she would text him back the answer. He took an hour to fill out a two page basic application.”