25 Job-Seekers That Left Hiring Managers Speechless

Job interviews can be nerve-wracking for candidates, but they can also be absolute nightmares for hiring managers and HR professionals. Someone on Reddit posed the question, "HR people, managers, etc: What's your worst job interview story?" and the responses ranged from hilariously awkward to outright shocking. Here are some of the most unforgettable tales shared in the thread.

Whether it's bringing your mom, falling asleep, or pitching a side hustle mid-interview, these candidates proved exactly what not to do. If you're on the job hunt, maybe take notes—so you don't end up in a future Reddit thread!

#1

Image source: urmomreddits, cottonbro studio After a nice hour long interview with one of the best candidates, he asked if he could speak with us for a moment about the lord. This guy wanted to recruit us to be JW.

#2

Image source: Crazy_Schizo, Antoni Shkraba One of my favorite moments came when I was interviewing someone for whom English was not their native language, and I think something got lost a bit in the translation. I asked a required question of the job: "Are you able to lift 30 pounds unassisted?" His reply: "Yes...I am a man." It was difficult to keep a straight face after that one.

#3

Image source: stormgirl, Mimi Thian We asked a lady who had come to interview for a position as a teacher's assistant what her experience was. She replied "well I used to be a child, so I do know about them".

#4

Image source: orty, Tim Gouw Years ago I had to interview somebody for a frontdesk position at our vacation rental company that was the most brutally honest person I've ever met in my entire life. There are just some things you try to avoid discussing during a job interview, if you can avoid it, but I almost wanted her because she was so honest (and she was actually very nice). We had standard questions we ask in every interview. One of them is "If there's one thing you could improve upon, what is it?" Her answer? "Well, I'm not the most punctual person in the world, and I'm frequently late for my job." *Okaaaaay*...How about driving record? "I've gotten a couple speeding tickets, and I currently don't have insurance on my car." *It slowly gets worse*... Do you have any felony convictions in the last 10 years that haven't been expunged by a court of law, blah blah (and we've never had anybody actually answer "Yes" to this)? "I have a felony possession of a stolen weapon on my record, but only because I was the lease holder on the apartment that the gun was found in, and it was my old roommate's gun." So we gave her an application to fill out, and she gets to the part on the form where it asks if they'll consent to d**g tests at random intervals, etc... . She asks how often they would be, and we said that she'd probably get one in her first 90 days, and then randomly thereafter. "Sorry for wasting your time, but I wouldn't be able to pass," and she sets down the application, says a polite goodbye and leaves our office. I have to say, that was the most entertaining interview I've ever sat in on.

#5

Image source: spgarbet, cottonbro studio "I see here on your resume you have a masters degree, what was your thesis on?" said I. "Uh, huh huh, thesis?" said he staring blankly at me. "You know the paper you had to write to graduate." I replied. "Oh, ah, it was on the keyboards. They're important for computers." He said. "So what exactly did you research about the keyboards?" I replied realizing I had a faker on my hands, but unable to resist how far the farce would go. "I, ah, got my friends to type and I watched them, then I could tell how to improve, ah, efficiency and ah quality." he answered. "So what statistical method did you use to demonstrate the improvements in efficiency and quality." I asked. "I ah, recorded some numbers and made sure that they typed different then ah, the numbers got better." he replied. "So just how did the numbers get better?" I continued. "Ah, the numbers got better quality after I researched. My thesis went well, I could type faster after that." he replied. "Name some data structures you studied in school getting your masters in C.S." I asked. "Ah, masters in C.S.? Oh, yeah, masters in C.S., we studied data and it was structured in orderly ways." he replied. "So name an order." I asked. "Alphabetical." he replied. "Very good." I replied. I looked at my watch, the fun was over and I wanted coffee. I announced the interview was over and ushered him out with all required pleasantries. I think he would have went all day .

#6

Image source: MasterMahan, Getty Images I once interviewed a woman who kept flirting with me, touching me, telling me how she was willing to do *anything* for this job, wink wink, etc. She was sort of attractive, but I sure as hell wasn't interested. Then came the clincher: Me: "What made you leave your previous position?" Her: "My boss fired me because I gave him herpes.".

#7

Image source: anon, Tima Miroshnichenko Heard this from a friend: Interviewer: So, what do you think are your strengths? Girl: My strengths are... my mother and father. Interviewer: How about your weaknesses? Girl: Uhm, honestly... Girl: ... chocolates.

#8

Image source: bowling4meth, Darya Sannikova Another horror story. I co-founded a freight company with a friend in another country, we were basically shipping goods back and forth, and through a couple of other countries using export duty arbitrage. We needed a driver who could travel from Le Havre in France to Piraeus in Greece, drop off some stuff and head back. After interviewing several people we have this Albanian guy come in for an interview. He tells us about his experience hauling freight but something's not quite right (for example, when we asked about routes he kept avoiding Germany and wanted to go up through Romania, whereas most of the other people I interviewed opted for better roads as they were given time bonuses), so my business partner pulls a favour with the French police and it turns out this guy was part of a smuggling gang, where they'd use legitimate vehicles to smuggle immigrants and track women. We were an ideal target because depending on his route he could pass through up to 6 (although with our timescales probably 4) pick up and drop off points. Needless to say, he didn't get the job.

#9

Image source: DFWPhotoguy, Andrea Piacquadio 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.

#10

Image source: madmardigan, Andrew Tanglao Interviewing a woman. I asked her what her weakness was. and her reply was .. UMMM Shoes?? she was hired by the way.

#11

Probably won't be seen, but have to share. Job Requirements: Specific technical acumen; client-facing skills Interviewer: Me 10:00 AM - Busy day, so I skip meeting to review resume. Looks fine except for NSFW email address. 11:00 AM - Guy doesn't answer phone. Voicemail message is recorded by a girlfriend or relative and says something about John and his cat not being home. I start to get concerned but leave friendly message anyway. "Call me back directly if you get this in the next few minutes, otherwise just call the main office and reschedule for another time." 2:00 PM - Phone rings. I don't recognize the number and say "hello it's Nick". "Uhh, yeah, I was, umm, sleeping. I'm on medications for my disorder and..." Me: "Wooah there. Is this John? Umm, any medical conditions aren't my business, but I do have a few minutes to talk now if you'd like" (anticipating it will be short). Him: "Yeah it's just for voices but it makes me sleepy and I had my lights off and, yeah, umm, so..." Me: "Anyway, I was told you're interested in this technical position. Can you talk a little about your last position on your resume and your role in the project?" Him: "Well I really didn't work in that, I just watched someone do it" Me: "Umm, so could you tell me what technology or framework was used?" Him: "I think it was.. uhhh" * I put my head down as he speed-rambles for another minute, waiting for a break to end the call * Him: "...so now you've seen me at my worst, I guess. Do you think I'll get the job?" Me: (thinking *wtf did he just say?*) "Uhh. Well we're looking for someone experienced in X technologies, and it doesn't really sound like you've worked in it. I'd hate to waste both of our time here so I'd just like to thank you for calling back and wish you luck in future searches." Him: (screaming) "NOOOO! That's not true! I'm really great in other stuff? What can I tell you to get the job?!" Me: "Sorry, but I'll have to let you go now. I'll pass along my review notes and if we find a good fit for your skill set, we'll give you a call back." Him: "Oh! Good. How long will that take?" *le click*. Image source: Uber_Nick

#12

Image source: anon, Ari Roberts 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.".

#13

Image source: EnlightningLinZ, Kampus Production I used to be a receptionist for someone who did short pre-screening interviews for people applying for entry-level jobs. They were supposed to be like 5 minutes and she would just ask them questions about their experience after they finished filling out the application. There are some really dumb people who came in for these but one guy in particular stands out for pure cluelessness. She asked him the 6 or 7 questions, and then she tried wrapping it up and he just didn't understand that the interview was over. English was his first language and she was trying to be polite saying "I have no more questions" and "was there anything you wanted to ask me?" but he would not leave. He just sat there in the chair looking dumb. She even left her office for and came to talke to me for a bit and he just sat there staring into space. Even after she was a bit more direct he wouldn't leave, eventually she just took his arm and said "okay you have to go now" and led him out. It was ridiculous. He didn't get a second interview.

#14

Image source: anon, cottonbro studio I had a guy show up in a t-shirt and jeans to a developer interview. He didn't look as if he had showered, wasn't nervous at all, knew barely any coding, and said he couldn't start for a month because he and his band were going on tour. We didn't hire him.

#15

Image source: floorplanner, Paul Hanaoka I a co-worker were interviewing applicants and my co-worker asked what kind of animal they'd like to be. The applicant said a cat, because they're sneaky and can get away with stuff. Then there was the guy who wrote his application letter in purple crayon.

#16

Image source: sunshineml, Cherrydeck In high school, one of my girlfriends went in for a job at Ralphs, when asked why she wanted to work there, she responded, "I like food". She was hired and came to be known as food girl.

#17

Image source: Tface, Polina Zimmerman Me: What's one of your weaknesses? Him: Well. Sometimes after lunch, I can get a little gassy.

#18

Image source: anon, Yunus Tuğ I was a manager of a video rental chain store in a city that is built around a college. We hired a majority of college students whose parents wouldn't support their drinking and d**g habits, but some people were single parents living in the outlying area. One girl told me in the interview that she was a recovering alcoholic and needed the job for probation. She was drunk at the interview. A huge burly guy came in and during the interview told me that he needed the money for a new engine for his truck. After he had it, he was going to quit. Another kid admitted that he was fired from his last job for stealing movies. It wasn't on his application. The best was a college student that came in and was a well known d**g dealer. He told me that he needed the paycheck to cover all of the stuff he was buying with his d**g money. I ended up hiring him... because of the slim pickings in the area, and his references at other jobs (although only 3 month spurts) were great. He ended up being a great worker and the District Manager wondered why when she offered him the job as my Assistant Manager, he kept turning it down. And he only wanted to work 3 days a week. When I left, he was still there and from what I hear, he used that experience as a Shift Lead (he did accept that eventually), his business degree and his experience as a "entrepreneur" to land a job in some other city in finance.

#19

Image source: bowling4meth, Mina Rad One place I worked we had a guy come in for a deep technical reverse engineering job. The initial smalltalk went ok, so we started asking questions about debugging and it became pretty clear he knew nothing but kept making stuff up anyway. We kept saying to him if he didn't know the answer it was fine, just say so and he kept making stuff up. In the end I was asking him questions like how can you avoid remotely exploitable memory allocation bugs when using Ethernet over UDP, and he kept answering. My favourite bit was when he told us how he'd get root access on Windows Servers by exploiting Redhat Apache packages.

#20

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?". Image source: brianfit

#21

Image source: blatherblather, Louis Hansel I work at an investment firm where we train new financial advisors coming in from a different industry. In the first interview I asked "Tell me what you're doing now?" and he launched into a 10 minute tirade (I had to stop him) about how his evil boss at taco bell framed him for giving nacho's to his friend. Didn't make the second interview.

#22

Image source: cmc, instantredress.co I'm not an HR person, but the other day someone came in to my department for an interview wearing a zoot suit. I didn't even know those were still available to buy.

#23

Image source: froggieogreen, Dwayne joe One time, a woman showed up for an interview wearing the most ridiculous outfit I've ever seen. Her sandles were so high I don't know how she was able to walk, and her fingernails and toenails were that waaaaay-too long and creepy (I don't mean those regular fake nails, but the 2+ inch long ones) type with the little dangly charms on the tips. Her makeup was actually not that bad, just a little heavy for daytime wear. Her skirt was so short and tight that I was able to notice that she wasn't wearing underwear and I remember to this day that she was wearing a red bra with little white hearts on it. The interview was a formality and a waste of time. It was pretty obvious from the moment she walked through the front door that she wasn't family-restaurant material.

#24

Image source: BillyBreen, KATRIN BOLOVTSOVA Coworker of mine was interviewing a junior developer for a job writing web performance testing code. To gauge the dude's interest in the field, my coworker asked what the guy liked most about the internet. The guy said "p**n." Then he realized what he had said, panicked, and asked my coworker not to tell anyone he had said that. I mean, it's the right answer, but not in that context. He didn't get the job.

#25

Image source: anon While in college I worked at a hotel as a front desk manager. I had that job for 2 days when they told me to hire more people. I said, sure, no problem, post it. I'd never done a management gig before. They said they'd post the job and would screen resumes. I get the stack and look through. A few good candidates and a guy who had a PhD in psych. Hrmm, odd that a guy with a PhD would want to make 7.25 and drive 70 miles each way to do so. I put that one on the bottom of the stack. Interviewed all of the others, the office manager called me in and said "you need to interview this guy". I told her that I wasn't getting why he'd apply with us for that little money and the drive. "Doesn't matter, he's capable". I call, he said he'd be there that night. Guy arrives dressed ok. Older but very anxious looking. I go through the interview questions and explain the job. He asks me when he can start. I tell him that I need to check references. He gets agitated and I tell him that we have to check references. I ask him if it's ok if I call his. "No". Hrmm. I thank him for his time and leave. He sits in the lobby a while then starts to bother the girl at the front desk before leaving. I note this on his app and file it away. A week later he calls and is upset he didn't hear from us. GM tells him why. He calls the corporate office and complains then the ESC and says we didn't hire him because he's old. The lawyers get involved, nothing more. 6 years later (and a different career later) I start an IT gig with a state agency. I'm in my office one day when I hear a knock on the door. It's that guy....he works there as a psych. He gives me an odd look, asks if we've met. I act like we haven't. He leaves after pestering me with home PC questions. A few years later he was sent to a state mental home after he went nuts in the office. -- 2nd place - Guy who was fired for beating up a coworker (was applying to be an IT director at another job I had). Said he'd never do it again. When asked about his references he said don't check and wouldn't allow us to run a background check. Turns out he had been fired and done jail time for that and 2 other battery charges. 3rd - CCIE who applied and handed in a resume written in pencil on yellow legal paper. No application (as requested). The handwriting was a mix of small and cap letters. I should have framed it.