Interview Horror Stories

You know that perfect interview scenario where the hiring manager takes one look at you from across the table and says, “You’re hired?” Yeah…that didn’t happen here: It turns out that interviews, which typically should represent the height of professionalism for both interviewers and candidates, can be breeding grounds for cringe-worthy moments. Read on for 11 real-life interview stories that will bring on some serious second-hand embarrassment.

That time the compliments got weird.
“I was interviewed once by two guys who commented that I have pretty ears and then asked me to stand and raise my hands over my head.” – Stanford ‘77

That time where being hard-of-hearing almost caused a scene.
“A few years ago, I was in an interview where the interviewer talked about how most other applicants were inadequate, but for a full 5 minutes, I thought he was saying, “Africans” instead of “applicants.” I became so upset during the interview that I almost spoke up until he enunciated “applicants” again, and I realized he’d been saying that the whole time.” – Harvard ‘13

That time the candidate was like, “Where am I?”
“A candidate came here to interview for an Office Manager role, and when she came, she admitted halfway through the interview that she thought she was interviewing for another company with a similar name and had to ask what our company was and what we do.” – Penn ‘12

That time the interviewer was a little too candid.
“I once had a male interviewer who asked me to take a secretarial job because I was too good not to hire, but they only had enough positions for the male applicants.” – Harvard ‘74

That time business was mixed with pleasure.
“My friend matched with this guy on Bumble and they were talking, not too much, but definitely a few texts exchanged. Anyway, during a law interview he was brought in for a ‘culture fit’ interview. They both knew who the other person was, but no one acknowledged it. SO awkward.” – Penn ‘12

That time the interviewer shut it down.
“I had one terrible interview with a consulting firm — but it was on me not being prepared for the cases. Basically, I kept trying to figure the case studies out, and after everything I said, the interviewer went ‘no.’ Pretty demoralizing.” – Harvard ‘13

That time the interview questions went too far.
“I once had an interviewer say, ‘Tell me a dirty joke.’” – Penn ‘12

That time the interviewer was like, “Bye, Felicia.”
“There was this one time where I had a hilariously brief interview that reminded me a lot of that scene in Parks and Rec where Jean-Ralphio walks into the accounting office and then rolls right out because they’re like, ‘Um, hell no.’ I walked in, was trying to chat with the interviewer who was from my hometown in Texas, but without even really asking me any questions, he was like, ‘OK, this has been great, we’ll let you know. I have a lot of interviews.’ I was out in 2 minutes flat.” – Loyola Marymount ‘12

That time the candidate thought he’d made a BFF.
“One candidate treated the interview as a social chit chat rather than as an interview. We’d be like, ‘Tell us about a challenging situation in your old job and how you dealt with it,’ and the dude would go on for 45 minutes about every minute detail of his day-to-day and then never even tie it back to the question. We couldn’t even get a follow-up question in to get him back on track because he talked over us / through us. It was awkward because he was like, ‘It’s great – I’m just so comfortable talking to you guys.’ It was like, ‘Yes, too comfortable, sir.’” – Harvard ‘13

That time showering before the interview was a complete fail.
“My friend in college thought she had a phone interview, which turned out was really a video interview. She’d just gotten out of the shower, and the woman emailed her and was like, “Hey, are you on Skype?’ She had to take the interview right then and there!” – UMich ‘12

That time the candidate was too fabulous for his own good.
“I interviewed a person and asked my typical question, “When you don’t get along with someone, why do you think that is the case? The guy answered, “Because they’re jealous of me.” – Penn ‘12

That time the interviewer was like, “Can I have yo numba?”
“I had an interviewer ask me my age once and that’s a big no-no. He also went on to ask me whether or not I was single…Huge HR violation.” – UC Santa Barbara ‘10