Job interviews can be a truly nerve-wracking and – at times – mildly terrifying experience.
No matter how hard you try to play it cool, the pressure to impress your prospective future boss can you make you do, or worse, say some pretty awkward things.
Plus, sometimes things happen during a job interview that are completely out of your control, like accidentally rocking up wearing the same outfit as the interviewer or being on the receiving end of a very sweaty handshake.
Alas, job interview blunders are much more common than you might think.
And to prove it, writer and mental health activist Harriet Williamson asked her Twitter followers to share their worst job interview stories. Here are their best answers:
Here are just a few of the most cringe-worthy interview horror stories people have shared.
With everyone clearly having experienced at least one awful job interview in their lifetime, we asked the Mamamia staff to share their worst interview stories.
“I had a guy ask me to define the word ‘pragmatic’ and to this day I find that word very hard to define. I just… couldn’t. I knew what it meant and could use it in a sentence. But I’m not a f***ing dictionary. I don’t know how to define it,” Jessie explained.
“My friend once had to answer a question about ‘what animals would you be and why?’ It was for a designer job and there was no relevance,” added Melody.
“The job interview went south quickly when the male manager asked me about my marital status etc and my plans for the weekend and asked if I was a party girl… then when he called to say I didn’t get the job he asked me out,” said Deborah.
“I went to shake the woman’s hand at the end, but accidentally scratched/cut her with my nail and she started bleeding,” explained Polly.
In another instance, Polly said “I had a job interview at a tiny little media company. Their office consisted of a single room so I literally sat and waited on a couch opposite while the guy finished up interviewing another girl. When it was my turn, he said ‘To be honest, I think you’re going to find it really hard to top that’.”
But as awkward as some job interviews are, sometimes they’re just painful for the people on the other side of the desk. Our Talent Acquisition Specialist, Deborah, has seen a few things in her time.
“I’ve had people disclose crimes in interviews.”
“Someone once farted really loudly and then wouldn’t stop talking about it.”
“I had someone try to invite me to the gym after I interviewed them for a job.”
She’s also been on the receiving end of an “extremely sweaty handshake… like wet.”
*Shudder.*
What’s the worst job interview you’ve ever had? Let us know in the comments below.
Feature Image: Getty. Social image: The Devil Wears Prada.
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