The Interview Stuff of Nightmares
By Technically Compatible
13 Hiring Horror Stories that’ll make you hide under your desk
For most candidates the interview is the time to show themselves in the best light. A time to talk about achievements, boast about their great work and project the impression that they are the perfect person for the job. These guys must have missed that memo, and you lovely recruitment professionals are on the frontline when these malfunctions happen.
Here are 13 of our favourite interview horror stories, from the websphere and our own cringe worthy experiences, for your entertainment. We hope you like scary movies.
Nightmare (way) Before Christmas
“I once turned up for an interview all suited and booted… to be interviewed by a senior manager wearing a snowman Christmas jumper and Santa hat… in November.”
The Text-as Chain Saw Massacre
"When a candidate was asked about his greatest accomplishment, he replied that it was writing a short novel. When the interviewer said, 'No, I mean something you did while at work,' the candidate replied, 'But I did write it while at work!'”
Unfriended
“I was once dealing with a very difficult HR director client. After one particularly frustrating call, I put the phone down and started mouthing off about her. Unfortunately, I hadn’t actually terminated the call.”
Cujo (Believe it?)
"We are a very dog-friendly office. In every interview we have, the dogs run up to the meeting room and greet the new guest. In most cases, the person being interviewed loves the doggy attention. But one candidate took it to another level. He stopped the interview and asked if he could bark at our dogs. We just sat there, not really knowing how to respond, so he just started barking at them.”
Let The Right One Out
"I was interviewing someone who took a cell-phone call and asked me to leave MY office while they talked.”
Cabin Fever
“I couldn’t get rid of one interviewee, for some reason he just didn’t want to leave. The interview started at 6pm and didn't ended until 9.”
Face/Off
“A friend of mine is an HR manager and he interviewed a guy who arrived on a motorcycle, and kept his helmet on for the whole interview—only raising the visor to answer the questions!”
I DON’T know what you did last summer
“I sent a CV of candidate to a client. The candidate already worked in that company and it became clear, very quickly, that his boss didn’t know he was looking externally.”
The Liquor Man
“I conducted a screening interview for a desktop engineer. The interview was at 10.30am. He came in, stumbled over the chairs, slumped down and conducted the interview with a hefty stench of alcohol about him.”
Copycat
“I was the interviewer and the job seeker showed me MY OWN work and claimed it was his. My name was even printed on it! When I confronted him about it he simply stated that if he had gotten the job then he could have done it!"
Paramour-mal Activity
“I had a recruiter who tried to hit on me. He began professionally enough and then started to make comments on what I was wearing, would ring the office to talk to me about my weekend and constantly bombarded me with texts and emails.”
28 Seconds Later
“I collected the candidate from reception. He barked, "Coffee, sexy. Now, where's your boss?" I then sat down to interview him.”
The Carrie on of carry-ons
“One candidate came in with a massive rucksack on his back. Asked if he’d travelled far he replied, ‘No, just around the corner.’ The same candidate also had a 10 minute cry about personal problems, saying he just needed to let it all out.”
And One for Good Luck
"A guy who forgot dark socks to wear with his suit, coloured in his ankles with a black felt-tip marker."
Scream familiar?
Did any of these stories bring back cringe-worthy memories of interviews passed? Well never fear - our How To Avoid The Baddies guide will ensure you never have to endure these terrors again!
You can also find out how much these nightmares would actually cost with this Bad Hire Calculator.
About the company
The team at Social Hire never just do social media management.
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You might like these blog posts Do you have a Social Media Marketing Strategy?, How to Build the Perfect Communication Between Brand and Customer on Social Media, How To Craft a Powerful Social Media Marketing Strategy, and Someone Important Just Quit-Here’s What To Do, In This Order.
