16 Reports of very strange situations during a job interview

Many reports roam the Internet about how optimistic job seekers fly to a company’s office for an interview at the appointed time, and the most unusual and strange situations end up happening. Human resources officers are not far behind either, and share stories about, shall we say, extravagant candidates.

We, from awesome.club, we believe that an interview that doesn’t go very well can end up being a success. Therefore, we always need to stay positive and be prepared for unexpected events.

I once had an interview at a company that was in a building with several other companies in the same segment. I walked into the wrong office and managed to convince everyone that I had a job interview with them, even though they didn’t have any notes about it. In the end, I got the job. I realized my mistake when, a few hours later, the other company called me, asking why I hadn’t come for the interview. © shake_a / Reddit

2 years ago, when I was looking for work, I was invited for an interview at a company known throughout the region.
The HR girl was asking some standard questions, and suddenly she looked at me and said, “Catarina, you’re pregnant.”
What? I have a normal body type, I didn’t have a protruding belly or swollen breasts that could indicate “signs of pregnancy”.
“No,” I replied, “I’m not pregnant and I don’t plan to be for the next 2-3 years.
– You did not understand. I’m not asking, I’m stating: you’re pregnant. If not now, then in the next few months you will definitely get pregnant. Sorry, we are not ready to hire a pregnant employee.
– But…
– Have a good day.
And she left. Obviously, I didn’t get the job at this company and I don’t fit their profile as I don’t have psychic powers yet. © kat3rina / Pikabu

I walked into the office and saw a picture of a cute dog hanging on the wall and mentioned it to the interviewer. He started crying and started talking about how much he loved the dog. I thought the animal had died or something, or else it was very lonely. In the end, we talked the entire interview about pets and I got the job without even knowing what my job title was. Later, I found out that the dog was alive and well. I still don’t understand what happened. © Brandy_Alexander / Reddit

I was rushing to an interview, walking at full speed, almost running. Suddenly I see a man with me. We were walking side by side but in the last few meters near the door I pass him. So I stopped and held the door for him to come in. I did the interview with the HR sector, and stayed to talk to my future boss. When I get to his office, there is the man I met earlier. The HR employee didn’t even have time to close the door and he already shouted: “Hired, fill out the contract!” And he said, “I don’t need to interview you. I’ve seen it all: polite, punctual and responsible.” © Vipman84 / Pikabu

When I ended a phone interview with a recruiter with the words, “Love you, bye-bye.” I only realized my mistake after I hung up. © taperj / Reddit

I went to an interview: I filled out an application, handed in a letter of recommendation and talked about my qualities as an employee. The boss stopped me and said: “Listen, I’m going to upset you a little: you are not suitable to work with us. Yes, your resume is very good, but the letter of recommendation was written as if you were an angel. You don’t smoke, you don’t drink, you read books and you’re not in debt. And here we only have drunks, people with the name on the SPC and child support debtors. So, you won’t adapt here, you would endure 2 or 3 months and then ask yourself ‘why am I working with these people?’ Sorry I made you leave town and waste your time, man.” © AlexFedotow / Pikabu

At the end of a long interview, my future boss asked me what my sign was and my birthday. When I answered, she was shocked and ran out of the room. It was an interview with a group of interviewers, everything seemed strange, and I asked the other interviewers if they knew what was going on. It turned out that the team was unable to choose between me and the other candidate. That’s why they asked my sign, which is Scorpio. There were a lot of Scorpios in the office, so many it was comical. Apparently, my future boss and I also share the same birthday. She took this as a good omen and ran out of the room to get my contract. © thedollsquad / Reddit

I had an interview for a job with people who have mental health issues. Halfway through the interview, the interviewer decided it would be fun to do a little roleplaying. He started acting like he was mentally challenged, and called me a “4-eyed idiot” in the acting process. © qwerty__91 / Reddit

I was on my way to an interview and, as I was leaving the house, my daughter, who was 4 years old, ran up to me and said, “Dad, take this for luck!” ’ And she handed me a little plastic cow. I gave my daughter a strong hug and ran out so as not to be late. And there I was, sitting across from the vice president of human resources, a middle-aged woman in a conservative pantsuit, and she said, “I’ve only heard good things about you from the interview team. You seem like a serious guy, but here every now and then everyone gets a little crazy. How do I know you can handle this?” Without thinking twice, I blurted out: “I have a cow in my pocket!” There was a very awkward moment of silence and I was convinced I had screwed up the interview, but I took the cow out of my pocket and put it on the table. A few more seconds passed before she burst out laughing. I got the job. © Richard Waddington / Quora Many years ago, when I still didn’t have anything to write on my resume, I had to fill it in “sausage” with a long list of skills and personal qualities. I copied it from some resume: stress tolerance, proactiveness, diligence, good memory, blah blah blah. I was called in for an interview. I met with HR and the director, we sat down and talked. Director: “And here you wrote about memory. What is my name?” Me: “Andrey.” He: “No, Sergio.” Me: “hmm, well then, let’s cross out that I have a good memory.” He started laughing, and I got the job and worked there for several years. © Lagavulin / Pikabu

The woman who was going to do the interview came over to shake my hand, and I thought she was showing me where to sit. So I pulled away from her and sat up and saw that she was still standing there with her hand outstretched. Of course, I didn’t get the job. © THE_JMK / Reddit

The interviews started at 12 o’clock. At 20:00, the last round of interviews with HR began. I was tired and very hungry! The interviewer reflected on the company’s ethics and values, then asked the question I hated the most: “So why should we choose you?” and started eating cookies. I reached out and grabbed the piece of cookie that was in front of him and started to eat it. I swallowed a whole glass of juice. This took about 90 seconds. So I looked him in the eye and said, “well, you should hire me because I’m an entrepreneur. If I see something I like, I go and get it. I liked the cookies, so I went back and got them.” Yes, it worked. I was the only one chosen. © Akshay Kanth / Quora

A friend of mine told me a story that made me laugh a lot. He had a great interview, managed to answer all the questions perfectly. He was pretty confident that he would be offered the job. After that, he shook hands with them and left… Only he took the wrong door and went into the closet. He was so embarrassed to admit his mistake that he didn’t leave. The longer it stayed, the harder it was to leave. He knew it was in the closet. Her interviewers knew too. He stayed there for 20 minutes until everyone left the room and only then did he shyly leave. Still, he got the job. © thunder_marbles / Reddit

My company has a vacancy for an office assistant. So I called a candidate and asked for an interview. When I asked, “How are you today?” she told me that was an inappropriate question, too personal. So I asked other standard questions like “Tell me about yourself…” and so on, to which I got the same answer. When I tried to complete the interview, she said I wasn’t giving her a fair chance. © Katie Perez / Reddit

The guy came to the interview after riding his bike, he was sweating and wet. Then, during the interview, he suddenly winked at me. I ignored it, but he did it again. Who does that in an interview? I ended the interview, shook his hand, said, “We have other candidates to interview, blah blah,” and he responded, “Thanks, honey, give me a call!” © distlethwaite / Reddit I interviewed a candidate for the position of Technical Specialist in the telecommunications field. The guy showed up, listening to his iPod, dressed in jeans and a T-shirt with a vulgar lettering. It was a crazy interview, with this guy being super random. At the end I asked if he had any questions for me. He asked, “What is the meaning of life?” He didn’t get the job. © genawesome / Reddit

Have you ever had an interview with awkward questions and awkward situations? Share with us in the comments section.