Last night, the sixth #JobHuntChat proved to be wildly successful. From 10PM to 11PM ET, the amazing chatters assaulted Twitter with over 1,400 tweets, coming from 200 contributers. While each week has been fun, last night has definitely set the bar for future chats, and I wanted to share responses from the most popular question of the night.
@JobHuntChat – Q4: What are some interview horror stories from the recruiters or job seekers here in #JobHuntChat
Horror Stories From Recruiters/Interviewers
@LauraVezer - Q4 – I had a candidate take a call frm his wife, & 5 mins later she arrived w/burger & fries for him. “Mind if I eat this?” #jobhuntchat
@martymjm - Q4 too many I have tooo many!!! 1st one guy who fell asleep while filling out the application #JobHuntChat
@Dannuroo - Q4 I had the flatulence interview from hell #JobHuntChat
@Dannuroo - Q4 I have been offered ummm “other favours” for a job too #JobHuntChat
@sbrownehr - Q4: Horror story – asked a candidate to tell me about his most recent job – he stopped talking 24 minutes later !! Ouch ! #jobhuntchat
@caseylooney – Q4: I once had guy show up wearing shirt that said “I love insert female body part here” asking to fill out application. #JobHuntChat
@LauraVezer - Q4: Body odor so bad I had to excuse myself mid interview & put lip gloss in my nose to complete interview #jobhuntchat
@sbrownehr - Q4: Had a co-op student who had a naked picture of his girlfriend as cell phone background – he stared at it during the int. #jobhuntchat
@MsCareerGirl - Q4: Unfortunately, I had a bad experience getting hit on. I wanted to run away…It left me feeling devalued as a career woman #JobHuntChat
@radicalrecruit – Q4: I once had a candidate get so nervous he lost bowel control…that was not fun. #jobhuntchat
@lockard7 - Q4: This is gross, but the Interviewee was so nervous, he urinated in the chair. #jobhuntchat
@Blogging4Jobs - Q4: I had woman breastfeed in interview. #deadserious #jobhuntchat
@Dannuroo - Q4 had someone admit to just turning up so I would sign his social security form saying he was actively looking for work #JobHuntChat
@ChrisFleek1 – Q4: Had an interviewee start talking to herself OUTLOUD-she was giving herself a pep talk to answer the question I had asked! #jobhuntchat
@GCompass - Q4: candidate reeking of smoke / perfume when I have breathing problems, couldn’t sit through interview #jobhuntchat
@CornOnTheJob - Q4: One of my candidates told me he had a pain in his ass, and found out it was a cyst. Then said “ouch” #JobHuntChat
@martymjm - Q4 A few drunks, more than a few stinky ones, one who brought his kids INTO THE ACTUAL interview #JobHuntChat
@thenetconnector – Q4: Candidate asked me to hurry up with our interview bcause she left her child in the car WOW #jobhuntchat
@tlcolson - Q4: Candidate spoke no english and brought his mother to translate for him during interview. (Customer Service position) #jobhuntchat
@Dannuroo - Q4: a colleague of mine asked the strengths Q and got a “I’m great in bed”
@caseylooney - Q4: I have also had a drunk applicant tell me that I could come to his house and ride his horses…. #JobHuntChat
@Le_Brenda - Q4: Candidate showed up wearing tight leggings, oversized t-shirt w/ lunch dripped down front & a Boa. #bankjob #JobHuntChat
@SeeKrisRun – Q4: Interviewed a perosn who told me that she had 29 cats & 15 dogs. Told me her cats have “Cat AIDS.” #jobhuntchat
@karla_porter - Q4: Me: So, tell me about yourself.. Candidate: I killed someone #JobHuntChat
@drivethruhr - Q4: Had an interview show up a few minutes late due to a DUI (alleged) on the way to the interview. #jobhuntchat
@robinschooling - Q4. The candidate w/ open fly and no undies #JobHuntChat!
@karla_porter - Q4 Me: why isn’t ur application complete? Candidate: Jumped off the bridge and lost my cell phone. #jobhuntchat
@robinschooling - Q4 the applicant filling out app (old days) who paused, put pen down and changed baby’s diaper desk #JobHuntChat!
@sbrownehr - Q4: Had a mom show up for her son to make sure it was a “nice place to work” before her son was allowed in the building. #jobhuntchat
@martymjm - Q4: Had a candidate fill out an Application as Batman, I wish I still had that app #jobhuntchat
@BillBoorman - Q4: The worst thing is interviewing somone who doesnt know why they are there or what they want #jobhuntchat
Horror Stories From Candidate/Interviewee
@MaryfKrueger - Q4: A person interviewing me told me in detail about her divorce #JobHuntChat
@WriterChanelle - Q4. One time I listened to my mother who insisted that my natural hair needed to be straight in order to get a job. #JobHuntChat
@BLKMGK01 – Q4: I got asked if it was very different coming to work for white fellas when I applied for a job. That was a bit deep… #jobhuntchat
@steve_campbell - Q4: Knowing you’re a great candidate but not being able to express it in a short interview is the worst. #jobhuntchat
@hgondo – Q4: My worst job interview was in front of a panel of people in a foreign language. I was sweating profusely by the end. #jobhuntchat
@coreycondello – Q4: I’ve gotten: “Woah, I was expecting a large Italian man with a high phone voice!” when I walked into an interview. (My name) #jobhuntchat
@hgondo - Q4: During one interview I was asked why I didn’t share his religious beliefs! It was surreal. #jobhuntchat
@SJOgborn - Q4: I once had an interviewer say “Wow, you’re tall!” Yes….yes I am…not a great talking point. #jobhuntchat
@JennSchooley - Q4: Also got splashed head to toe by speeding cars while on the way to an interview once. #jobhuntchat
@WriterChanelle - Q4: I yielded. A very humid day resulted in straight/curly hair that ended up looking very unkempt for the interview #JobHuntChat
@leannapelham - Q4: 1 resume, 10 references, 12 interviews & IQ Test to get a job counting wallpaper and dusting sauder #jobhuntchat
Some of these are absolutely hilarious, and almost sad because they have actually happened. I want to thank everyone who participated last night, and I hope you’ll continue to join my co-moderators (@Blogging4Jobs & @MsCareerGirl) and I for future chats.
Which of the Interviewer stories were your favorite? What about from the candidates?
Do you have suggestions for future chat questions? Submit them here!
{ 21 comments… read them below or add one }
I had an applicant burn a hole in my shirt with the setting sun shining through his glasses. I thought I was getting stung by a bee before I smelled the smoke.
That is absolutely ridiculous, Pat. It’s all fun and games till someone catches on fire.
I had a boss, who was interviewing half a dozen people for a data analyst position. After he was done he walked over to my cubicle, with obvious signs of frustration, and asked, “What is 2% of 200?” , to which I responded without looking up from the VB code I was writing, “4, what is the square root of 2?”
He said, “1.41″ and walked away satisfied.
After I was done I asked him about the question. He told me that all 6 people had gotten the question wrong. They were applying for a position as an analyst of data and couldn’t do 5th grade math. He told me that he liked my rebuttal and that it had made him feel a little bit better.
Great stories, thanks for posting them.
Hey there Brian – how are you?
Interesting story. Funny how tests like that can really frustrate the person conducting the tests. They sound like wonderful participants for “Are you smarter than a 5th grader?”
I really enjoyed participating in this chat…and some of the answers from question #4 were great! Can’t wait til next week.
Wasn’t it so fun this week?! I can’t believe some of the answers for Q4-crazy! Apparently some need more career 101 help than I realized. It’s nice to laugh when discussing such a dry topic!
I noticed you were really engaged last night during the chat- thanks so much for all of your enthusiasm and tweets!
Nicole
Hey Co-mod! This week was amazing. Fun, hilarious, and tons of information.
I can barely contain my excitement during the chats! I love doing this with you and Jessica.
Hey Jenn – Glad to have your participation. Thanks for being involved and hope you will continue to come each week. Bring friends, more the merrier!
Great collection, Rich! The chat was fantastic. I’m excited to see how things are taken to the next level. I had several people reach out to me who said that the chat went by too fast.
Jessica
@blogging4jobs
Yo Co-mod – amazing time last night, very great chat.
It definitely does go by fast, but i think that keeps people there for the full hour and interested in the entire chat! Maybe we can do a few themed chats and ask more than 4 questions and make it an hour and a half down the line!
I was once in an interview and the interviewer’s first question was, “I see here you are a behavioral science major. Why don’t you look around my office and tell me what you think of me?” Awkward.
I knew immediately interview was over and I would never work for that dude!
Hey Jason – hahaha very awkward. Hey, sometimes you know right away you can’t work for someone… that is always a good thing!
Now that was FUN! There’s also the chair I threw away, the woman with spontaneous outbursts of laughter and the guy who asked if he could bring his pet snake to work “because it’s one animal people aren’t allergic to so it shouldn’t matter”.
Hey Karla – thanks for the comment and your participation last night. You were helpful, informative, and shared some hilarious stories!
No ones allergic to snakes? I guess you really do learn something new everyday.
Great post! I literally laughed out loud while reading some of these hilarious situations. Excellent topics! Helps me learn a lot about finding a job for sure! Keep up the fantastic work, Rich!
Thanks, Lauren. #JobHuntChat is wonderful, you should check it out on monday nights!
Thanks for posting these, the chat went by so fast there were some I didn’t catch. I am laughing all over again!
Hey Casey – It definitely went by fast! Thanks for participating and hope to see you next week!
This is proof that HR people all deserve a bonus…if people can’t even take a shower before showing up at an interview…well, it’s all downhill from there.
Super post – sounds like you all had a great time!
Hey Marsha – bring on the bonus! It was a ton of fun, maybe you can join us for the next one? Thanks for the comment.
I had an interview last week. During the interview, the interviewer asked “do you mind working in a cube environment with people yelling over 3 rows of cubes?” Then proceeded to tell me that “some of their employees had a problem with maturity levels”. I was sitting there stunned.
What do you say to that?
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