Candidates have been sharing their worst ever interview experiences with top job site Reed.co.uk. Among them is a candidate who came face to face with a one night stand, someone who had sacked their interviewer in the past and an unexpected burp in the middle of an answer.
Chairman of Reed, James Reed, said:
“It’s great that people were so candid in revealing their worst interview experiences – and it just goes to show the importance of being prepared.
There’s lots you can do to avoid an interview nightmare. Doing your research beforehand is vital and practicing interview questions is the best way to calm nerves. We’re all human though, and sometimes things just go wrong.
It’s great that candidates are able to laugh at themselves – or sometimes their interviewer – then pick themselves up, dust themselves down and get on with finding their dream job.”
Here’s the full list of the worst ever interview experiences:
1. I’d had a one night stand with my interviewer. Pretended not to recognise her.
2. The interviewer’s name was Siobhan and I pronounced it the way it was spelt. Realised my
mistake two minutes from the end.
3. Arrived wearing a Celtic FC tie only to be shown into an office festooned with Glasgow
Rangers memorabilia. Did not get the job.
4. I went for an interview to work in a museum. They gave me an artefact to look at which I immediately picked up. Then I noticed the pair of cotton gloves on the table that I should have put on first.
5. I threw up in the middle of the interview.
6. Bumped into my current boss while at lunch with the interviewer.
7. Tripped up the interviewer by treading on her flip-flop.
8. Was unexpectedly interviewed in Welsh.
9. The interviewer reached over the table and went to shake my hand. Nerves got the better of me and I inadvertently winked at him.
10. I burst into tears during the interview because my dog had just died.
11. I spilt coffee on my shirt and tie moments before walking in.
12. The chair broke, I fell off it and started crying.
13. I burped in the middle of an answer.
14. The interviewer was an ex-girlfriend’s dad.
15. Passed out during a second interview and woke up in an ambulance.
16. Went to the loo in the disabled toilet. Pulled the string thinking it was the flush rather than the alarm. Every employee arrived to help me. Worst day of my life.
17. Walked into the interview and the person interviewing me was someone I had sacked in another position.
18. I sneezed all over the interviewer. It was so embarrassing.
19. The traffic was awful, I was very short of time and got ready in a rush. It was only during the interview that I looked down and realised I was wearing odd shoes.
20. The interviewer had a heart attack and I had to give him CPR.