Somebody asked for examples of ‘the worst interview ever’ and the replies would even make Alan Sugar cringe

If you’ve ever had the misfortune to watch an episode of The Apprentice, you’ll know that Lord Alan Sugar has decades of experience of watching useless, arrogant and just plain idiotic people trying to get a job with him.

But even the Big Dog of employers himself probably hasn’t witnessed the levels of ineptitude displayed on the CasualUK subreddit after user Cheesy_Gubbins posted this:

Worst interview ever? I just really effed up an interview for a job I really wanted. It did not eat. There were notes. It was not demure. I do not feel bonita. I am not in group 7.

Does anyone have any stories about interviews, the good or the bad, that may cheer me up as I finish my workday and cry into my dinner later?

Poor them. But luckily people who had also made a wallies of themselves in front of a potential bosses rushed in with stories of their own…

1.

‘I thought I messed up the first interview but they called me back for a second. The recruiter told me there was only one other candidate and they were really awful.

I showed up at interview two and the vibe was really awkward. They wrapped it up as soon as they could. Later the recruiter called me – they got their notes mixed up and called the wrong person back for interview two.

So I was the ‘really awful’ one.’
–Reddit-adm

2.

‘When I was around 16 I interviewed for a job in a small warehouse, the interviewer asked what I would do to prevent shrinkage and I said to keep the warehouse warm.’
–henry_blackie

3.

‘My former MIL went for a job at Red Bull Racing years ago, shortly before they really got successful. Part of the perks were apparently that there are fridges full of their energy drink all over the office and you can just help yourself. She responded to this with a joke of ‘Oh, do you also supply the vodka to mix with it too?’. The person giving the interview didn’t think this was funny.’
–Stevetothedave

4.

‘I once had an interviewer ask me to tell them a joke and I said ‘Does my life count?’.’
–Used-Beautiful-2921

5.

‘At the end of an interview I picked the wrong door and walked into a supply cupboard. I just said ‘Oops, wrong door’ and sidled back into the room, where both interviewers just watched me leave without a word. Heard a big roar of laughter when I closed the door, and somehow still managed to get the job!’
–mosleyowl

6.

”So, why did you get an A instead of an A* in GCSE maths?’

I’m a part-qualified actuary, graduated from a top university in Europe for actuarial science, with A-Levels in Maths, Further Maths, and Physics….

I presumably didn’t get the job because I gave a snarky response about having endometriosis and bleeding for an entire year of school. I was so angry for the rest of the interview and they could probably tell.’
–Natural-Confusion885

7.

‘My partner had something similar where the interviewer was an absolute dick about his marks, choosing to ignore his 15+ years of work experience, continuous promotions, and great reviews. At some point he said something like ‘Why didn’t you get better marks here? I don’t want to listen to a sob story’. The day after my partner withdrew his application. Imagine having to work with someone like that.’
–NinaHag

8.

‘I was on an interview panel where the guy before went five minutes over so the next candidate was berating the receptionist who went to bring him to the interview for not being at her desk and leaving him standing.

But there was no receptionist because it was a holiday. And the person he was berating was the woman who was leading the interviews. Could tell he knew immediately as soon as he sat down that he was done.’
–Forever__Young

9.

‘A candidate for a role I was appointing to once made the receptionist cry. He then gave a perfectly good interview. It was a hard ‘no, thanks’.’
–Luxury_Dressingown

10.

‘Four hour interview. Over lunch. No breaks, no food provided. I’ll let you fill in the outcome.’
–pmrr

11.

‘I went for a role where they made me to seven hours of interviews across the whole day. They didn’t even give feedback at the end because ‘that’s our policy’. So…screw them (got a better job immediately after).’
–admiralross2400

12.

‘I remember one. It was a job for an admin/office person in a double glazing installation company. Company owner conducted the interview, and was apparently educated to degree level in psychology.