X204 Project

Have you ever been involved in a horrific job interview? We have all been there waiting for the moment we are going to be answering those tough questions. Sometimes it goes smooth, but other times not so much.  Here are a few interviews that were horrific, but I must admit are quite hilarious!

Bathroom Explosion: A lady gets to her interview early. While waiting in the reception area, she decides to go the restroom to make sure her makeup is good. She places her things on the counter facing the mirror as she politely acknowledges another lady making her way into the bathroom. She goes back to doing her makeup while the other lady enters the stall. The next thing the lady hears is the sound of a gaseous explosion! The woman frantically tries to collect her things and leave the bathroom so this other poor woman can explode in peace. Before the lady could collect all her things and leave she was hit with the foul smell. Meanwhile, the lady goes to her interview only to find out the lady interviewing her is miss blowout herself. They are both embarrassed (for obvious reasons) and can’t make light of it because the lady’s colleague is there with her, providing support for the interview. The colleague then had to take over the interview process because the interviewer just couldn’t handle the embarrassment. The lady had no idea the answers she provided because she was embarrassed for the other lady. A pretty crappy interview to say the least. 😊 In this case I’m not sure what either one could have done to prevent this from happening. This is one of those scenarios of wrong place at the wrong time.

Who Lies Before Me: A manager was reviewing resumes for an open position and hiring process. He noticed that one applicant listed she was fluent in sign language. Although the position didn’t require the use of sign language, the manager found this interesting because he had taken sign language courses himself. He set the interview up with the potential candidate. As he entered the conference room he started to use sign language to communicate to the interviewee thinking it would be fun. However, the lady had no clue what he was saying and had to admit she did not know how to sign language, but her roommate did. Her dishonesty led the manager to have a negative impression of her and the interview only lasted five minutes. This is just another example of why you should always tell the truth.

What’s the President’s Name?: During an interview, an applicant kept getting her details mixed up at her own expense. She stated the president of the company’s name wrong numerous times. After the interview, the interviewer sent an email detailing they were going to go in a different direction and explained the name mix – up as unfortunate. She responded back to the email in confusion and cited the president’s name wrong again. Always make sure you have your facts right especially when you are going to go out of your way to provide the information.

A Little Too Honest: While a man is being interviewed he is asked ‘why he would want to work for the company.’ He responded by stating ‘he really didn’t, but figured that the job would do for the time being.’ The interviewer appreciated his honesty, but realized this wasn’t the man for the job. Obviously, people use jobs as stepping stones to get to better opportunities, but to say this in an interview is more than likely not going to land you the job. Instead this man should have stated one or two things he liked about the company, and how he could add value to it.

These are just a sample of the many horrific job interviews I’ve read about recently. However, each story (except the gaseous blowout; that was just hilarious) provides a valuable lesson we should all learn from. You should always be honest, but you don’t have to volunteer everything that is on your mind. Tact can go a long way! And always make sure you have your facts right before you start volunteering information.

By Ryan Clark, Business Major – IUPUC