Reader stories: Bad interview stories. Can you share some?

Sure. I once heard of a guy who went to an interview at a very fancy company. He was so nervous that when the interviewer asked him to introduce himself, he completely blanked and started talking about his cat's favorite toy instead of his work experience. It was really funny but also a bad move for the interview.

The worst part I've experienced was when the interview was clearly a formality. They had already decided on someone else but still made me go through the whole process. I found out later that they had an internal candidate all along.

One horror interview story I heard was about a candidate who entered a very dimly lit interview room. The interviewers were sitting in the shadows and barely spoke. They just stared at the candidate in silence for minutes, which made the candidate extremely uncomfortable. It was like they were trying to intimidate him on purpose.

Sure. One of the best interview stories I've heard was about a guy who went to an interview at a tech startup. He was really nervous at first. But when the interviewer started asking questions, he found he could answer them all with ease because he had prepared thoroughly. He even added some creative ideas to their existing projects during the conversation. In the end, he got the job and later became an important part of the company's growth.

Sure. One success story is about my friend who prepared thoroughly for a tech interview. He studied all the relevant programming languages and algorithms. During the interview, he was calm and confident, clearly answering every question. He even provided some innovative solutions to the problems they presented, which impressed the interviewers a great deal. And he got the job offer right away.

Sure. I once heard of an interview where the candidate accidentally sat on a whoopee cushion that was left on the chair by a prankster in the office before. The sudden noise made everyone laugh, but the candidate took it in good humor and said it was a unique welcome.

Sure. One of my worst interview horror stories was when I arrived at the interview location on time, but the interviewer made me wait for two hours without any apology or explanation. By the time the interview started, I was already frustrated and it affected my performance.

I had an interview where the waiting area was freezing cold and there was no one to greet me for over an hour past my appointment time. When the interview finally started, the interviewer seemed completely disinterested, just looking at their phone half the time and giving one - word answers to my well - thought - out responses.

Well, I once had a successful interview for a teaching job. I not only had all the required certifications but also prepared some unique teaching methods to present. I made sure to answer all the questions with confidence and provided real - life examples from my previous teaching experiences. I connected well with the interviewers, and they were impressed by my passion for education. So, I got hired.

Sure. One good interview story is about a friend of mine. He was interviewing for a tech startup. He walked in, and instead of the typical formal setting, the interviewers were very laid - back. They started by asking him about his hobbies outside of work. He mentioned his love for hiking. It turned out that one of the interviewers was also an avid hiker. They ended up chatting about different hiking trails for a good 10 minutes. This friendly start made my friend more relaxed, and he was able to answer the technical questions with ease later. He got the job and always said that the unique start of the interview was a big plus.