If you think job interviews have gotten worse over the past few years, you’re not alone.
Many applicants report longer reply times, more “rounds,” and even cryptic “tests” when they do get to a potential employer’s interview chair.
And that’s when the job on offer is even real; companies increasingly post “ghost,” or non-existent, jobs too.
All of that makes interviewing even more pressure-cooker intense than usual. So it can feel agonising to mess one up, as Redditor Jack_Swagmaster ― who mixed up their interview days and missed the crucial one-on-one― knows.
“Does anyone have any interview disaster stories to make me feel a bit better?” they asked the members of r/CasualUK.
Here are some of the most-upvoted responses:
1) “I went for a management job at a supermarket back in 2013. We had a big group interview, problem-solving and group tasks and all that nonsense, lasted all day.”
“The final part of the day was a one-on-one interview where we each went to one of three interviewers and sat down for a chat and some more questions.
“I got this fella called James. We had a nice chat, asked all the questions, gave all the answers, and everything was fine. At the end, he asks to see my ID, so I go into my wallet, which was an old leather flip-style wallet, to get my driving licence…
“As I flip it open, a packaged condom, strawberry flavour in a bright red sachet, falls out onto the desk between us.
“I got the job, but I didn’t sleep well for weeks after that!”
2) “I was interviewing for a low-level lab tech role in a ‘soft’ science, and when I presented myself at reception as requested, I said something like ‘I’m here for the interview for the lab position.’”
“Someone came to collect me and walk me to the interview room, and as we walked we chatted.
“She said a few things that seemed slightly off, like ‘You look a little different from the last time we met,’ or things alluding to my (non-existent) PhD, but I dismissed them because a) nerves and b) I had been at that same company in the past and people get minor details wrong, right?
“Anyway, once the interview started, it became very obvious that I had been handed over to the wrong team and was now interviewing to be a postdoctoral researcher in chemistry. I was mortified, not least because as a result I was now late for the interview I was expecting to do.
“Thankfully the chemistry interviewers explained that it was their mistake. The proper interview went ahead, and I got the job.”
3) “I was working at a pub as a chef many years back. Very disorganised place, mostly just run by young staff making it up as we went along.”
“A young woman turned up one morning for a trial shift as a waitress. Nobody had been told anything, but that wasn’t unusual so we went about training her.
“About midday, two hours in, she was looking at the menus and noticed the pub name at the top.
″‘Are we at The Admiral?’ she asked.
″‘No, The Admiral is up the road, this is The Kings,’ I replied.
“She left and presumably went to the correct pub for her trial shift. I never went to The Admiral and I never saw her again, but I do think of her from time to time and wonder how the rest of the day went.”
4) “I turned up for an interview early, sat in the waiting room and thought I’d quickly put on some hand cream.”
“Of course, I was immediately called through and my opening line as I shook hands was ‘sorry, I’m creamy’. What was I thinking?!”
5) “I pooped myself.”
“I was 22 years old and had been out the night before but felt alright. Turns out my stomach had other ideas; I proceeded to shit myself towards the end of the interview.
“It was quiet so they were none the wiser, although the smell of hungover shit filled the room quickly.
“As the interview finished I waddled out and found the nearest toilet down the corridor. It was a real mess ― there was no salvaging the situation really. I cleaned up as much as I could and went off to a sports shop and bought a load of cheap clothing to change into.”
Credit: u/Itchyballzsack3
6) “I applied for a government graduate scheme and made an absolute fool of myself at every step of the assessment day.”
“It felt like everyone else was far more knowledgeable than me and I was thoroughly out of my depth ― another candidate even scoffed at me at one point! The worst part was an interview segment when I spontaneously let out a massive, long and strangely loud belch mid-sentence which I don’t think has happened to me before or since.
“Like Barney from the Simpsons level. Think it was the nerves! One of the interviewer’s mouths actually dropped open. I was mortified.
“Didn’t get the job, needless to say. I ticked the ‘no feedback please’ box on the survey at the end of the day.”
Credit: u/Wonderful_Forest
7) “I was new to London and didn’t really understand that some trains are express and don’t stop at all the stops.”
“I knew the area and had gotten a train there before so was confident about the journey.
“Got on a train and realised too late that it didn’t stop where I needed to stop… I had to wait for ages for another train in the opposite direction, and as it was a slow train it stopped everywhere.
“When I finally got to my stop, I was already super late. I called them, and then of course on my way there, I got completely lost… When I finally arrived at the interview, I was nearly three hours late. I did the interview and got the job!
“My manager said, ‘Well normally being late would play against you, but you were SO late, I assumed something really serious had happened and I was impressed you still chose to attend!’”.
Have you had a job interview disaster? Let us know!
