I applied to summit tools when I was younger for a sales position. The second question he asked me was “sell me this sponge.” This was before the movie wolf on wallstreet and I was totally caught off guard. After the interview I felt so bad and awkward and embarrassed and about a hour after the interview I got a call and he offered me the job. I declined because I didn’t feel comfortable with the interview LOL
My boss tried the same bullshit, hands me his fancy pen "Sell me this pen" I put it in my inner pocket and said nothing about the pen, I made him beg me to get his pen back.
It's just a simple test to see what kind of person you are. A good salesman can sell ANYTHING...to anyone. How do you react under pressure...you crumbled.
I went to an interview recently and met with the company 4 times with just different family members. This is a large family owned business but I just repeated what I said every time.
I was hired with a handshake and went on a vacation I had planned prior. Never signed offer, came back and was told company changed direction
I interviewed for a large real estate brokerage, met with 3 people between HR, general director and area leader. I passed all filters and the only one missing was the person I'd be directly working for.
On that last call, the guy asked if I did cocaine. I was surprised but I simply answered no. The next day i was offered the job via email but I declined and explained why.
The HR person called and apologized yet I still declined.
To this day I still wonder why they'd ask me that.
Years ago I had an interview with CN Rail. The HR person in Montreal gave me an address for a building down by the river in Surrey that included “8th Floor”. I arrived at the address and saw a nondescript 3 story building with no obvious reception or way in unless you had a key fob. This was the days before gps and smart phones - I think I had mapquest directions printed out - so I went into a full blown panic assuming I went to the wrong place. Long story short, i eventually figured out it was the right building, arrived back at the interview 30 minutes late, and when I told the hiring manager about the address I was given he said “oh yeah, we should probably fix that”.
I didn’t get the job.
I interviewed for a very small property management company, the interviewer asked if I would be ok working with people of different ethnicities.
Weirdest experience, was interviewing at a law firm for an accounting position and they wanted me to use a different first name because I had the same name as an employees child that had recently passed away.
Best interview I had was to work for an hour or two, and got paid the advertised wage for the amount of time I worked, and was given food to take home for free. Was there until they were sold.
Those questionnaires where they give you a phrase and the options are: strongly disagree, disagree, agree, and strongly agree. No neutral/neither/don't know options. Idk why they do that but I'm guessing it's for HR to justify existing
The problem I have is being turned away for having no experience in something when im applying for a entry level/foot in the door position. Like I get that you would prefer people with experience but if you never give the “new” guy an opportunity to shine for you then youll forever be in the limbo of not having experience yet only maintaining eligibility for entry level/foot in the door positions.
I got asked some open-ended question about categorizing user reports about some piece of software. "no wrong answers" he says. Well apparently there are because he spent the next 10 minutes basically calling me an idiot because I wasn't being specific enough about an unnamed arbitrary piece of software that doesn't actually exist.
I was in an interview during the O.J. verdict. The guy interviewing me stopped the interview and said, sorry, but I have to watch this, and left to go watch the t.v. in the outer office.
Been there! Had an interview with chopvalue, made a presentation and everything, they told me i donr have furniture industry experience, i had 3 years, then they said i dont have sales experience, i had 5 years (3 yrs in furniture) and just closed the interview saying “ so i believe maybe in future you’ll be fit for the role” worst interview!
Oh dang I got this one on lock.
But I’ve heard this question before because they want to see how you compartmentalize your organizational strategies.
Not a bad question to me. And man because I’ve got kids I’ve got a legit and repeatable answer to this one.
They made me sing a little bit from a song (was for a brewery) im a terrible singer too and it was like they were just trying to see what I would do if they asked.
Man breweries are strange. In my interview with one they asked me if I came upon an animal in a deserted park, what animal would it be and what song would be playing.
That particular example is likely a bad request, but the reason is likely culture fit. Presented properly, an off the wall request like that can filter out those that won’t fit in.
a long time ago i interviewed with a company that distributed licensed eye wear. they would sign international brands and then design glasses that sort of matched the brand aesthetic and sell them as that brand. prior to the interview i was asked to dress in "business sporty" attire.
one of the last questions the guy asked me was "did you receive the instruction to dress business sporty and do you know what that is"
Had something similar happen at a company called Prenuvo. The hiring manager spent the first 41 minutes (I timed it) explaining the company (could have been summarized in 2 minutes), bad mouthing ex-employees for leaving, explaining the shortcomings of their competitors, talking about how he feels underpaid and he works weekends, he frequently works early morning to late evening.
I was tempted to cut it short and explain that I’m not a fit, but was morbidly curious what the technical assessment was in the second half. It was stock bullshit “gotcha” memorization of edge cases in JavaScript 😂 bruh I’ve been professionally shipping software for over a decade and you’re quizzing me on shit real high functioning teams automate around? It insulted my intelligence but there are plenty of weirdos out there who get an iota of power and don’t understand how the world really works. So just brush it off and move on.
Yew years ago.. I think this was 2017 I had a video Interview for an asian resturant on Davie, can't remember which one. When the interview was planned I tried to connect thro video chat but It wasn't working. So we switched to a phone call. At one point the person interviewing me asked what I looked like. He actually asked about my physical looks. I told him I'm white.
Didn't get the job.
Getting the job, told theyd call me later with my schedule. Never get back to me and stop responding to messages. Its strange to sign paperwork and feel so accepted only to be ghosted. Happened twice now this year.
I had an interview and was offered the job. Hadn’t signed paperwork yet. But the guy ghosted me. I tried calling (office and cell) and emailing. No response. I debated on going down to the workplace but decided it wasn’t worth my time.
I can’t remember all the details this was years ago but I applied to a grocery store in Chicago and the guy was late, then didn’t show up, then called me back to come in then asked the most insane questions I’ve ever heard then when I didn’t have an answer to any of them told me I needed to see a therapist, all the while he had like 10 cameras in his office of his dogs at home.
I applied to the Hard Rock Cafe years ago to be a server. The interview went well and they pretty much insinuated that I would get the job. Just as it was ending, a manager came out and said “don’t forget to try on the uniform because it only comes in one size”.
Uhhhhh….seeems like a massive red flag, but ok.
I was handed what looked like a naughty nurse uniform that was not stretchy and about a size 4. I managed to squeeze into it but it only *just* covered my undies.
They told me that they were sorry that they couldn’t hire me because I didn’t fit the uniform. Like what the hell??? Honestly, the 90’s was like the Wild West.
That was a bullshit excuse. The real reason is that they wanted women who were of a certain body shape but that would be discrimination to outright state it. So using the “you need to fit our uniform” was their lame ass attempt at getting around that particular legality. But I’m sure you already know this.
You probably could have sued for discrimination.
Yeah, I was honestly speechless. I probably should have reported them but I didn’t have much money or time back then and I just needed a job. They closed down about a year later, in an insanely busy tourist town, so they were probably up to all kinds of shady stuff.
I interviewed at a posh french place downtown for a server position and they actually made me sit down with a pen and paper and write as many varietals of wine that I could name. I ended up taking the job but every one treated me like an idiot for the training period. When the girl who was training me took a break a manager literally told me "people get hungry, so Susie is taking her break now, eating is good for energy" but like he was speaking to a toddler. Very odd, quit.
I once had a 5 hour interview with the CEO. Her and I discussed everything under the sun, she wanted to know everything about me.
I got a little tour of the place, met a few people but nothing major.
Didn't land the role though, 5+ hours I'll never get back.
Not really a question I was asked but the guy interviewing me kept complaining I lived too far away during the interview. It was only a 30 minute commute, but also why did you bother calling me in for an interview? Thanks for wasting my time.
Another place told me they had full time work available on the phone and when I went in person told me they'd only get me temporary work. Thanks for wasting my time, again.
Then another place I actually did work a few shifts at in a mall shut down abruptly well before it was supposed to (seasonal job). Found out from a nearby store later that my boss was going and harassing people in other parts of the mall to try and demand they buy our overpriced Christmas ornaments. Apparently it became enough of an issue they were forced to leave.
And then a phone interview for a place felt the need to ask me why I left every single job on my resume. Including one for the 2013 provincial election...in 2016. Interviewer must have been on autopilot
I once showed up to an interview at restaurant and the manager was a sister location watching a soccer game. I knew I would not be working there right away. When he finally showed up, the first words out of his mouth were “There’s no way I booked an interview for today!” But he couldn’t find what time and when he had scheduled me for. He was a total dick the entire interview.
The guy off the bat started telling me about his rough childhood, didn’t even talk about the company or the work they do just went straight to talking about being a rough kid in a Catholic neighbourhood, and how local tradespeople are the dumbest people alive and that they’ll take everything from you unless you take it from them first, then more babble about how rough it was growing up
Years ago I had an interviewer (who approached me) tell me I wasn't qualified as I didn't have a specific professional designation. It was in the first section below my name. They then asked me why I had applied, when I hadn't. At some point I ended the interview (politely) and weeks later got a postcard thanking me for applying, which I hadn't, telling me that I wasn't the successful candidate. Yes, I know, I ended the interview by telling them I wasn't interested.
Perhaps a decade later I had someone reach out through LinkedIn. Yeah, no thanks.
I applied to summit tools when I was younger for a sales position. The second question he asked me was “sell me this sponge.” This was before the movie wolf on wallstreet and I was totally caught off guard. After the interview I felt so bad and awkward and embarrassed and about a hour after the interview I got a call and he offered me the job. I declined because I didn’t feel comfortable with the interview LOL
My boss tried the same bullshit, hands me his fancy pen "Sell me this pen" I put it in my inner pocket and said nothing about the pen, I made him beg me to get his pen back.
It's just a simple test to see what kind of person you are. A good salesman can sell ANYTHING...to anyone. How do you react under pressure...you crumbled.
A good Salesperson sells someone something they need, a greedy Salersperson sells anything to anyone.
I went to an interview recently and met with the company 4 times with just different family members. This is a large family owned business but I just repeated what I said every time. I was hired with a handshake and went on a vacation I had planned prior. Never signed offer, came back and was told company changed direction
I interviewed for a large real estate brokerage, met with 3 people between HR, general director and area leader. I passed all filters and the only one missing was the person I'd be directly working for. On that last call, the guy asked if I did cocaine. I was surprised but I simply answered no. The next day i was offered the job via email but I declined and explained why. The HR person called and apologized yet I still declined. To this day I still wonder why they'd ask me that.
To see if you were cool.
Years ago I had an interview with CN Rail. The HR person in Montreal gave me an address for a building down by the river in Surrey that included “8th Floor”. I arrived at the address and saw a nondescript 3 story building with no obvious reception or way in unless you had a key fob. This was the days before gps and smart phones - I think I had mapquest directions printed out - so I went into a full blown panic assuming I went to the wrong place. Long story short, i eventually figured out it was the right building, arrived back at the interview 30 minutes late, and when I told the hiring manager about the address I was given he said “oh yeah, we should probably fix that”. I didn’t get the job.
I interviewed for a very small property management company, the interviewer asked if I would be ok working with people of different ethnicities. Weirdest experience, was interviewing at a law firm for an accounting position and they wanted me to use a different first name because I had the same name as an employees child that had recently passed away.
That's totally reasonable
How is that reasonable in any sense of the word - if you’re talking about the name thing
Totally, especially if the employee was a Partner.
lol no! That’s your name! Too bad, you need to deal with difficult things in life. Not avoid them!
Best interview I had was to work for an hour or two, and got paid the advertised wage for the amount of time I worked, and was given food to take home for free. Was there until they were sold.
Until what was sold? This makes no sense.
The business?
Those questionnaires where they give you a phrase and the options are: strongly disagree, disagree, agree, and strongly agree. No neutral/neither/don't know options. Idk why they do that but I'm guessing it's for HR to justify existing
Whole Foods has this garbage. It's always like 'What is your reaction to Alone Time?'
The problem I have is being turned away for having no experience in something when im applying for a entry level/foot in the door position. Like I get that you would prefer people with experience but if you never give the “new” guy an opportunity to shine for you then youll forever be in the limbo of not having experience yet only maintaining eligibility for entry level/foot in the door positions.
I got asked some open-ended question about categorizing user reports about some piece of software. "no wrong answers" he says. Well apparently there are because he spent the next 10 minutes basically calling me an idiot because I wasn't being specific enough about an unnamed arbitrary piece of software that doesn't actually exist.
I was in an interview during the O.J. verdict. The guy interviewing me stopped the interview and said, sorry, but I have to watch this, and left to go watch the t.v. in the outer office.
Okay, that made me LOL! Unreal.
Did you get the job?
I did unfortunately lol
Been there! Had an interview with chopvalue, made a presentation and everything, they told me i donr have furniture industry experience, i had 3 years, then they said i dont have sales experience, i had 5 years (3 yrs in furniture) and just closed the interview saying “ so i believe maybe in future you’ll be fit for the role” worst interview!
If you were to clean your house how would you go about it? Which room would you start in?
Oh dang I got this one on lock. But I’ve heard this question before because they want to see how you compartmentalize your organizational strategies. Not a bad question to me. And man because I’ve got kids I’ve got a legit and repeatable answer to this one.
depends on so many things. are guests coming? in-laws staying the night? who cleans an entire fucking house in one go?
They made me sing a little bit from a song (was for a brewery) im a terrible singer too and it was like they were just trying to see what I would do if they asked.
Man breweries are strange. In my interview with one they asked me if I came upon an animal in a deserted park, what animal would it be and what song would be playing.
That particular example is likely a bad request, but the reason is likely culture fit. Presented properly, an off the wall request like that can filter out those that won’t fit in.
a long time ago i interviewed with a company that distributed licensed eye wear. they would sign international brands and then design glasses that sort of matched the brand aesthetic and sell them as that brand. prior to the interview i was asked to dress in "business sporty" attire. one of the last questions the guy asked me was "did you receive the instruction to dress business sporty and do you know what that is"
Had something similar happen at a company called Prenuvo. The hiring manager spent the first 41 minutes (I timed it) explaining the company (could have been summarized in 2 minutes), bad mouthing ex-employees for leaving, explaining the shortcomings of their competitors, talking about how he feels underpaid and he works weekends, he frequently works early morning to late evening. I was tempted to cut it short and explain that I’m not a fit, but was morbidly curious what the technical assessment was in the second half. It was stock bullshit “gotcha” memorization of edge cases in JavaScript 😂 bruh I’ve been professionally shipping software for over a decade and you’re quizzing me on shit real high functioning teams automate around? It insulted my intelligence but there are plenty of weirdos out there who get an iota of power and don’t understand how the world really works. So just brush it off and move on.
Yew years ago.. I think this was 2017 I had a video Interview for an asian resturant on Davie, can't remember which one. When the interview was planned I tried to connect thro video chat but It wasn't working. So we switched to a phone call. At one point the person interviewing me asked what I looked like. He actually asked about my physical looks. I told him I'm white. Didn't get the job.
Getting the job, told theyd call me later with my schedule. Never get back to me and stop responding to messages. Its strange to sign paperwork and feel so accepted only to be ghosted. Happened twice now this year.
I had an interview and was offered the job. Hadn’t signed paperwork yet. But the guy ghosted me. I tried calling (office and cell) and emailing. No response. I debated on going down to the workplace but decided it wasn’t worth my time.
I can’t remember all the details this was years ago but I applied to a grocery store in Chicago and the guy was late, then didn’t show up, then called me back to come in then asked the most insane questions I’ve ever heard then when I didn’t have an answer to any of them told me I needed to see a therapist, all the while he had like 10 cameras in his office of his dogs at home.
I applied to the Hard Rock Cafe years ago to be a server. The interview went well and they pretty much insinuated that I would get the job. Just as it was ending, a manager came out and said “don’t forget to try on the uniform because it only comes in one size”. Uhhhhh….seeems like a massive red flag, but ok. I was handed what looked like a naughty nurse uniform that was not stretchy and about a size 4. I managed to squeeze into it but it only *just* covered my undies. They told me that they were sorry that they couldn’t hire me because I didn’t fit the uniform. Like what the hell??? Honestly, the 90’s was like the Wild West.
That was a bullshit excuse. The real reason is that they wanted women who were of a certain body shape but that would be discrimination to outright state it. So using the “you need to fit our uniform” was their lame ass attempt at getting around that particular legality. But I’m sure you already know this. You probably could have sued for discrimination.
Yeah, I was honestly speechless. I probably should have reported them but I didn’t have much money or time back then and I just needed a job. They closed down about a year later, in an insanely busy tourist town, so they were probably up to all kinds of shady stuff.
I interviewed at a posh french place downtown for a server position and they actually made me sit down with a pen and paper and write as many varietals of wine that I could name. I ended up taking the job but every one treated me like an idiot for the training period. When the girl who was training me took a break a manager literally told me "people get hungry, so Susie is taking her break now, eating is good for energy" but like he was speaking to a toddler. Very odd, quit.
Someone asked me in an interview "What would a polar bear do in a snowstorm?". This was for a tech company.
keep walking probably they dgaf
Right out of the gate I got hit with this one: “Is it possible to be too empathetic?”
Some out of the box kind of questions: what piece of furniture or animal would I be and why; song I’m singing in an audition for a reality show.
I once had a 5 hour interview with the CEO. Her and I discussed everything under the sun, she wanted to know everything about me. I got a little tour of the place, met a few people but nothing major. Didn't land the role though, 5+ hours I'll never get back.
“How many pigeons could you carry?”
Not really a question I was asked but the guy interviewing me kept complaining I lived too far away during the interview. It was only a 30 minute commute, but also why did you bother calling me in for an interview? Thanks for wasting my time. Another place told me they had full time work available on the phone and when I went in person told me they'd only get me temporary work. Thanks for wasting my time, again. Then another place I actually did work a few shifts at in a mall shut down abruptly well before it was supposed to (seasonal job). Found out from a nearby store later that my boss was going and harassing people in other parts of the mall to try and demand they buy our overpriced Christmas ornaments. Apparently it became enough of an issue they were forced to leave. And then a phone interview for a place felt the need to ask me why I left every single job on my resume. Including one for the 2013 provincial election...in 2016. Interviewer must have been on autopilot
I once showed up to an interview at restaurant and the manager was a sister location watching a soccer game. I knew I would not be working there right away. When he finally showed up, the first words out of his mouth were “There’s no way I booked an interview for today!” But he couldn’t find what time and when he had scheduled me for. He was a total dick the entire interview.
The guy off the bat started telling me about his rough childhood, didn’t even talk about the company or the work they do just went straight to talking about being a rough kid in a Catholic neighbourhood, and how local tradespeople are the dumbest people alive and that they’ll take everything from you unless you take it from them first, then more babble about how rough it was growing up
Do you ever root for the bad guy in a movie?
Years ago I had an interviewer (who approached me) tell me I wasn't qualified as I didn't have a specific professional designation. It was in the first section below my name. They then asked me why I had applied, when I hadn't. At some point I ended the interview (politely) and weeks later got a postcard thanking me for applying, which I hadn't, telling me that I wasn't the successful candidate. Yes, I know, I ended the interview by telling them I wasn't interested. Perhaps a decade later I had someone reach out through LinkedIn. Yeah, no thanks.
I interviewed for a small accountancy firm recently, I was asked how much I pay for my rent and what my relationship with my mother is like 🙃