Most ridiculous job interviews (red flag?)🚩

[Moonflower]

I've just remembered the guy who offered me my job asked what I'd do with my kids in the school holidays. Obviously I laughed it off and answered but I'm still a bit annoyed about it and I bet he wouldn't have dared ask a male candidate.

I wouldn't mind but my kids are nearly teenagers, not toddlers. Guess there are still a lot of dinosaurs out there!

The deadlines thing annoys me too. Jobs don't seem to have published closing dates anymore - I don't think this helps in not dragging it out. You could easily have a decent candidate on their second or 3rd interview then someone else puts in a good application and that holds it up while they have a first interview etc. Employers wanting their cake and eating it!

 

[lurkingaround123]

I moved back to the UK from abroad as a recent graduate. I had a series of the weirdest job interviews ever it was so disheartening.

One company put me through a series of tasks, an interview, meeting the team, a full tour of the shared office space. Once I'd done all this and 'passed' I got to have an interview with the 'CEO'. He was the biggest gif of all time. The salary was 16k and it was a 40 hour week in the office, but he said you need to be switched on 24/7 and be constantly ready to take work calls, you should do work when you get home too etc. Once you'd worked there for so long and he saw fit, you'd be allowed an hour gym break, he said if you don't use it for the gym and the gym only you lose it. He berated me, and did the standard 'someone from X uni has applied here and they're better than you, why should I bother choosing you?' I shouted at him because that really hit a nerve for me. Then he randomly offered me the job on the spot. I accepted out of awkwardness but in my head I was absolutely fuming. They were all like why aren't you happy you got the job They all went off to do something so I just walked out of the building. The girl who showed me around was texting me like aw we couldn't find you where did you go? I didn't even open the message because there was no chance I was ever going back there and then the next day she text me like we've changed our minds you haven't got it, which was so childish and gave off such 'no I dumped you first' vibes it was hysterical.

I think most dodgy organisations call themselves out when you turn up there and see it for real

 

[Inforapenny]

I moved back to the UK from abroad as a recent graduate. I had a series of the weirdest job interviews ever it was so disheartening.

One company put me through a series of tasks, an interview, meeting the team, a full tour of the shared office space. Once I'd done all this and 'passed' I got to have an interview with the 'CEO'. He was the biggest gif of all time. The salary was 16k and it was a 40 hour week in the office, but he said you need to be switched on 24/7 and be constantly ready to take work calls, you should do work when you get home too etc. Once you'd worked there for so long and he saw fit, you'd be allowed an hour gym break, he said if you don't use it for the gym and the gym only you lose it. He berated me, and did the standard 'someone from X uni has applied here and they're better than you, why should I bother choosing you?' I shouted at him because that really hit a nerve for me. Then he randomly offered me the job on the spot. I accepted out of awkwardness but in my head I was absolutely fuming. They were all like why aren't you happy you got the job They all went off to do something so I just walked out of the building. The girl who showed me around was texting me like aw we couldn't find you where did you go? I didn't even open the message because there was no chance I was ever going back there and then the next day she text me like we've changed our minds you haven't got it, which was so childish and gave off such 'no I dumped you first' vibes it was hysterical.

I think most dodgy organisations call themselves out when you turn up there and see it for real

Good for you I love that you walked out. Absolutely brilliant.
I remember a few years back I had this awful interview, the head honcho was doing everything to make it known she was a total witch. Looking back I wish I had got up and called her out on it and left the interview. That's a big regret of mine.
Years later I'm more long in the tooth I know my worth and know I'm a hard-working, well liked, knowledgeable colleague so it's not all about them picking me it goes both ways

 

[Tyla73]

My question is should I just outright ask them in my initial meeting the salary range?

Yes, definitely yes. It's not an unreasonable question and if they won't even give you the salary range in the initial meeting then I would assume that's because they know it's not a market rate salary or they have something else to hide. If they expect you to go through a long interview process without any idea of what the salary is, they are are not an organisation you want to work for - they have no respect for your time or boundaries.

 

[lemonlime]

I think you've already made up your mind but I agree, that's insane. 4-10 hour test? 6 interviews? Not even disclosing the salary or details? Unless you are applying for a high rank undercover job in SIS, I highly doubt this much nitpicking is required. They either don't know what they want so they hope the candidates will eliminate themselves along the way or they are trying to see who is the most desperate for the position. I think it's shameless.

For my current job I went through a shortlisting, two interviews and a translation test that took about maybe 30 minutes, if that. I had to do another interview because they hired someone instead of me but said person changed their mind and took another job so I went for a final interview to go over the whole thing, basically. What they asked of you is ludicrous.

 

[Sunflower91]

If a company doesn’t know if they want you after 3 interviews then it would be a bit of a red flag for me. The most I’ve ever done with a potential employee was 4 and that was purely for a double check that they fit with the workplace culture. I also won’t interview anywhere If the salary isn’t posted. But also I find places that recruit with university as a talking point/desire are also a red flag- to the point where now, as someone doing the recruiting I ignore that all together and if sometimes goes against candidates. That amount of interviews just seems like a bit of a waste of time.

 

[judgejohndeed]

Years ago after my law degree I thought I wanted to be a solicitor (lol) and had 2 interviews for what had been advertised as an admin job at a big city law firm. It turned out it was actually more of a facilities assistant role and I would be moving furniture etc about and setting up for meetings with some reception duties, so if I 'had potential' I might get to progress to do some admin. Lucky me! Anyway, I had nothing else lined up so thought if I got it I would do it for a while. I had 2 interviews, which tbh is pushing it for a job like that. They then had the gall to ring me and offer me a third interview because 'we really like you but it's now between you or another candidate'. To move chairs around! I said 'offer it to them then' and hung up.

Anyway, 6 interviews is mad and I wouldn't do it. For the profession I'm currently in there are always 2 for the training year, and some places have 3. I had a few of the 3, and it pissed me off even back then (a few years ago now). So 6 would be a huge nope for me.

 

[Kim Mild]

Job interviews are a two way process, they are also to see if the company is where the candidate wants to work .

 

[1001 others]

I was "invited" to interview for a role via LinkedIn. That's never happened before and I honestly thought it was a joke, but when I probed bit further found it is a genuine company and this is how they often recruit.

With that established, I asked the person who sent the invitation to tell me more - what was the role; where was it based; what was the remuneration ... all the usual sort of stuff. To that, he said to wait until the first video meeting as they'd decide at that point if I was what they were looking for. In retrospect, I should've just said "thanks but no thanks" at that point.

The first interview came and went; although the interviewer was a lovely man, he had no idea what role I was being interviewed for (!). So that was a complete waste of time. He said to be patient as there will be the opportunity to ask questions in the next meeting, should I be selected to progress. For the rest of the interview, he just talked about the company culture and confirmed that everyone works from home (so that was at least one of my questions answered). From there, I received an email saying I'd made it through to the next stage, and that they'd be in touch.

Interview #2 was via video link with two women who said we'd be going over my responses to the questions they'd set. Um, WHAT questions?! At this point I was scratching my head (as well as being annoyed that here I was, having yet another waste-of-time interview at 2am my time). They thought it odd that I'd even accepted an invitation to attend the second interview if I didn't know what I was being interviewed for - throwing it all back in my court. I explained to them how things had progressed from my point of view; they just looked at me blankly.

Lo and behold, later that night I received an invitation to attend yet another interview. I promptly declined, along with a message saying what a shambles this whole process had been and how I felt they were just wasting peoples' time. Surprisingly, they responded and said they'd like to talk further about what my salary expectations would be. For a job doing goodness knows what!

Such clowns.

I was reading their Glassdoor reviews the other day and discovered I'm not the only one they approached around this time (many others had exactly the same experience).

So, so strange. (And no, it's not a secret-squirrel agency of some sort ... it's just a regular SaaS business).

 

[Inforapenny]

I was "invited" to interview for a role via LinkedIn. That's never happened before and I honestly thought it was a joke, but when I probed bit further found it is a genuine company and this is how they often recruit.

With that established, I asked the person who sent the invitation to tell me more - what was the role; where was it based; what was the remuneration ... all the usual sort of stuff. To that, he said to wait until the first video meeting as they'd decide at that point if I was what they were looking for. In retrospect, I should've just said "thanks but no thanks" at that point.

The first interview came and went; although the interviewer was a lovely man, he had no idea what role I was being interviewed for (!). So that was a complete waste of time. He said to be patient as there will be the opportunity to ask questions in the next meeting, should I be selected to progress. For the rest of the interview, he just talked about the company culture and confirmed that everyone works from home (so that was at least one of my questions answered). From there, I received an email saying I'd made it through to the next stage, and that they'd be in touch.

Interview #2 was via video link with two women who said we'd be going over my responses to the questions they'd set. Um, WHAT questions?! At this point I was scratching my head (as well as being annoyed that here I was, having yet another waste-of-time interview at 2am my time). They thought it odd that I'd even accepted an invitation to attend the second interview if I didn't know what I was being interviewed for - throwing it all back in my court. I explained to them how things had progressed from my point of view; they just looked at me blankly.

Lo and behold, later that night I received an invitation to attend yet another interview. I promptly declined, along with a message saying what a shambles this whole process had been and how I felt they were just wasting peoples' time. Surprisingly, they responded and said they'd like to talk further about what my salary expectations would be. For a job doing goodness knows what!

Such clowns.

I was reading their Glassdoor reviews the other day and discovered I'm not the only one they approached around this time (many others had exactly the same experience).

So, so strange. (And no, it's not a secret-squirrel agency of some sort ... it's just a regular SaaS business).

This is so interesting and I think this is the way I'm heading with my interview in January.
I am so pleased you declined and told them to sod off.
Almost thinking it's a scam but they're an established company. Imagine being a company where the impression is you're a scam.

My friend told me to use Glassdoor. I love it.

I've searched the organisation I'm having my Interview with and the following comments have been made
- work life balance non existent
- management are piss poor and there is no career development or progression
- lots of internal politics
- Interview process is atrocious
I compared this with my company now and Glassdoor says my current company has a good work life balance and you're treated well.
I had 2 interviews and a quick written task for my now job, in total over a 10 day period and offered the post a day or so after the Interview.
Food for thought.

 

[Moonflower]

I was "invited" to interview for a role via LinkedIn. That's never happened before and I honestly thought it was a joke, but when I probed bit further found it is a genuine company and this is how they often recruit.

With that established, I asked the person who sent the invitation to tell me more - what was the role; where was it based; what was the remuneration ... all the usual sort of stuff. To that, he said to wait until the first video meeting as they'd decide at that point if I was what they were looking for. In retrospect, I should've just said "thanks but no thanks" at that point.

The first interview came and went; although the interviewer was a lovely man, he had no idea what role I was being interviewed for (!). So that was a complete waste of time. He said to be patient as there will be the opportunity to ask questions in the next meeting, should I be selected to progress. For the rest of the interview, he just talked about the company culture and confirmed that everyone works from home (so that was at least one of my questions answered). From there, I received an email saying I'd made it through to the next stage, and that they'd be in touch.

Interview #2 was via video link with two women who said we'd be going over my responses to the questions they'd set. Um, WHAT questions?! At this point I was scratching my head (as well as being annoyed that here I was, having yet another waste-of-time interview at 2am my time). They thought it odd that I'd even accepted an invitation to attend the second interview if I didn't know what I was being interviewed for - throwing it all back in my court. I explained to them how things had progressed from my point of view; they just looked at me blankly.

Lo and behold, later that night I received an invitation to attend yet another interview. I promptly declined, along with a message saying what a shambles this whole process had been and how I felt they were just wasting peoples' time. Surprisingly, they responded and said they'd like to talk further about what my salary expectations would be. For a job doing goodness knows what!

Such clowns.

I was reading their Glassdoor reviews the other day and discovered I'm not the only one they approached around this time (many others had exactly the same experience).

So, so strange. (And no, it's not a secret-squirrel agency of some sort ... it's just a regular SaaS business).

That's so weird! Some SaaS companies do seem to make it up as they go along, from my experience

 

[witchofwestbyfleet]

After an initial interview with an internal recruiter I was told I would not be put forward for the first stage interview. Why? She thought my shoes were too expensive and this indicated I wouldn't stay with the company. I was unemployed, on very little money, and the shoes were not exactly Chanel. I certainly told her what I thought of that idea.

I was told when I applied for a job that it was imperative I have my own transport - even though no part of the role involved driving (nor making deliveries or visiting clients or anything else you'd need a car for.) I had a bike but no car. It didn't seem to be in a particularly out of the way area, so I thought I would go there and see. If challenged, I could always say my bike was my transport. Sure enough, it was perfectly easy to reach by train then bike. It involved cycling through a busy industrial estate but if you were driving there'd be nowhere to park nearby. So basically, you could get there by public transport or walking or cycling, and it would actually be harder (+ expensive parking) to drive. Why, then, did they emphasise the need for "own transport?" I swear some people put it in because they assume all "responsible adults" should drive and / or think it's just a standard thing to require for a job, regardless of whether it's relevant

An interviewer asked my taste in music (This was a "trendy" PR company with mostly young staff) and then laughed at me when I told him! No, I didn't get the job

 

[Tyla73]

After an initial interview with an internal recruiter I was told I would not be put forward for the first stage interview. Why? She thought my shoes were too expensive and this indicated I wouldn't stay with the company. I was unemployed, on very little money, and the shoes were not exactly Chanel. I certainly told her what I thought of that idea.

An interviewer asked my taste in music (This was a "trendy" PR company with mostly young staff) and then laughed at me when I told him! No, I didn't get the job

This is one of the age old problems of job hunting- you are totally at the mercy of recruiters personal prejudices and life ideas. It’s ridiculous.

Years ago, when I was looking for my second job, I went to an interview that I thought went well. When I spoke to the recruitment consultant afterwards she went mad at me asking what on earth I’d said about my parents. Apparently the person who interviewed me decided that I ‘clearly had a problematic relationship with my parents’ and she wouldn’t employ ’someone like that’. I was furious and didn’t hide it - I replied that I had a perfectly good relationship with my parents, not that it was the business of either the interviewer or the recruitment consultant, and even if I didn’t that had nothing to do with my ability to do the job. Also, there was nothing that had been said in the interview that could have possibly led any rational person to that conclusion. I then suggested to the recruitment consultant that it was her client that had parent issues and I didn’t want to work for someone who behave in such a bonkers manner. The recruitment consultant was stunned when I bit back, I think she thought I’d start crying and begging for her advice. I was feisty as duck in my 20s.

As if you’d want to work somewhere where some cocky little tit is unprofessional enough to laugh at your music taste in the interview anyway . Clearly not a company where your ability to do your job is what’s most important.

 

[Inforapenny]

I've been called for an interview early next year from another company and the interview will consist of a zoom call with a panel and I need to do a 10 min presentation on my strategy for the role.
Everything has been clearly laid out in the email. I've also been told to contact HR if I have any queries.
The salary is of course given and it seems super friendly and normal. I rang up to confirm I could attend the interview and HR were lovely.
Even if I don't get the job the vibe couldn't be more different and I feel respected and treated like a Human being.
This interview is 2 days before the dodgy other companys interview for an interview so that'll be a bit of confidence I need.

 

[emm]

Over the summer a guy on LinkedIn posted about his dismay of having to go through around 5 rounds of interviews, over months to only be snapped up by another company in the meantime.
It seems that companies are starting to really make hiring ridiculous. People are calling it breadcrumbing and then ghosting candidates.

Anyhow fast forward and I'm applying for jobs. I got an email from head of said company asking for an interview in the new year. Great. However I now believe this 'interview' to be an interview for the interview
They sent through their interview process and I'm now really unsure about the company and if their recruitment process is a piss take??? Is it a massive read flag???
Have they just got a tit policies, is this a bad sign?

I've been told after the first interview I need to expect up to 6 interviews plus interviews in between at their discretion.
If I get through all of this I have to have a written test that is between 4 to 10 hours long.
(I went to uni/I studied at Cambridge uni,that's on my CV so I'd like to think this makes the above slightly redundant).

On top of this they have not disclosed the salary and their policy is that they will decide on a salary depending on experience and this is no negotiable. I found the wording quite spikey and aggressive.

Has anyone else had this experience? Some of my friends have had a few too many rounds of interviews but this seems ridiculous? Am I right to be thinking this is a red flag?

PS it's NFP charity.

Loving this thread, very interesting. I had an interview for a small charity, it was a part time VERY badly paid job, the interview was 3 hours long, on a Sunday, and consisted of about 2 hours of interview questions, conducted by 2 people and then 2 different writing tasks. I got the job but when I started I realised all of us , beside the CEO , were new. It wasn't a new charity, all the previous staff had just quit. I then learned about how high the staff turnover was, it soon became very obvious why. I stayed there less than a year, the lesson learned was that a consistently high staff turnover is a huge red flag.
They also had some unpaid interms and the boss was weirdly obsessed with their references, she wanted 3 work related referrnces, couldn't be a teacher etc (bearing in mind these were 19/20 year olds who had barely worked before). One of the interns' reference was an MP, during an election campaign. She was constantly trying to chase them as the boss kept hassling her for it, in the end the intern quit after a few weeks without getting the reference. It was easily the least efficient place I have ever worked

 

[Sunflower91]

I’ve been helping a friend with her career change and all of my crappy interview experiences have flooded back to me so I thought I’d share .
For most of them I was fresh out of uni trying to get a job in research - I’d interviewed already for a fair amount of retail jobs and been successful in each one of them so wasn’t really prepared for failure or some of the more out there interview styles.


The first interview I got was a grad scheme (wouldn’t recommend these as a rule- generally you still have the same skillet as some of the executive roles but they stick grad infront of it and get to pay you less).One part of it was to present. Two young women came to collect me and hear my presentation. They couldn’t have shown more disinterest before I’d even opened my mouth, one got up and left midway through to collect a parcel. I’m not entirely sure they’d ever done an interview before and got the strong impression my face didn’t fit the place. Never heard from them again.

The next one I had, I arrived at their office to dead silence. It was super awkward, no chitchat and I kind of wish I’d just told them then and there it wouldn’t be for me. This woman too me into the attic room to interview me and it started off as normal interview questions then all of a sudden she barked a mental arithmetic problem at me, I couldn’t hide the shock and panic on my face even though I’m good at maths. Then she asked me who my hero was and I fudged that one (not entirely sure how my hero would impact my research skills…). I was very relieved to not hear form them again.

Worst career mistake I made was accepting a job without meeting the people face to face and seeing the offices with my own eyes and how the MD treated others. On the phone it was all glitter and sparkles but I got there and it was hell

 

[lycheemartini]

I stayed there less than a year, the lesson learned was that a consistently high staff turnover is a huge red flag.

It really is! I left a company this year that had employed someone to address their high staff turnover. When that person got into the job, the company never took steps to let her help them with high staff turnover. Turns out you can’t decrease staff turnover rate in a toxic work environment!

 

[Moonflower]

Can we talk about stupid application questions too? I had one recently asking "if you were a biscuit which biscuit would you be", I mean, how is that relevant to any professional job?

I answered digestive - considered a bit boring maybe, but what you see is what you get. I didn't hear anything from them, so I guess they were looking for more of a hobnob or party ring .

The same application also asked "if you could have any super power what would it be", again pointless and irrelevant.

 

[Inforapenny]

Can we talk about stupid application questions too? I had one recently asking "if you were a biscuit which biscuit would you be", I mean, how is that relevant to any professional job?

I answered digestive - considered a bit boring maybe, but what you see is what you get. I didn't hear anything from them, so I guess they were looking for more of a hobnob or party ring .

The same application also asked "if you could have any super power what would it be", again pointless and irrelevant.

bleeping patronising bollocks.
Makes me made. These companies are just taking the piss.

 

[witchofwestbyfleet]

I briefly dated a Korean woman who had recently moved to the UK and was looking for work. She asked for my help on a job application which contained several weird questions. One of them was something like "you have to take some international students on a trip but they've been to London, Bristol, Bath, Cardiff, Oxford, Manchester, Liverpool, and Edinburgh so you can't take them back there. Where will you take them?" How was she supposed to answer that?