25+ Interviews that could not have gone worse for the job candidate: 'Every answer was "I don't know"'

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Remy Millisky • Writer and Editor
Feb 19, 2025 11:00 AM EST

If you've ever been completely and utterly unprepared for an interview, don't worry: some people have arrived for their interviews with even less prep.

Some job candidates don't actually want the jobs they're interviewing for, and they tend to make that clear to the interviewer. Maybe they need to prove they're interviewing so that they can collect an unemployment paycheck, or perhaps they're happy with their life as is, and a full-time job would cramp their style. One woman showed up to an interview and just lamented about how she hated working 5 days per week. Girl, we all do! No one wants to spend all that time toiling away at a job, but it's a necessary evil. This woman acted like it was a huge burden to be asked to work full time, but this is a problem she was causing on her own volition (you know, by interviewing for said full-time job). 

Other people showed up under-dressed, or they were just totally wrong for the line of work they were applying for. You can't do a worse job than the person who was applying for a communications job, and revealed that their biggest weakness was… you guessed it, communication! Come on, man. Please just try a little bit. 

After that, check out these delivery dilemmas that left people irritated, like one person who shared that their "Delivery driver sent me a photo of my parcel mid-air… he frisbee'd it." 

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  • 01
    'Interview for a job in the Communication and Leadership department: "What's your biggest weakness?" "Communication"""
    via Resume Genius on Unsplash+

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • 02

    "Hiring managers of Reddit, what is the worst answer an interviewee gave you?"

    PCUE631 What was your reason for leaving your previous employer? Cuz I hate retail You do realize that a grocery store is also retail right? Yeah
    via u/PCUE631
  • 03
    snarksneeze After very vague and empty answers to the standard questions, the guy was clearly not making an effort. So I asked him, "Do you really want a job here?" He looked me straight in the eye and said, "No. My mom forced me to put in all these applications and answered the phone when you called so I had to come in."
    via u/snarksneeze
  • 04
    [deleted] I sat in on an interview. This is a career type position, huge, professional company. Everything goes well, and the last question: "So where would you like to see yourself i the future with this company?" "Oh no, I think this just sounds like a chill job for the summer"
    via u/[deleted]
  • 05
    thenaterpatater Myself: "What can you tell me about..." Interviewee: "Hold on, hold on. They're talking about my boy on the tube right now." Work at a bar running the kitchen. This guy cut me off to watch sports center .... did not hire.
    via u/thenaterpatater
  • 06
    angry_of_mayfair3 Some bloke told me about how he nicked stuff from the last place he worked because they wouldn't promote him
    via u/angry_of_mayfair3
  • 07
    OwlBrains I was being interviewed for a retail job at Yankee Candle. He asked, "What's your favorite scent for a candle?" I said, "I prefer unscented candles." I didn't get the job.
    via u/OwlBrains
  • 08
    snufflezzz "Where do you see yourself in 10 years?" "Probably using my phone. as a mirror." This was when the nokia brick was the current cellphone. I would have hired him if I knew he could predict the future but at the time that seemed stupid.
    via u/snufflezzz
  • 09
    boytyperanma 'What is your biggest weakness' 'Sometimes I get really angry and can not control myself, it's gotten me in legal trouble in the past'
    via u/boytyperanma
  • 10
    Da... This one girl - interviewing for a six figure senior Project Management role - indicated that she had "problems" with her previous boss... Sensing a possible red flag, I casually asked "What was the nature of the problem?" She said "Basically he wanted me to come into the
    via u/Damocles2010
  • 11
    office like every day!" - While I was digesting this, she followed up with "Would you want me to work every day too?" I said "Well the job is full- time - Monday to Friday, umm so yes I guess we would..." She thankfully said "Then I don't think this job is for
    via u/Damocles2010
  • 12
    me..." I was looking around for the cameras - I was sure it was a practical joke - but it wasn't.
    via u/Damocles2010
  • 13
    JezebelleAcid "Why do you want to work here?" "So my girlfriend will stop about me not having a job."
    via u/JezebelleAcid
  • 14
    CMariko Interview for a job in the Communication and Leadership department "whats your biggest weakness?" "communication"
    via u/CMariko
  • 15
    mr... Best Buy interview... "If you encounter a troublesome customer doubting your knowledge, how would you proceed to reassure them you're indeed knowledgeable about your product?" o "what does troublesome mean?"
    via u/mrarteaga323
  • 16
    [deleted] Interviewee snapped at me and then said "sorry I said that it's just that you remind me of my husband". Lol
    via u/[deleted]
  • 17
    [deleted] I over heard an interview where I work and just about every answer was "I don't know"
    via u/[deleted]
  • 18
    hedidntgetthejob I worked where HR had a stranglehold on the process. of bringing in candidates. Often they sent ones with zero experience or aptitude for the position. One of the best examples: "So tell me, what experience do you have that qualifies you for the senior healthcare systems analyst position?"
    via u/hedidntgetthejob
  • 19
    "I worked at 7-11" "In I.T.?" "No, night shift at the one on Fremont Boulevard"
    via u/hedidntgetthejob
  • 20
    akittyisyou "Can you tell me about a time you went above and beyond for a customer?" Well the store was about to close and this lady came up to me looking for a gift for a three year old boy, but she didn't know what he liked or anything, and my shift was about to end so I got Karen to help her instead.
    via u/akittyisyou
  • 21
    samazinnn I'm a retail manager and recently an applicant answered the standard "Why do you want to work here?" with, "My girl is pregnant and it's easier than McDonalds." When I asked him to elaborate on that he said that while working at McDonalds he was fired for sleeping while on the clock, and he knows he could get away with that at our store.
    via u/samazinnn
  • 22
    [deleted] Oh geez, I seriously have tons of these How would you rate your conflict resolution skills "Oh I'd say I get conflicts. resolved pretty easily. I used to be a waitress, and that's why I seriously can't stand people". what?!
    via u/[deleted]
  • 23
    Eri... I always like resumes that are nearly spotless, but have incredibly bad emails. This is unprofessional, and we do notice. Seriously.
    via u/Erisianistic
  • 24
    ostentia Me: "Why are you leaving your current position?" Him: "All of my coworkers are stupid. I hate being a manager--my direct report is so incompetent. I reported him to the CEO, but he hasn't gotten fired yet!" This was for a supervisor position on a highly collaborative team.
    via u/ostentia
  • 25
    CherrySlurpee Not myself, but my boss interviewed someone. He asked them what their last job was. "I worked at <a competitor> for 3 weeks."
    via u/CherrySlurpee
  • 26
    "Oh, that's interesting, why such a short time?" (expecting to hear how terrible it was - they're known for being terribad to their employees) "Oh, I got fired in training because I didn't meet performance standards."
    via u/CherrySlurpee
  • 27
    dexa_scantron Me: "What does this bullet point on your resume mean? I haven't heard that term before." Him: "Oh, I'm not sure. My wife wrote it."
    via u/dexa_scantron
  • 28
    dopkick I received a job offer that I was certainly taking as I was preparing to go to a different interview - literally sitting in the parking lot to kill time. I went to the interview and he asked "where do you see yourself in 5 years?" as one of the first questions. Not really giving a sh I said something like "tearing up some sweet fresh Colorado powder on a weekly basis." |
    via u/dopkick
  • 29
    figured this was basically saying there's no way intended to stay there long term because the company was on the east coast. Turns out the interviewer was an avid skier and we talked skiing for the next 15 minutes. Got that offer too.
    via u/dopkick
  • 30
    AN... I was in the middle of an interview when one of the candidates pulled a book out of his backpack and just started reading it. It took me a second to shake off what he was doing it was just so out-of-the blue. I got frustrated and asked him "What the h I are you doing?"
    via u/AN1Guitarman
  • 31
    He just looks at me deadpan and asks "If you're in a truck traveling at the speed of light, then, you turn your lights on, would anything happen?" I just said "I don't know" and he stood up and said "Fine, I don't want to work for you anyway" and walked out.
    via u/AN1Guitarman
  • 32
    I had no idea what the h I to say to my colleague so we just went on with the day like nothing else. Never forgot it though.
    via u/AN1Guitarman
  • 33
    Rainy DayNinja In the interview for my current job, I mentioned that at my internship, one of my duties was testing the viscosity of paints (basically how "thick" the liquid is). The interviewer asked, "When you measured viscosity, did you use instruments?"
    via u/Rainy DayNinja
  • 34
    I was a few hours into multiple rounds of interviews at that point, so I couldn't stop myself from sarcastically replying, "No, I just ran my fingers through it."
    via u/Rainy DayNinja
  • 35
    tambor333 I had a candidate come in that claimed responsibility for leading a project that I did at a prior company. I shelled him with questions for about 10 minutes about it when he finally asked "How do you know so much about it?" I smiled and responded because I was the person who actually led it.
    via u/tambor333

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