‘[It was] a 30-minute humiliation session’: Job seeker is berated by interviewer for having a PhD, despite listing higher education as a preference in the job description

Author image for Lana DeGaetano
Lana DeGaetano • "Show me to me please."
Mar 19, 2025 5:00 PM EDT

Job interviews are one of the most nerve-wracking first-world experiences anyone can be a part of. As humans, we must work for a living, and working for a living means needing a job, and needing a job means needing to interview for that job. In the current job market, it's difficult to land an interview in the first place, let alone do well enough in the interview to be asked back by the prospective employer. In a perfect world, job seekers would have the upperhand when it comes to landing a job… but this isn't a perfect world—it's a world that belongs to corporate companies and their entitled ways.

In this next story, a job seeker is humiliated for having a PhD by their military veteran interviewer, after having two prior interview rounds for the role. Not only did the interviewer call their PhD "worthless", but they also claimed a high schooler could get the open job done. Maybe they should do that instead of berating innocent job seekers…

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  • This job seeker explains that they had just finished two rounds of interviews with a company, and both interviewers were impressed with their qualifications and degrees. In this third round of interviews, they meet with the director of the department. Instead of having a smooth experience like the last two interviews, the director starts coming for their qualifications, schooling, and soft skill abilities. Then, began going on a rant about their time serving the country.

  • Cheezburger Image 10482016256
    via Getty Images For Unsplash+

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

  • "I had an interview just to be reminded that I'm not a native speaker, my PhD is worthless, and they'd prefer a high schooler over me for a research position"

    I recently interviewed with a nuclear company, and the first two rounds went really well. The interviewers were impressed by
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  • my background, publications, GPA, and skills. But the final round with the director-who had an associate degree and 40+ years of experience in the Navy,
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  • military, and nuclear-was less of an interview and more of a 30- minute humiliation session.
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  • From the start, he made it clear that he didn't care about degrees or GPAs (even though the job description explicitly stated that an MS/PhD was preferred). He
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  • emphasized that soft skills including talking and presenting mattered more than techniques and knowledge in the field of human factors (which is definitely
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  • not true!). He even joked about how he had done some eye- tracking research (similar to my background) before but found it "boring."
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  • Throughout the conversation, he kept indirectly reminding me that my degree was meaningless and that they could just as easily train a high schooler for the role. His
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  • tone was condescending, and just before ending the call, he casually added, "Oh, I keep things light here," which I thought was a literal statement based on
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  • the conversation tone-until he followed up with, "Hahaha, I mean I'm not strict, people bring potlucks once a month." Then he said, "You'll hear from us shortly. Good luck."
    via Significant_Movie814
  • Cheezburger Image 10482016768
    via Marten Bjork for Unsplash

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

  • I'm not even desperate for this job-I have a stable, well-paying one-but I walked away feeling like I just sat through a 35-minute
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  • reminder that I'm nothing, my degree is worthless, and my non- native English makes me less desirable than a high schooler for a research position.
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  • I usually handle rejection well, but this wasn't about rejection. It was about being talked down to instead of receiving a polite or professional no.
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  • Do you think I should share feedback with HR if they call me, or should I just move on? How do I word it?
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  • thelittlellamachef He probably feels intimidated by you
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  • billhorsley I think that when he said they could train a high schooler you should have said, "then why don't you?" and walked out.
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  • Meister1888 Thank your lucky stars you stumbled on this guy before accepting a job offer. Move on and don't look back.
    via Meister1888
  • PachinkoSAN Sue them! For defamation and unfair hiring practices.
    via PachinkoSAN

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workplace-stories toxic-workplace work askreddit reddit story horrible-management workplace Horrible Bosses reddit thread job interview interview entitled people toxic-work-environment
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