30 Job candidates who gave bizarre answers to their interviewers: 'Is this going to take long? I'm parked in a 15 minute spot'

Author image for Remy Millisky
Remy Millisky • Writer and Editor
Apr 13, 2025 11:00 AM EDT

There are some things you just should never do in an interview, no matter how casual the vibe may seem. It's an easy mistake to make! Interviewing for a job is one of those tasks that doesn't necessarily get easier as you grow older and wiser. That's because it's all but impossible to tell how you're doing during the interview.

 There have been so many times I went into an interview and thought I did incredible, only to then be turned down. I've also gone to interviews where I thought I did just okay, or terribly, and still got a second interview. I've also gotten tricked by interviewers who kept the tone very casual, leading to some answers that definitely weren't as good as they could've been. Interviewers know how stressful the process can be, and they try to get the candidates to relax so that they can give their best answers. But this can quickly lead candidates to act too casual, or possibly be way too honest! The people below totally blew their chances at getting the job… better luck next time! 

Next, read about the business traveler who spent $218 on a taxi ride after the company refused to comp him for a $4 train ticket: "No can do... order me a taxi."

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  • 01
    'Had the following people apply for my software company: - Trapeze artist - Sheep sitter - Certified chainsaw user'
    via Andrej Lišakov For Unsplash+

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

  • 02

    Calling in slick is going in the lexicon

    [deleted] "Tell us why you left your last job..." "It was boring, I didn't like it so I started calling in 'slick"" "...calling in 'slick'?" "Yeah, telling my boss I was sick, but I really just didn't want to come to work."
    via u/[deleted]
  • 03
    crossedx I asked her to describe a time when she had to complete a repetitive task and how she stayed motivated. Her answer was waking up every morning. I asked how she stayed motivated, and she said she didn't have to because her mom got her up.
    via u/crossedx
  • 04
    _aaron_ "I'm not here to actually interview. I just want this to be a practice interview for other companies" I walked out
    via u/_aar0n_
  • 05
    PerilousAll Asked an interviewee about his tech experience. "I helped my Mom set up her new iPad. And she's like, your age." Was in my mid 30's at the time. Sigh.
    via u/PerilousAll
  • 06
    adayinalife A few years back we advertised for a job developing a cancer bio marker. We got an interesting CV from a guy that worked in DNA forensics, while the details were lacking it was a interesting enough CV to get him in for an interview. Once there and the pleasantries were out of the
    via u/adayinalife
  • 07
    way the interview went as such. "Could you tell us a bit more. about your work in forensics, what kind of techniques are you familiar with" "I was a janitor"
    via u/adayinalife
  • 08
    ghost_in_the_pot... I helped interview some people once for a government job at an international center in rural Japan. This was a job where foreigners who didn't speak Japanese would occasionally come in and talk to staff, so even though the staff didn't have to be perfect at English, they had to at least be able to understand the basics.
    via u/ghost_in_the_potato
  • 09
    In the interviews, my boss had me start out by asking the participants simple questions like "What's your name?" and "How are you feeling today?" to see how they would react. The point wasn't to test their ability but just to make sure they would be able to handle an unexpected situation where a foreigner was speaking to them in English. And it was horrible. The first guy who
    via u/ghost_in_the_potato
  • 10
    came in just stared at the floor for about two minutes without saying anything. One girl started to actually cry a little bit. Of course since this was the beginning of the interview it threw them off for the rest of it as well. I felt like a total a h le but on the other hand if you cry when someone speaks English to you you're probably not the best pick for the job.
    via u/ghost_in_the_potato
  • 11
    jert11 Asked an interviewee to tell me about a time they'd built relationships with colleagues, departments, suppliers etc. She proceeded to tell me how she'd started having an affair with a work colleague. Not quite the answer I was expecting.
    via u/jert11
  • 12
    [de... Interviewing a woman for a casino cashier position. Me: "How much money would you feel comfortable handling on a daily basis?" Her: "None. I don't want to go to jail."
    via u/[deleted]
  • 13
    Un... Interviewing a nervous person for their first job. The question is: "What role do you typically play on a team?" Candidate: "Defense" Me: (this is an interesting response) "Can you tell me more about that?"
    via u/UncoolJ
  • 14
    Candidate: "I hate sports and don't want to have to touch the ball" It was definitely a memorable answer.
    via u/UncoolJ
  • 15
    Ijustdoeyes "Hi there, I'm ijustdoeyes thanks for coming in today" "Is this going to take long? I'm parked in a 15 min spot"
    via u/Ijustdoeyes
  • 16
    opkc I worked in the daycare at a gym, and one of the interview questions was "What is the nicest thing you've ever done for someone." One interviewee said "providing a false alibi to the police for my boyfriend."
    via u/opkc
  • 17
    Wi... I was interviewing a guy for a job as mall security. I asked the standard interview question: "What is your biggest weakness?" He responded with, "Weakness?" and then nearly maniacal laughter that lasted uncomfortably long. I jumped to the last question and ended the interview early. The guy creeped me out.
    via u/Wisco1856
  • 18
    Leohond15 It wasn't an interview (didn't get that far!) but the job application. It was a dog walking position for a pet company and we have a question asking about experience. Now obviously this means experience working with/handling dogs. But someone answered like this: "I've been walking almost my entire life."
    via u/Leohond15
  • 19
    [de... "You Why did you leave your last company?" "Sir, I am not going to lie. I was fired for fighting a customer in the parking lot." Nice honesty but...
    via u/[deleted]
  • 20
    teri_dactyl Interviewer - Describe yourself in 3 words. The guy stutters, really struggling.
    via u/teri_dactyl
  • 21
    Interviewer - OK, if I asked your closest friends how they would describe you, what do you think they'd say? He stutters more and just blurts out... "WELSH"
    via u/teri_dactyl
  • 22
    FEHnewbie Had the following people apply for my company (software company): •Trapeze artist • Sheep sitter • Certified Chainsaw user
    via u/FEHnewbie
  • 23
    Best one was where the kid put down one of his attributes as "bravery". Edit: these were all applications for college interns.
    via u/FEHnewbie
  • 24
    SuperDuper125 Instead of asking me to repeat the question that they had misheard, they tried to pry my clipboard out of my hands so that they could read it, and when I didn't let them take the
    via u/SuperDuper125
  • 25
    clipboard they tried to walk around to my side of the table to read it over my shoulder. Without explaining this to me until I was ending the interview moments later.
    via u/SuperDuper125
  • 26
    Cheezburger Image 10493072384
    via Getty Images For Unsplash+

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

  • 27
    prestiforpresident Not me, but a buddy of mine interviewed someone for a job, at the end he asked "So, do you have any questions for me?", the interviewee says "No, but check this out...~pulls pant leg up to show new tattoo~."
    via u/prestiforpresident
  • 28
    triceraquake Not an interviewer, but years ago my husband used Google to find something during an interview at Yahoo. While his screen was projected onto the wall. In front of the interviewers.
    via u/triceraquake
  • 29
    crank--heart There was an interview that happened recently at my workplace. The interviewer asked the interviewee to elaborate on a part of his resume, to which the interviewee replied, "my resume was written by a professional, and I'm not actually sure what he means by that part". Just no.
    via u/crank--heart
  • 30
    honestgoing Here's a really bad answer I gave. I applied to work at a candle shop at a mall. The guy who took my resume said they might need someone and started the interview. Why do you want to work here?
    via u/honestgoing
  • 31
    Truth is didn't want to leave my job at the time but I was looking for something closer to home. For some reason I didn't want to say any version of that. I just said, It smells really great in here.
    via u/honestgoing
  • 32
    samuraistrikemike RN here. Doing group peer interviews with a candidate that came across to me a little self sure. We asked a few clinical questions and one went along the lines of do you know what to do when x = y? The candidate responded to the person asking the question with "Yeah, do you?" She did not get the job.
    via u/samuraistrikemike
  • 33
    crabsong Me: Tell us about your educational background. Interviewee: I have a degree in philosophy so I'm probably useless to you and your unenlightened being. Me (in my head): ?
    via u/crabsong
  • 34
    Do... How much bakery experience do you have? None, but I'm good at fixing cars. Edit: Maybe he thought we said "brakery"
    via u/Donutsndrums
  • 35
    jus... Was phone-interviewing someone for a technical position. I could hear him tapping away on a keyboard (likely trying to Google the answer) every time I asked him while he meandered around the answer. The sad part was, he wasn't even able to search for the right thing, more than once.
    via u/justforkix
  • 36
    EDIT: Some context, the questions were pretty basic, related to the technology stack we were interviewing for. The dude had an extremely impressive resume and it became evident during the call that most of it was less than truthful. There have been a few other winners, this was most recent.
    via u/justforkix
  • 37

    Why would she say this?!

    Shesaysgo67 I was interviewing someone for a customer service position. "Tell me about a time you had to go out of your way to help a customer," I asked her. She gave me a five minute long answer about how she made sure that the customer respected her and how valuable her time was and that "sometimes you just
    via u/Shesaysgo67
  • 38
    have to put them in their place. They ask you all kinds of questions but they just need to think and then they'd know the answer. So I tell them to think for themselves and then they get it." She didn't get a call back.
    via u/Shesaysgo67
  • 39

    Bro was too honest

    adders89 I was interviewing for seasonal ice rink staff. When asked "Why did you leave your last job?" He replied "I got fired for helping a friend steal one of the snowboards"
    via u/adders89
  • 40
    Tra... Me: so, why do you want to work with us? Him: yes EDIT: I was talking really clear, but he was extremely nervous. He later explained he had imagined the interview with a set of questions which he remembered in order... not the sharpest guy
    via u/Tracias_Way
  • 41
    vagsquad Interviewing for a free clinic for homeless people. We asked about their experiences with the homeless and this person told us a story of the time their family vacationed on a yacht in Fiji and then met a fisherman who traded them his entire day's catch for a handful of M&Ms. I was flabbergasted-- you couldn't possibly be more
    via u/vagsquad
  • 42
    out of touch. That fisherman probably wasn't even homeless. And also, why didn't they just give him their M&Ms without taking his hard-earned fish? Or pay him for the fish...? Needless to say they did not get the job.
    via u/vagsquad

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