Interviewee incessantly monologues at hiring manager, he cuts him off and tells him to 'shut up and listen': 'You walked into this room with a 99 percent chance of getting the job'

Author image for JR Atkinson
JR Atkinson • Writer and Editor
Jul 16, 2025 10:00 PM EDT

We all need a little honest feedback every now and again. Most of us get very little of it in our day-to-day. We're all used to being so polite to each other all the time that it can start to lack substance. I'm not necessarily complaining about this. I don't mind having my feelings spared. Criticism can hurt sometimes. But every now and again, we need someone to reality check us. We need to be reminded of the little ways we can do better. This is especially true in the job market.

It's tough to find a job out there, and we're often left in the dark about the process. How many jobs have you applied to and heard absolutely nothing back, not even a confirmation that you did indeed apply? How many interviews have you gone on where they said they would call and then never did? It's hard to learn from these situations. 

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  • 01

    AITAH for telling a guy to shut up during a job interview?

    I was interviewing this guy for a very good software engineering position. He passed the first round, and both I and everyone involved in the second round really liked his resume and experience. On paper, he had everything we were looking for, and honestly, this looked like a life-changing opportunity for him.
    via u/sirtuinsenolytic
  • 02
    Cheezburger Image 10529946624
    via Unsplash+ (Tahir osman)

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

  • So, what would happen if an interviewer were honest with you? What if they said everything that was on their mind instead of keeping it in to make things less awkward? That's what happened in this story, where an interviewer had too much and finally spoke his mind. Read on for the story to see what happened. 

  • 03
    Then he shows up, very serious and not smiling at all. I'm used to that in tech interviews, and I understand it can be an intimidating environment. We did a round of introductions, and then he opened the interview by saying, "Let me tell you a little bit about myself." We said, okay, go for it.
    via u/sirtuinsenolytic
  • 04
    He started talking and talking about his personal and professional background. After about three minutes, I jumped in to ask a follow-up question based on something he mentioned. He replied, "I will answer, just give me a moment," and continued talking. A coworker jumped in with another question, and he said the same thing to her.
    via u/sirtuinsenolytic
  • 05
    At this point, we were kind of looking at each other, but decided to let him continue and give him the benefit of the doubt. But after more than five minutes, I jumped in again with another question. I had to talk over him to do it. He finally paused and answered, but in such a long- winded way that he ended up veering into another topic.
    via u/sirtuinsenolytic
  • 06
    My coworker asked another question, and the same thing happened. At this point, I was ready to end the interview. I tried to politely wrap it up several times, but he was unable to read the room and just kept talking. I finally raised my voice slightly and said something like, "Thank you very much for sharing your background. In the interest of time, I'd like to ask if
    via u/sirtuinsenolytic
  • 07
    you have any questions for us." This is standard protocol and helps. us prepare answers for future interviews. He asked a question about the team. As I was answering, he raised his finger and interrupted to talk more about his background. I let it go. Then he asked another question, which my coworker started to answer, but again, he spoke over her to talk about himself.
    via u/sirtuinsenolytic
  • 08
    I tried once more to interrupt politely, but he kept talking. At that point, I was done. I said, "John, you really have to shut up and listen." He was surprised, as was my coworker, but he finally stopped talking. I continued, "You walked into this room with a 99 percent chance of getting the job. Now that chance is zero. The only reason is because, in less than fifteen minutes, you've
    via u/sirtuinsenolytic
  • 09
    demonstrated that you don't have the capacity to listen at all. So I'm telling you now, you're not getting the job. But if you take anything away from this interview, let it be this: no matter how good you are technically, if you can't listen, you'll never excel in this career." He apologized and said, "Can we start again?"
    via u/sirtuinsenolytic
  • 10
    I replied, "You had your chance. Best of luck in your future interviews. Make sure you listen." Looking back, I know I could have handled that differently, but I still feel bad for the guy.
    via u/sirtuinsenolytic
  • 11
    Cheezburger Image 10529946880
    via Unsplash+ (Getty Images)

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

  • 12

    Commenters understood where this interviewer was coming from.

    ElemWiz 4d ago NTA. Honestly, he needed to hear it from someone in a position of hiring authority. Sure, his ego may be bruised, but that likely needed to happen.
    via u/ElemWiz
  • 13
    Ok-Accident-7128 · 4d ago NTA there's always someone like this and maybe you gave him pause for thought in life being blunt. You probably avoided a future PITA too.
    via u/Ok-Accident-7128
  • 14
    BillyJayJersey505 · 4d ago. You actually gave him more feedback than many people would have. NTAH
    via u/BillyJayJersey505
  • 15
    Frejian 4d ago NTA In this day and age of litigious-happy people, it is very rare for a candidate to get legitimate feedback, especially about why specifically they are NOT getting a job that hasn't gone through 5 different HR
    via u/Frejian
  • 16
    sanitization protocols to the point of being useless. You did this guy a favor by actually being honest with him and giving him actionable feedback for future interviews. If he can't understand that, then he is only proving you more correct in your assessment.
    via u/Frejian
  • 17
    Were you a bit harsher than strictly necessary? Probably. But it definitely sounds warranted to get the point across.
    via u/Frejian
  • 18
    No-Sea1173 · 4d ago NTA. • He needed something harsh to cut through the internal monologue spilling out into the room. You did him a massive favour.
    via u/No-Sea1173
  • 19
    WithAnAitchDammit 4d ago NTA • I messed up interviewing someone once. It was someone that worked with my then wife (now ex). Interview was going OK and he started dropping f-bombs. I don't mind foul language. The army taught me how to use "f " like it's a comma.
    via u/WithAnAitchDammit
  • 20
    But there's a time and place for it and an interview is not the place. I hired him against my better judgement and ended up firing him a year later because he was horrible at his job. Trust your guts, you made the right call.
    via u/WithAnAitchDammit
  • 21
    Tess408 4d ago . NTA. It sounds like he had rehearsed a speech and was really not ready for questions, so he thought he could bombard you with the longest elevator pitch of all time. He lacked the flexibility to read the room and respond to direct questions.
    via u/Tess408
  • 22
    You gave great feedback that will help him in the future. Sure, it was blunt, but if he is neurodivergent (seems very possible) that is the most likely way to get through to him I've received interview feedback before and it was appreciated. I'd rather learn from the experience than repeat the mistakes.
    via u/Tess408
  • 23
    PersonalityFun2025 4d ago God, I hate long-winded people who can't just answer a simple question. Not long ago, I was speaking with someone and asked a simple question. It could have been answered in 2 or 3 sentences. He went on for 20 minutes. I couldn't wait to get out of that room.
    via u/PersonalityFun2025
  • 24
    Can you imagine what this guy would have been like to work with? You did the right thing.
    via u/PersonalityFun2025
  • 25
    Andee-1 4d ago NTA. . It was an unorthodox way to end a job interview? Maybe It was effective? Absolutely I would love for job interviewers to be this direct
    via u/Andee-1
  • 26
    and blunt and not just, "well call you" to proceed to wipe. my number off his phone, just tell me what I did wrong dude, so I can go and apply it with your direct competitor. And for the guy, I hope this is his wake up call to start communicating better.
    via u/Andee-1
  • 27
    Visible-Disaster · 4d ago I have a team member like this. We've tried to mentor and coach him, but he has a "script" in his mind on how a meeting should go. If you push him out of that, he glitches and can't get move forward. He also thinks he's the smartest person in the room and is frequently wrong in areas that are not his expertise. All while trying to talk over you.
    via u/Visible-Disaster
  • 28
    KangarooThick733 4d ago • I once supervised a guy in a tech-adjacent role. We did data analysis and we were working closely with a dev team on how to automate parts of it. This guy studied engineering with a side of comp Sci and desperately wanted to move into tech. He was actually a really nice helpful dude, normally.
    via u/KangarooThick733
  • 29
    He moved up to a team lead role in my team and I appreciated him. So I started bringing him into the tech meetings, recognising that he probably had a pathway here. to start learning some relevant related tech project management skills and maybe even move over to that side eventually.
    via u/KangarooThick733
  • 30
    He was a disaster in every meeting. He was so desperate to show off his technical knowledge to the dev team, he started talking over me, his supervisor, constantly. He'd try to finish my sentences every sentence, always incorrectly. Totally missing the point of the conversation and veering off on irrelevant tangents.
    via u/KangarooThick733
  • 31
    He was making himself look worse, not better, because he didn't know how to have a productive meeting or let anyone else talk. I had to say things like 'Johnny stop interrupting me and let me finish my sentence. Johnny you will get to talk in a second but not now, Johnny I am speaking. He wouldn't stop.
    via u/KangarooThick733
  • 32
    It got to the point where I had say 'Johnny, JOHNNY! STOP!' Like to an unruly child who wasn't listening. 'Johnny just stop for a second, Amy is speaking. This isn't on topic for right now and you're talking over people. Just. Stop for a second please.'
    via u/KangarooThick733
  • 33
    He looked mortified, but started again a minute later so I just hushed him like a persistent toddler. Just waving him off like 'Shhh not now Johnny' whenever he started speaking. It was, obviously, a terrible look for him that he had to be treated like a child in professional meetings, and clearly I had to stop including him in them, killing his opportunities for progression.
    via u/KangarooThick733
  • 34
    I felt bad for him of course, but it was his own behaviour that did it. It's entirely fair and actually a kindness that you were so blunt with this guy. Maybe he'll be able to learn from it what he clearly hasn't learned from more subtle feedback before you, which I don't doubt he's had.
    via u/KangarooThick733

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