Job-seeker attends virtual interview, is joined by 40+ other prospective employees competing for the position: 'Don't interrupt me. Raise your hand before speaking'

Author image for JR Atkinson
JR Atkinson • Writer and Editor
Sep 7, 2025 10:00 PM EDT

Looking for a job can be a wildly disheartening process. You put yourself out there to be rejected by so many companies, or more often simply not acknowledged. You send out your hopes and dreams into the universe, only for them to get shot down one by one. This is the joy and the trials of looking for a new job. And even when you get an interview, you never quite know what you'll be in for until you're there. You can't realize what kind of a place it will be until you're two feet in. This is an incredibly risky proposition. 

Not all jobs are created equal, and it's hard to get a sense of the work culture until it's too late. But sometimes, almost mercifully, you get a sense of the place during the interview process. Most job interviews are pretty similar. You show up, they ask you questions, you ask them questions, and you learn about the job and the expectations therein. You leave having met one or two people and with an idea of whether or not you'd be right for the role. 

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  • A Macbook screen displays a group of people on a video call.
    via Chris Montgomery

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

  • That's not what happened in this story. In this story, a man looking for a job signed up for an interview, expecting the usual rigamarole, but soon found out he was in for something else entirely. Luckily, it gave him a sense of what working for the company would be like. So naturally, he ran for the hills. 

  • Just attended an interview with 40 people...

    Today I witnessed something completely new and unusual. I got selected for an interview, confirmed my availability, and showed up 5 minutes early. While sitting on the Google Meet waiting screen, I noticed: "xyz and abc are already in this meeting." I thought, okay, maybe it's a panel interview, a bit odd for an initial round, but not unheard of, I've even had one with five people before.
    via u/shindigin
  • Then the headcount started climbing and by the start time, it had exploded to 15+ participants. Curious (and slightly concerned about what I'm about to witness), I clicked Join.
    via u/shindigin
  • A bunch of serious faces appeared, and the interviewer was explaining the process and announced we'd wait another 5 minutes for everyone to join. Five minutes passed, there were 40+ people on the call. Then came the explanation:
    via u/shindigin
  • This is our process. We want to interview as many candidates as possible at once. If anyone is uncomfortable speaking in front of a large group, email me and we'll respond accordingly. For the rest, here's how it goes... Naturally, someone objected. The interviewer responded:
    via u/shindigin
  • It's totally fine if you'd rather not continue, just drop out. But for those staying, don't interrupt me. Raise your hand before speaking. Another objection followed, and the interviewer's tone shifted, irritated, defensive:
    via u/shindigin
  • This is our process. This is how we like it. Do not interrupt unless it's a question directly about what I'm discussing. One person announced their discomfort and dropped out of the call. Meanwhile, the candidates' serious expressions were getting funnier and funnier, I was struggling to keep a straight face. At this point I'm no longer taking this whole thing seriously, I stayed for the laughs and the good story.
    via u/shindigin
  • Then came the kicker: we were all required to take an IQ test, though it "wouldn't affect the hiring decision.", as expected, someone immediately spoke up: "If it doesn't affect the decision, why are we taking it?" That opened the floodgates, heckling, objections, 10+ people typing stuff in the chat simultaneously including someone who wrote: "This is getting weirder and weirder every second", another got a "sudden emergency he must attend to", another felt sick, both dropped out and a few other
    via u/shindigin
  • Moments later, the screen flashed: "The host has ended the meeting for all participants." I rejoined using the same link and found about 10+ others sitting silently, waiting. The interviewer never returned. After some awkward silence, we started joking about the absurdity of the whole thing. Eventually, everyone agreed he wasn't coming back. We exchanged a few laughs, wished each other a good day, and one by one, left the call.
    via u/shindigin
  • A person joins a meeting remotely from their laptop.
    via Unsplash+ (Getty Images)

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

  • Commenters had a lot to say about this interview style.

    StMuerte13 15h ago . I remember being in a few interviews like this. It's never productive and immediately shows the hiring company does not care about the applicants and it's just a numbers game. Good on everyone pointing out the flaws and absurdity of the process. Even in small situations, gotta enjoy the uniting and overcoming a bad boss.
    via u/StMuerte13
  • DukeRedWulf • 15h ago Sounds like recruitment for a cult, an MLM scheme, or one of those commission-only door-to-door sales "jobs" - or all of the above! XD
    via u/DukeRedWulf
  • Being_Stoopit_Is_... 14h ago They probably thought they could get people to compete at the next level. That's normally what group interviews object is. Sadly that just rules out qualified introverts.
    via u/Being_Stoopit_Is_Fun
  • • Diggity20 13h ago I went a interview in person and there were 15-20 in a confresnce room. Same type sh. Job was 12hr shifts, but you must be available 4hrs before and after each shift, 2 call offs was termination. Someone asked hourly on call rate was, he said no compensation for that. Everyone of us left. Lol
    via u/Diggity20
  • Norwood500614h ago I had one of these on a Saturday morning, yep, I turned up at the recruiters office and there were 20 other candidates there. We were then put into groups of 6 and given pretend workplace scenarios to solve and debate. After this lunacy
    via u/Norwood5006
  • we were all given IQ tests. I am not sure why but I piped up with 'Ted Bundy had a high IQ'. I did the test, spent the better part of 3 unpaid hours there and the kicker was that I never heard back from them. The job was a call centre job for an electricity provider.
    via u/Norwood5006
  • SkirtEnvironmental... · 12h ago this is like a campfire story for labor day
    via u/SkirtEnvironmental96
  • bibkel 14h ago • Glad you named...How absurd. I would think it was a ploy to get all those who were not serious to drop off. That and to see just how much ab e you'd tolerate. IQ test? Wonder if they'd share the results with you after, and where they got the test from in the first place.
    via u/bibkel
  • TheBalzy 13h ago . LoL, when your interviewees are smarter than the interviewer.
    via u/TheBalzy
  • Conscious-Ad-7040 - 12h ago I showed up for an interview at 5:30am. Already weird. The job posting was ambiguous, sales, I was desperate at the time so I took the bait for the interview. People started filtering in. None really dressed to impress. I don't
    via u/Conscious-Ad-7040
  • know if I single one was over 30. Then walked us out into the parking lot and it was revealed that we would be approaching people at gas stations to demonstrate wheel cleaner. I walked off. They called me back and said the job was mine if I wanted it. I laughed and hung up the phone.
    via u/Conscious-Ad-7040
  • laurasaurus5 • 14h ago "But this is just our process!!" is so funny to me. They obviously could have emailed the interviewees details about this unusual process, but they led everyone to believe it was a job interview.
    via u/laurasaurus5
  • DaBear1222 • 14h ago Group interviews s kl remember going on one in the 2010's I hope they aren't making a comeback
    via u/DaBear1222
  • Jun1p3rs 6h ago Thank you for naming. This should be the norm, because sh like this should be spread like a wildfire. Besides, you and the other 40+ head counts can back it up so easily. Things like this could make a great television show AA
    via u/Jun1p3rs
  • xxdeathknight72xx • 5h ago What a sh show hahaha +Points for sharing the company Thanks for the laugh, OP
    via u/xxdeathknight72xx
  • melodypowers • 12h ago . Given the company, I wonder if this was some sort of scheme to get training data. Anyway, sorry they wasted your time but at least you got a good story out of it.
    via u/melodypowers
  • • Vegetable-Fix-4702 14h ago That's one of the weirdest ideas I've ever heard of. 40 people? I would have left when I saw that number. Ridiculous.
    via u/Vegetable-Fix-4702
  • Edit: To those asking, this is the company (another chatgpt wrapper startup) and it's a senior software engineer position.
    via u/shindigin

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