19-year-old woman shares experiencing a two-hour-long assessment for a first-round job interview for a minimum wage role, all applicants under 30 are asked to leave: 'The first task was to rank items by importance for surviving on a desert island'

Author image for Brad Dickson
Brad Dickson • Managing Editor
Oct 17, 2025 12:00 PM EDT

A young worker weary of the scenes at the grungy bar where she worked applied for a shiny corporate position and was confronted by the over-the-top interview process she experienced.

Job interviews used to be simple; you'd show up, look presentable, answer some questions, and shake some hands. They might check some of your references, but it would all be pretty straightforward and to the point. And this was for experienced positions. 

At some point, though, people began selling books and courses describing outrageous tips and tests that supposedly would reveal the ideal candidate. These are now escalating in the modern social-media era, with business "influencers" farming engagement on social media, and hiring managers turning to AI for hiring strategies, giving us even more tests and hacks that have gotten us further and further away from the original point of everything: hiring the most promising candidate.

All of this aside, if you're interviewing for a minimum wage role, it shouldn't matter what your experience is. All that should really matter is whether or not you're willing to turn up, learn a few basics, and do the work. Otherwise, why is the job paying only minimum wage? 

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    Cheezburger Image 10565244416
    via Getty Images For Unsplash+

    The image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • But that was not this 19-year-old applicant's experience when she applied for a new job working part-time and at minimum wage. She was already working at a bar, but had grown tired of dealing with the usual suspects you come across in that type of environment. While she expected a more straightforward employment experience with this new role, she had only barely made it through the door for the interview when the circus began. 

    To answer the applicant's question: No, this isn't normal—or at least it shouldn't be. Even if it's becoming more frequent, there's nothing normal about it.

  • 02

    "The most demeaning hiring process I’ve experienced"

    I (F19) currently work at a pub doing all front-of-house roles. Before this, I only had one other job. Both have been minimum- wage, part-time positions with pretty standard hiring processes: you send in a CV, do an interview or trial shift, and then get an email letting you know the result.
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    So, when I applied for a new part- time, minimum-wage job recently, I expected something similar. I saw the listing on Indeed - it mentioned perks like a free gym membership, which sounded like a nice step up from dealing with са -up drunk idiots at my current pub job. I applied and didn't hear back for two weeks, but then got a call asking me to attend a group interview.
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  • 04
    I asked how many stages there'd be. They said there'd be individual interviews after the group one. I thought that was a bit much for £10 an hour, but whatever. Fast forward to today: the interview started at 10. I arrived exactly on time (I'd planned to be 10 minutes early but got lost, lol). They'd
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  • 05
    already sat everyone down and just started, so I quickly slipped in, apologized, and sat down. Not the best first impression, but technically I wasn't late, so I hoped this wouldn't impact opinions on me.
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  • 06
    They kicked things off with a 25- minute presentation about the company - basically all the usual corporate indoctrination crap. I smiled and nodded along like everyone else. But some of the things they said were honestly wild. Their staff motto was "passion to serve" - which made it
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    sound like we were auditioning to be part of a cult like "dedication" or something would've sufficed. Then they went on about how their customers were the type who "shop at Waitrose and fly British Airways and not Aldi and Ryanair so expect impeccable service",
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    which rubbed me the wrong way. They tossed out a few more tone- deaf one-liners like that, and later spent about five minutes talking about "diversity" (relevant later - though still ironic now).
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    Then came the icebreaker: a bingo sheet with things like "has a pet" and "speaks a second language", where you had to find people who matched each box.
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    After that, they split us into three teams of about five or six people. The first task was to rank items by importance for surviving on a desert island. We discussed our choices, picked our top three, and then presented them to the group.
    via billnyethexylophone
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    I was the one who presented for my team. I thought I came across as confident, approachable, and likeable though, of course, - everyone perceives that differently. There was one middle- aged woman in my group who got kind of passive-aggressive about one of the items, but I managed to diffuse it by finding a middle ground, which made me feel like I was handling things pretty well.
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    Next, we switched groups for another task: drawing and describing the "perfect employee" for the company, then presenting it to everyone. I presented again and thought we did a good job. Also, you could tell all these activities were generated by ChatGPT based on the layout of the sheets the tasks were printed on.
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    Then came the final task: a debate on the pros and cons of social media. This by the way has zero relevance to company or the waitressing position I applied for.
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    At the time, I just went along with it, but looking back, it was completely unnecessary. I was one of only two people who actually spoke for our side - and that other woman ended up being called back for the second interview for reference.
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    How do I know that? Well, after the debate, they sat us all down, read out a list of names of those who had "passed", and told the rest of us to leave.
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    Everyone who was asked to leave was under 30. That group also included every person of color in the room, except one. As soon as we left, that older woman said, "So much for diversity and inclusion."
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    - And honestly, she wasn't wrong it was really noticeable. The ones who got through were all older white women with the same short fuckass bob haircut. (No hate to them, but I didn't see them doing anything different from us during the interview.)
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    I also found out later that we'd all applied for completely different positions - waitressing, lifeguarding, childcare, reception, spa hosting, etc. Oh, and the whole thing took two hours. Two fucking hours!
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    So yeah, I guess what I'm wondering is: is this normal? Maybe I'm just new to how ridiculous the job market can be, but this whole experience felt especially over-the-top and kind of pretentious.
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    Cheezburger Image 10565244672
    via Getty Images For Unsplash+

    The image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • 21
    thunderintess Not normal. Definitely pretentious. Definitely organized by people who think they know everything about finding good employees, but actually know nothing. Personally I would never stay for a group interview. But that's just me. Anyway, how'd the individual interview go?
    via billnyethexylophone
  • 22
    RadishNew6502 Simply insane. The job lookers are getting so desperate and it seems the corporate millionaires are enjoying watches the rest of us compete in rat races. When I get offers for interviews and find out the interview is Al generated, I immediately refuse. If the rest of
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    society would do the same, Al interview would lose traction and be cancelled. There is more of us than them. We must control the process in ways we can. Next time, don't participate. Find a place that wants to get to know you instead of playing stupid games rigs against you
    via billnyethexylophone
  • 24
    Puzzleheaded_Style52 It sounded like they were mainly looking for people who fit into their company culture and the brand image they want to project. And from the way they described their customer profile, you could already tell the type of candidates they were targeting so it's really no surprise who made it to the next round.
    via billnyethexylophone

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