Candidate walks out of interview after interviewer is 1 hour late and opens with irrelevant personal questions about their family: 'If you can't answer, then I don't think we can continue'

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Brad Dickson • Managing Editor
Nov 8, 2025 8:00 PM EST

A job interview turned invasive when the HR rep asked about the candidate's family background.

Corporate brand professionalism gets a bad wrap, and for good reason, the boxed, cheap store-bought communication and mannerisms are laughable in any context, and especially those outside of a corporate office where everything is draped in various shades of dull grey. Still, it stands to reason that professionalism has its place. It's a base level meeting ground of how to think and act so that nothing you do or say could possibly be taken as offensive. The resulting blandness, the sterility devoid of any and all humanness, is seen more as a feature, a function rather than a negative.

Now, you can achieve inoffensiveness and be kind towards other people without corporate blandness. We used to call this respect and implied social contract. Some would argue that this lack of respect has gotten, and is getting, worse. That has been argued by every aging generation in at least the last 70 years. Maybe they're all right. Maybe that's not just something that the aged have always felt, and we really have been losing something with each generation slowly as Western society gently descends from its high in delicate silken slippers. 

Certainly, the collective effects of social isolation, created by the internet and the lack of walkable communities with communal third places, have led to a modern world where we know nothing about and share nothing in common with our neighbors, and have no direct connection to the communities in which we live.

But, I digress, you should act respectfully toward others, especially when there is a massive power imbalance like in an interview setting. It's important to act prudently. This interviewer shared no respect toward the candidate from the outset and it's hard to imagine working for or with them. 

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  • Stressed candidates are waiting for job interview in office reading cv and using smartphone while female manager is interviewing a man in room.
    via Vitaly Gariev

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

  • "I walked out of an interview after they asked for personal details about my family."

    I just finished the weirdest interview I've ever had with a tech logistics company. I had passed the first few stages, and they invited me to come to the company, so I thought, why not, I'll go see what it's about. My appointment was at 10 AM. I arrived about 20 minutes early to be professional. But they left me sitting in the lobby for over 45 minutes. They finally called me in around 11, without any apology or even an explanation for the delay. Complete disregard.
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  • When I finally entered the office, the HR manager pointed me to a chair, then spent a few minutes finishing a conversation on her mobile phone in front of me without even looking up at me. An extremely unprofessional start. She started speaking to me in a very condescending tone. She said, 'Your family name is pronounced...?' I told her how to pronounce it. She replied, 'Oh. A strange way to pronounce it,' with a smug smile.
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  • Then she suddenly changed the subject and asked me, 'What does your mother do?' I was a bit surprised but answered, 'She works in the medical field.' She pressed further, 'And in which hospital?' This is where I felt she crossed a line. The question had nothing to do with the job or my qualifications. So I told her politely but firmly, 'With all due respect, I'm not comfortable sharing that information. It's personal family information.'
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  • Her entire demeanor changed completely. She said, 'Alright, if you can't answer, then I don't think we can continue.' I was stunned for a second. But honestly, at that moment, I no longer wanted the job anyway. I stood up and said, 'Okay, I understand,' and walked out.
    via drags-fixture5a
  • I left there absolutely furious. They wasted about an hour and a half of my day, the HR lady was condescending and rude from the start, and in the end, she had the audacity to demand personal information about my mother's job as a condition to continue the interview? Unbelievable.
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  • Frankly, I'm glad I walked out. I dodged a bullet and avoided that company culture. But seriously, what is wrong with some of these recruiters? I am sick of the absolutely ridiculous questions the recruiters keep asking. I have been job- hunting for a while, and it just keeps getting worse. Why would she ask a personal question
    via drags-fixture5a
  • like that? I am wondering if I reacted the right way? Should I have stayed and kept it professional even though her questions weren't professional at all? Or was I right to leave? I was reading an article earlier that suggested using Al in the interview process, like this one. I am really considering using it in my next interview, maybe the right answer is in these kinds of tools :/
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  • Alt-0115 Glassdoor name and shame
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  • Random_NYer_18 You did the right thing. That's stupidity.
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  • Left-Public-5519 Good for you for sticking it out that long. There were several points in this story where I would have walked away sooner, starting with being 45 minutes late and the interviewer not finishing the mobile phone call.
    via drags-fixture5a
  • jayofada Name names.
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  • ceaseless7 Seems like they wanted someone else and running off all the candidates
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  • Loud-Cheez You did dodge a bullet. How ridiculous!!
    via drags-fixture5a
  • Honest-Visual4385 Complain to corporate or whatever it is they have. Be detailed about why the whole thing was a turn off to their company when you were initially interested.
    via drags-fixture5a
  • Careless_Remove5478 Fuck that dumb witch. The questions she asked were illegal.
    via drags-fixture5a
  • TruthSeeker1712 Years ago I had a recruiter request, during the hiring process, access to my banking account to see how I manage money. The position I was being hired for had nothing to do with any work-related finance. I shot the request down & wanted explanation and the person said, sorry this info will not be needed.
    via drags-fixture5a

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