15+ Job candidates who had bizarre interview experiences: 'I don't want to work for you anyway'

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Remy Millisky • Writer and Editor
Nov 19, 2025 11:00 AM EST

When it comes to job searching, it's best to listen to your gut feelings: just ask these candidates whose instincts told them to run for the hills!

Until the day you retire, you're never truly done interviewing for jobs. You never know when you'll find yourself out of work and scrambling to get your next gig before rent is due. That's why it's a good idea to keep your resume fresh and practice those interviewing skills! You never know when you'll suddenly be thrust back into unemployment and needing to find something new. But no matter how badly you need a job, some red flags just cannot be ignored, as the people below know all too well after their own negative job interview experiences. 

Sometimes while interviewing, you can just tell that this workplace is totally dysfunctional. Maybe people will keep knocking on the door to interrupt your conversation because the hiring manager has way too much on their plate. Maybe you'll be saddled with a panel of like 4 people who all talk over each other or look totally bored the whole time. (One person realized they were talking to a panel of people with one dude who slept the entire time!) Check out the great stories below to learn all about some uncommon job interview red flags to look out for next time you're in the hot seat. 

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  • 01
    Woman in brown suit jacket sits across from 3 business women, one looking at her, one looking at laptop, and one looking at her while holding pencil
    via Andrej Lišakov For Unsplash+

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

  • 02
    | Burrito_Loyalist Meet this guy at a job fair, he loves my work, gives me his card and tells me to call him the next day. I call him. and we set up an interview. go to his office, he looks at my portfolio, tells me it's great and that I'm a great fit for his company. He proceeds to give me a tour of his entire office, introduces me to a bunch of
    via u/Burrito_Loyalist
  • 03
    people, and tells me about the great lunch spots in the area. At the end of the interview, we sit back down and he says this, "Love your work and you seem great, but we're actually not hiring right now, but I'll keep you in mind." The fuck?!
    via u/Burrito_Loyalist
  • 04
    ThelVluffin OP I'll start and it was kind of recent. Had a phone interview that went incredibly well. The owner was saying all the right things and what they were looking for was exactly what I'm good at. We schedule an in person for the following Friday. I show up on the dot, walk in, and talk with the owner
    via u/ThelVluffin
  • 05
    as we tour the plant and offices. He starts mentioning mandatory travel to sites and other responsibilities that weren't spoken about on the phone but still going okay. He sits me down in a conference room and says the person who would be my manager would be in shortly to talk. About 5 minutes later the guy walks in looking haggard as hell and plops
    via u/ThelVluffin
  • 06
    down across from me. We spend a good 20 minutes of mostly him saying the owner fed me a bunch of bullshit, the job is grueling, I'll be working 60+ hours a week, and they have no time to make improvements to their processes to alleviate issues. All of that honestly hadn't turned me off completely until he mentioned some other stuff and made it abundantly clear that he was the actual
    via u/ThelVluffin
  • 07
    reason for why they were backlogged and not able to innovate/streamline their processes. I mention a program that would really help them keep track of revisions and orders so things wouldn't go missing on their server. He responds back saying, "I don't care if you can make pretty pictures or any of that. I need someone to make 40 drawings a day and it
    via u/ThelVluffin
  • 08
    doesn't matter if if you're using a $6k program or stone and chisel". I had to stop my jaw from dropping. But on top of all that the owner randomly busts back in on the meeting telling me he needs me to leave. I look at him confused to which he replied, "I completely forgot today was our company Christmas lunch and I need to give a speech". So he ushers me out halfway
    via u/ThelVluffin
  • 09
    through an interview, locks the door behind me and I have to wait for 10 minutes while the entire company leaves because no one wants to let me back out of the guest parking spot. Even better is the owner is still under the impression that things went well so he sends me an offer letter.
    via u/ThelVluffin
  • 10
    Which if I accepted I'd give up 3 weeks of vacation, unlimited personal time (within reason), an office, ability to play music/youtube and authority to fix processes as needed. When I denied he was surprised and asked what turned me off from the position. I replied back saying him and the manager needed to have a heart to heart real soon.
    via u/ThelVluffin
  • 11
    [deleted] Had a job interview for a warehouse position at an office furniture retailer. Their in house HR rep and the owner interviewed me. Questions were absolutely basic, and they were super aggressive about finding out if I could start immediately. Like, they weren't gonna check my references or even
    via u/[deleted]
  • 12
    think about it. I had a pulse, so I was qualified. This screamed high turnover to me. The owner was a younger dude, he was the son of the former owner. He shows me around the building despite me not really wanting to work there because I was getting bad vibes. Takes me to the warehouse and introduces me to the warehouse manager and the
    via u/[deleted]
  • 13
    other employees there. Warehouse manager seems like a humorless dick, and the other guys looked indifferent and unhappy. Anyhow, as the owner is explaining the role to me he does a swinging gesture with his hand and knocks over a glass bottle of iced tea the warehouse manager was drinking. It smashes on the floor and the owner continues to talk like it didn't even happen! Warehouse
    via u/[deleted]
  • 14
    manager just stares at his busted beverage and says, "Really, man?!"The friggen owner keeps on talking and walks me off somewhere else. So friggen awkward. The owner after the tour then asks me, "So can you come in at 8 tomorrow?"
    via u/[deleted]
  • 15
    Me completely drained from the verbal diarrhea that was the entire interview and tour, "Ummm I'll have to think about it." I bail on the place, but I get phone call the next morning from the owner, "Hey you didn't show up for your shift what happened?" Me, "Ummm I never accepted the job so that's what happened."
    via u/[deleted]
  • 16
    Owner, "You signed your employment contract!" "I didn't sign anything. What are you talking about?" Owner, "This looks really bad, Ray. Not a good start. for you." "I DON'T EVEN WORK THERE YOU PSYCHO!" | hang up.
    via u/[deleted]
  • 17
    Saltyice18 It actually wasn't the interview it's self, because it went fine. In 2005 I applied to job offer for a receptionist at a car dealership. The interview went ok, but the days following I began receiving emails from the dealership about what car promotions were going on. I got about 5 a day for 2 weeks when I called to ask about the interview and that
    via u/Saltyice18
  • 18
    I found it distasteful that they apparently took my email address off my resume and put on a list of people to spam with emails wanting me to buy their vehicles. They apologized and said that they will take me off their email list and that they choose someone else for the position. It's ok. I don't want to work for you anymore.
    via u/Saltyice18
  • 19
    ArmyOfDog I just thought of another one, though this one wasn't bad. Just bizarre. It was also a mailroom manager position. A very high level person was leading the interview. She'd flown in from HQ in another state to help out with staffing this location, which was new, and not open yet.
    via u/ArmyOfDog
  • 20
    A couple of local people were also present. It was going very strangely. All the questions were incredibly easy. After not even 10 minutes, she said to me, "Frankly, I have to ask - why do you want this job? You're way too overqualified to be in this role."
    via u/ArmyOfDog
  • 21
    I paused. Then I said "you know, your questions have kind of made me wonder if we're discussing the same position. What job do you think I'm here about?" She told me it was a job where I'd basically be a gopher, distributing mail, and picking up food and acting as a courier. But mostly, I'd be waiting around, and be available to
    via u/ArmyOfDog
  • 22
    do whatever task might be presented to me. It would also be lots of busy work an admin assistant might do. I pulled the job ad and my application for it up on my phone, and showed her what I thought I was there for. Mailroom manager.
    via u/ArmyOfDog
  • 23
    There was no such position. An error had been made. They had copied and pasted all the stuff from when a different location had opened, and applied it to this location, overlooking that there was no need for a mailroom manager this time - the operation at this location was not large enough to warrant one, or to warrant even having a mail room. That job wasn't
    via u/ArmyOfDog
  • 24
    supposed to have been posted. Nobody knew it had been. And nobody knew how I'd even made it to this point in the hiring process. I'm guessing a lot of it was automated, and then finalized by someone out of the loop in another state.
    via u/ArmyOfDog
  • 25
    She was irritated. Not with me, of course. She apologized, took my information, and said she was impressed enough with me to find me something somewhere in the company, but didn't know what yet. I never did hear back from her, though.
    via u/ArmyOfDog
  • 26
    tnk2104 I had one where I could not tell if the interviewer was blind. He wouldn't look at me, never moving his eyes. during the entire conversation, but flawlessly arranged his papers in front of him, picked out a chair in a large meeting room without extending an arm for confirmation, and shook my hand perfectly after the interview was done. Didn't
    via u/tnk2104
  • 27
    land the gig, but it was memorable to say the least. It had Seinfeld vibes written all-throughout.
    via u/tnk2104
  • 28
    penguinkneez When I was like 16 I went to interview for a front desk job at a insurance agency. The 50-something man. interviewing me asked me "Do you understand the importance of deer hunting and are you willing to hunt?"
    via u/penguinkneez
  • 29
    We lived in Chicago. I don't even remember what I responded with. I have never been so confused in my life. Its been 12 or so years since then and I still think about it periodically.
    via u/penguinkneez
  • 30
    ArmyOfDog It was for a management position, running a mail room. Something I'd done twice before. All the standard questions were asked. I felt like it was going well. Then he suddenly says to me, "I'm hearing a lot of "I" from you. I'm concerned, because we are about the
    via u/ArmyOfDog
  • 31
    team, here, and not the individual." The hell? It's a job interview and you're concerned that I'm answering questions you have asked specifically about me, with answers that address your questions about me. That's utterly nonsensical.
    via u/ArmyOfDog
  • 32
    I don't even remember how I responded, but I knew I didn't want to deal with his stupid semantic word and mind games, which I was sure I'd only seen the surface of, so I steered us right into concluding the interview, and I left. I also made a subtle show of taking back the copies of my resume that I'd brought with me.
    via u/ArmyOfDog
  • 33
    QuackedUp99 I applied for a simple clerical job at a grocery warehouse. Took the requisite tests. Interviewer comes back into room and says I failed the spelling test. I told him I was a communications major and knew how to spell.
    via u/QuackedUp99
  • 34
    He checked the test again and discovered he was using the wrong grading key. I had 100 percent. He apologized profusely and gave me the job.
    via u/QuackedUp99
  • 35
    Notmiefault When I was in college, I interviewed for an internship. with Honeywell. Without giving me any heads up or warning, the interview was a hostile one, where one of the interviewers was rude and abbrassive the entire time he looked - bored/disinterested, scoffed at several of my answers, and even called me a liar after I said I was happy to
    via u/Notmiefault
  • 36
    Woman in brown suit jacket sits across from woman in gray vest and green shirt with laptop and phone in front of her
    via Andrej Lišakov For Unsplash+

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

  • 37
    [deleted] Not weird or bad really, but unbelievably stressful. Four rounds of interviews. The first was a prerecorded interview. I had to cover the screen while I recorded so I didn't just watch myself.
    via u/[deleted]
  • 38
    Before the next round they put all the finalists in a Zoom room together and watched us interact with each other. You could tell who wasn't getting the job because they were mean to everyone.
    via u/[deleted]
  • 39
    work anywhere. I get that some jobs require a person to regularly deal with rude customers, but this was for an internal position with zero customer interaction and no direct reports (nevermind the lack of warning). Honeywell called a week later, congratulating me on a good first interview and wanting to schedule a follow up. I told them no thank you.
    via u/[deleted]
  • 40
    A buddy did an internship with them the following year and hated it, said they treated him like cattle. If they're willing to treat you like shit in the interview, they're willing to treat you like shit once you're hired.
    via u/[deleted]
  • 41
    Gary BuseyWithRa... Went to an interview. It was a group interview for an MLM insurance company. 100% commission and they talked about getting your friends and family signed up. I felt so duped. I walked out at the first opportunity. A few other candidates were taking notes like crazy when I left.
    via u/GaryBuseyWithR*bies
  • 42
    I mean I was desperate for work too but not stupid.
    via u/GaryBuseyWithR*bies
  • 43
    stephknits I was being interviewed for a project officer role in a small charity by the chief executive and two other members of staff. About 20 minutes into the interview I am in full flow when I notice the chief exec's head nod. It momentarily stumps me, but I recover quickly and carry on.
    via u/stephknits
  • 44
    He then proceeds to full-on fall asleep, including slumping over in his chair and making little snorting noises. I still carry on, whilst desperately trying to catch the eye of the other interviewers. They totally ignore the situation.
    via u/stephknits
  • 45
    We carry on and after about five minutes he wakes up and we eventually finish the interview. Nobody says a word. The next day he rings me to ask me back for a second interview and then apologises for falling asleep and tells me he was recently diagnosed with narcolepsy.
    via u/stephknits
  • 46
    marbear77 My very first job interview out of college was a doozy. The guy running the entire process would have been my manager had I moved forward and he got way too personal way too fast. The interview process fell in line with my birthday and when he asked me what I was doing that weekend I mentioned I was celebrating.
    via u/marbear77
  • 47
    He made all these weird jokes about how I was probably going to get wasted and how he wished he could be a fly on the wall for my party. He called me constantly to try and coach me through the next round of interviews when I truly didnt need the help but I guess thanks? He berated me for having delivered pizzas before graduating saying it was a ridiculous job
    via u/marbear77
  • 48
    for a woman to have. It was a horrible experience. I stuck with it for a couple weeks because it was the only prospect who responded but thank god I found something better. When I finally told him i wasn't interested via email he blew my phone up and left me voicemails saying he was so confused. So unaware.
    via u/marbear77
  • 49
    [deleted] The CEO who was interviewing me realised that we both had done our Master Thesis under the same professor. The interview ended then and there, and we spent the next one hour comparing notes. about the professor (who
    via u/[deleted]
  • 50
    was notorious for being absentminded) Went home with the job offer and more money than i had asked for
    via u/[deleted]
  • 51
    Man in blue shirt and black tie gestures while smiling, across from him are a man and a woman with a laptop in a business office setting
    via Getty Images For Unsplash+

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

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