15+ Job candidates who had bizarre job interviews: 'I stood up and walked out'

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Remy Millisky • Writer and Editor
Dec 16, 2025 5:00 PM EST

Some job interviews stick with you forever — not because you performed poorly, but because the person interviewing you was fascinating.  

When you interview somewhere, you're putting yourself in the mindset of an employee there. Do you like how the building looks; is it brightly lit or dim, is it a big maze or an open space? Do the employees look happy at their desks? How was the commute to get there? And, rather importantly, how does the interviewer act when you greet them? If they welcome you warmly, it sets a whole different vibe than if they gruffly bark out your name to call you into the interview room. Not to mention their demeanor during the interview — some hiring managers treat their candidates like suspects and grill them on their credentials, while others actually want to hold a conversation where both parties get to speak. All of these things can give you a hint about what it'd be like to spend 40 hours per week at a company, and you've got to decide if that's how you want to spend your working hours every day. 

Check out the wild and fascinating stories these people shared — you just never know what an interviewer might ask! 

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  • 01

    'Interviewees, what was something a employer said to you during a interview that made you not want to work for them?'

    Woman in beige shirt sitting in office environment looks across table with confused expression
    via Getty Images For Unsplash+

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

  • 02
    threedancingmatthews During a phone interview, I asked the potential manager about work life balance. He started out by telling me that his team worked reasonable hours, which gradually turned into a rant about how his team never brought their laptops home at night and didn't reply to email after 7pm, despite him having multiple "discussions" with them about "being more reachable".
    via u/threedancingmatthews
  • 03
    During the same conversation, he mentioned that the company had grown so fast that there had been a lot of battlefield promotions that put some less-than- qualified people in management, but that it had slowed down a lot recently. So... It's hard to get promoted AND a lot of managers are unqualified?
    via u/threedancingmatthews
  • 04
    Project2r I should've listened to my gut and not gone to work for him, but my once boss said to me, in the initial interview, "I'm very hard to work with and I'm known to be kind of an a__" he didnt lie, at least.
    via u/Project2
  • 05
    [deleted] Fresh out of college I applied for a job as a developer at a company that made advergames and edugames. This was about 10 years ago when Flash games were huge and many companies wanted branded Flash games. Had a great interview. On the way in I was shown around the office. Nice people,
    via u/[deleted]
  • 06
    interesting customers, cool projects. Made a great impression with my portfolio. Was told I was the last candidate and they were sufficiently impressed that we'd go straight ahead with the salary and benefits negotiation which also went fine. At this point it was 5'ish and they'd send me the paperwork for the contract. But since it was the end of the day, perhaps I'd like to
    via u/[deleted]
  • 07
    see how they spend their evenings at this company... uh ok? I was taken to a large attic space. Big enough to stand freely but no windows. There were logs, like big real tree trunks placed around a fake camp fire on one side of the attic. On the other side were tents. Like proper camping tents with sleeping bags and stuff.
    via u/[deleted]
  • 08
    I was asked if I played any instruments because every night they'd come up here with the whole group of employees. Play music together around the fake camp fire while they had dinner. Then they'd go back to work for a few more hours and sleep in the tents so they could start early in the morning. Apparently most people only went home on the weekend.
    via u/[deleted]
  • 09
    I was just so absolutely stumped that I didn't even decline the job on the spot. I just thanked them for the interview. Got on the train home and just sat there mulling it over. Declined the job over the phone the next day and the manager actually got pretty mad because he already accepted a job from a client and scheduled me on it.
    via u/[deleted]
  • 10
    Woman in beige shirt and pants smiles while shaking hands with man in black suit in office environment
    via Getty Images For Unsplash+

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

  • 11
    ellisdeez she told me that the team i would be working with had a lot of interpersonal issues to the point where they couldn't fill out their own schedule without someone from HR mediating. later on in the interview i asked her why she liked working there, which prompted a long awkward silence followed by a half-assed response.
    via u/ellisdeez
  • 12
    [deleted] When the boss told me about all the people he hired before me were incompetent pieces of sh. I don't think all 8 people could have been that bad, turned out he was the actual :( sh. Should've heeded that red flag
    via u/[deleted]
  • 13
    llunibi I interviewed at two different hotels before I moved to the city I live in now. One is the hotel where I now work, but the other was a smaller place that was part of the chain where I had been the AGM of a property two hours away. At the smaller place, they seemed really excited to have me, but once the interview was wrapping up, things took a downhill slide.
    via u/llunibi
  • 14
    I ended up sitting through the interview before being told they couldn't honor the pay I was promised, they didn't have the management position I was applying for, but they wanted me around anyway to do the manager's job for less pay (literally told me, "The GM is very overworked and would
    via u/llunibi
  • 15
    appreciate the help"). I would be split between three different properties, would be paid and treated like a front desk clerk, but would be expected to do much more. Yeah, no.
    via u/llunibi
  • 16
    Dusty_Old_Bones I'm a painter, and my chosen career has led me to some interesting characters. About 3 years ago, after moving to Boulder, CO I found myself responding to job postings that had any relevance to paint, painting, or art. So I see one posted by a guy starting a "green" (organic, no-VOCs) paint company who needs someone to mix paints for him.
    via u/Dusty_Old_Bones
  • 17
    Perfect! The details were vague, but I assumed he meant someone to mix pigments and make different colors, which sounded really awesome. So I get to the coffee shop where we agreed to meet and turns out this guy hadn't had a haircut in at least 2 years, and he had this full lumberjack beard that he was not taking proper care of. Long story short, this guy tells me that he wants me to research how to
    via u/Dusty_Old_Bones
  • 18
    make "green" paint, buy the supplies, mix it up, and bring it to him when it's ready. After that I'd be setting up production of paint in my apartment until he had the funds to open up an actual store. Oh and I'd be a partner in this business, so my payment would be some share of the profits once we were up and running. Later that day I sent him a polite email saying that I was pursuing other job opportunities.
    via u/Dusty_Old_Bones
  • 19
    Taysel10 Halfway through my interview I was answering s question when he looks at me with squinted eyes and interrupts me to ask, "Do you hear voices?" I stumble for a second, unsure of how to answer, before saying no. He looks around the room questioningly and I go back to answering the original interview question.
    via u/Taysel10
  • 20
    Throughout the rest of the interview he keeps looking around room, not paying much attention to my answers. Towards the end, a lightbulb goes off in his mind and he pulls an iPod out of his pocket. "I forgot to turn off my e-book!" Totally normal interview after that.
    via u/Taysel10
  • 21
    baurcab One of the interviewers made a comment implying I was dumb because I lacked domain expertise in software that had nothing to do with the company I was interviewing with or the role I was interviewing for. The look on the face of the other interviewer was priceless. Took a job on a different team at the same company instead.
    via u/baurcab
  • 22
    [deleted] I forget the actual wording, but he said something about how everyone who worked there hated him and was out to get him, and he wanted to make sure I would take his side.
    via u/[deleted]
  • 23
    themcp The employer was a publisher. First they told me about the job, which was basically the entire duties of a graphic artist plus the entire duties of a web programmer put together, and honestly, at the time there were undoubtedly only a handful of people (including myself) who could do the job in the first place.
    via u/themcp
  • 24
    Then they told me how marvelous the company was going, with X billion dollars of profit in the last year, and how this meant I'd have a bright future there with lots of stability. I gave some thought to what they were asking me to do, what I was already earning (being just a web programmer without the graphic art duties), and what I'd want to earn for that job. I decided that I wouldn't consider it without a $30,000 raise.
    via u/themcp
  • 25
    We got around to the discussion of what they were willing to pay for the position, and the number they mentioned was a $5,000 pay cut from what I was already earning. I explained. that this was, frankly, insulting, and that they had no business wasting the time of the best people in the industry with interviewing for such a ridiculous salary.
    via u/themcp
  • 26
    They told me that they're the publishing industry, and publishers traditionally pay less than other employers for the same job. I asked why. They said it was because publishing is a low profit margin industry. So I pointed out that they had some nerve to try to claim poverty to me after their little lecture about how many billion dollars of profit
    via u/themcp
  • 27
    they'd made last year. Then I stood up and walked out. No way in hell was I ever going to work for that employer.
    via u/themcp
  • 28
    sirbabylon Applied for a second part time job to pick up some extra hours. Was told in the interview that I would have to quit my first job (completely unrelated area and both are part of the local university) because it was a "conflict of interest". My primary job is management in charge of 350 people. Made that choice pretty damn easy for me.
    via u/sirbabylon
  • 29
    not_salad At one of my first interviews after college I was asked how available I was to work way more hours than had been advertised for no additional pay. Thankfully I was hired at another place before I received that offer.
    via u/not_salad
  • 30
    [deleted] Him: If I go through the trouble of printing out this contract will you sign in? Me: uh if it's good. And the contract period clauses are reasonable. Him: what's there to read? You have to promise to work for atleast 3 years or you have to pay us.
    via u/[deleted]
  • 31
    Me: right. I'd like to see how much and what the rules are. Him: see that's the problem with you millennials never wanting to commit to anything... Me: no idea, at this point I just calmly got up and walked out while he continued to rant
    via u/[deleted]
  • 32
    smanbot Boss: I've gone through 7 other personal assistants this year! It's not like the job is that hard. Took the job and ignored this important red flag. No the job wasn't hard, the Boss was just an absolute monster! Left after 4 months.
    via u/smanbot
  • 33
    Sablejax "This place is really demanding because we practice a very high level of medicine. Our current interns are shit and we have had several quit within one week of the program because they couldn't handle it. But that's just because they were weak and we are too good for them. Why aren't your grades better? You aren't a very great candidate" Two weeks later..."why didn't you apply for our program? You were one of our top candidates"
    via u/Sablejax

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workplace-stories job interview satisfying quitting story
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