15+ Job interviewers who rejected candidates on the spot: 'She brought her boyfriend in and the boyfriend was answering all the questions'

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Remy Millisky • Writer and Editor
Jan 21, 2026 5:00 PM EST

Candidates will show up to job interviews unprepared and on their worst behavior, then wonder why they're getting 0 offers…

Look, I don't have to tell you the job market is hard out here. Maybe you're reading this at some point in the faraway future, like 2050, or 2070, or 3000, and the job market is amazing. Everyone has jobs and also everyone is hiring. But in the mid-2020s, where we're at now, it's just the opposite. A lot of the middle and lower-class people just aren't making that much money, so they're looking for new jobs. And, just in case you haven't heard this surprising news, a lot of job openings aren't even real. They're just posted up to make the company look profitable! I hope they fix that particular problem by the year 3000. If your same exact job listing has been up for like 2 solid years, your company just looks foolish, and we all see through the charade. 

The problem isn't all with companies, though. There's a major issue with those "1-click apply" job applications. They're almost too easy — guaranteed to net a ton of applicants, but a lot of them just won't be the right fit for the job. It's become a running joke in the meme world, especially amongst the younger crowd, that you may as well apply to be a lawyer or a doctor because hey — it's only 1 click! What do you have to lose? 

And that's not even the tip of the iceberg. Once the actual job candidates get in the room, as you'll see below, all bets are off. Reading stories like these are certain to make you feel better about your most recent interview flops. Maybe you were left with your cheeks burning after you forgot what your strengths and weaknesses were supposed to be… but that's miles better than the dude who showed up to an interview and proudly presented a portfolio full of stolen work. Who'd he steal it from? The literal interviewer. It really puts things in perspective, doesn't it?

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  • I know that a lot of people have profound anxiety around interviewing. I've also been told by older people that this nervousness never goes away, even if you're like 65, experienced, and have a stacked resume. Great! But listen — what you shouldn't do is have a breakdown in the interview and start telling the interviewer that you can't do the interview. I really feel for the applicant who did that, who was probably having a panic attack. Sometimes, you've got to fake it til you make it. You can pretend you're in a play, or you can channel the smartest person you know, and answer the way you think they'd answer a question. Whatever you do, don't excuse yourself from the interview after thinking you're not good enough. As you can read below, if you can just show up on time, well-dressed, and answer questions politely, you've already won half the battle. 

  • 01

    'People who have conducted job interviews, what's something someone said/did that made you instantly decide not to hire them?'

    Man in suit sits at desk and uses pen to point at paper, across from him, blonde woman in white business attire smirks
    via Getty Images For Unsplash+

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

  • 02
    ShadowFox1289 Hiring for a clerk position in a pharmacy. Lady couldn't place a series of 10 names in alphabetical order. We had to start testing new hires because we find out one of our current employees couldn't do it and would just hang patients scripts wherever :(
    via u/ShadowFox1289
  • 03
    DrakeSavory She sat down, plunked her purse on the desk and started with, "I need to let you know, I have issues."
    via u/DrakeSavory
  • 04
    k ersim Had a guy show up to a design interview with my work in his portfolio.
    via u/
  • 05
    L48Shark Candidate kept boasting about how many languages he speaks even though it was not a requirement for the position. Finally asked him in which foreign language he was most fluent, and he replied Spanish. Followed up with a simple question asked in Spanish. He did not speak Spanish.
    via u/L48Shark
  • 06
    Medium-Sized-J... She brought her boyfriend. and the boyfriend was answering all the questions.
    via u/Medium-Sized-Jaque
  • 07
    chrec He pulled his pants down to his knees, to fix/tuck in his shirt. Didnt break eye contact with me as he stood up to do it.
    via u/chrec
  • 08
    xMcRaemanx Interviewing for an IT position, asked a basic question about virus removal. "Oh I dunno my husband does that" Well then tell him to apply
    via u/xMcRaemanx
  • 09
    UsernamelsWhat... I had a candidate reveal classified information about their work at their previous employer during an interview. No way were we going to trust them with our stuff.
    via u/UsernamelsWhatIGoBy
  • 10
    Pndrizzy "I'm not good enough, I'd like to end the interview" I told them that it was just nerves and everything would be okay and we can continue and see where the
    via u/Pndrizzy
  • 11
    discussion goes, but they were adamant that they were overwhelmed and wanted to end the interview so we did Poor lass
    via u/Pndrizzy
  • 12
    Da itBlueWasOld I worked at a big-box retailer and got called up to the service counter to deal with a customer who was upset. This was only a couple minutes before I was scheduled to conduct an interview with a potential new hire. I get up there, and this woman is berating the employee behind the
    via u/Dam*itBlueWasOld
  • 13
    counter, referring to her as "this bitch", etc. I ask her to lower her voice and please stop being disrespectful to my employee. She isn't happy but she does eventually calm down enough to be reasonable and we resolve the situation at the service desk. I turn to walk away, thinking we're done here, and she goes
    via u/Dam*itBlueWasOld
  • 14
    "Anyway, I'm here for my interview." I can't believe that this is actually happening, it seems like awful rom-com movie type shit, but this rude ass woman actually expected me to proceed with interviewing her. "I'm sorry ma'am, that position is no longer available."
    via u/Dam*itBlueWasOld
  • 15
    dan_jeffers Had a woman come in and started going through everything wrong with the coworkers at her previous place of employment. All of them, far as I could tell. As she left, I advised her not to do that on her next interview, and she seemed to get it.
    via u/dan_jeffers
  • 16
    W... Guy had to do a presentation but his laptop battery was dead so he asked if he could plug it in. One of the panel members had to go under the board room table to do that and the candidate says, "Well look at that, I've only been here five minutes and already got a woman on her knees."
    via u/woolgathering_futz
  • 17
    Edit for more context ... It couldn't actually get worse of course but it was extraordinary how bad this experience was. It was for a public sector position (UK), in health and a considerable part of the role was procurement and contract management. Candidates were told how to prepare and what the
    via u/woolgathering_futz
  • 18
    assessment criteria would be. Part of this was confidentiality/data and records security. When the guy started his laptop we had to wait while he shut down Discord, Steam and a host of gaming related apps that just kept booting. As he started his presentation, in the background this startup
    via u/woolgathering_futz
  • 19
    music for COD or something blasts out of his speaker so he cancels that and carries on like it's perfectly normal. His desktop was also littered with invoices and quotes that clearly showed company and individual identities. He finished his presentation, no one on the panel asked a single question and we said
    via u/woolgathering_futz
  • 20
    thanks. On his way out he turned and said, "I think I fucked that up didn't I?" No champ, you were golden. S /s
    via u/woolgathering_futz
  • 21
    E.. He was really really rude to my assistant, i stopped the interview and asked him to leave. Edited to add context. I'm getting lots of DMs about this, so I'll explain what went down. He came into the interview room, my assistant was sat next to me, i introduced myself, my
    via u/Equivalent-Spring-99
  • 22
    assistant did the same, then asked him if he'd like a drink, he put his finger to his lips. and said ssshhh. Then grinned at me, i immediately stood up and told him he needed to leave, the interview was terminated and that he would never work for me. He looked completely shocked, slammed his fists down on the table and tried
    via u/Equivalent-Spring-99
  • 23
    storming out, but he kept pushing a door that you needed to pull, so my assistant laughed and went over to show him how to use a door. I work in finance, the job he was interviewing for was entry level. The arrogance still shocks me. And yes, I'm a woman.
    via u/Equivalent-Spring-99
  • 24
    kupo_moogle Work in healthcare analytics. Mid interview (it was virtual as they were from another region) they shared screen to demonstrate the type of work they were currently doing (which we DID not ask for, and she did not ask us if she could share screen) and the screen she showed us had clear patient identifiers, health card numbers, etc.
    via u/kupo_moogle
  • 25
    We immediately shut that shit down. Patient privacy and data security are absolutely paramount, and that level of cavalier treatment of sensitive patient information immediately disqualified her from being considered, AND we had to submit a report to their institution afterwards.
    via u/kupo_moogle
  • 26
    hatred-shapped Brought their parents to sit in on the interview to "make sure I am fair" in my decision making process.
    via u/hatred-shapped
  • 27
    marcozarco In a behavioral interview assessing leadership skills, etc. Q: Did you enjoy having an intern? A: Oh, yes, I was able to offload lots of work to him. Not a word about mentoring, collaborating, etc.
    via u/marcozarco
  • 28
    lelawes When asked about how he had handled issues with managers in the past, he started by describing the age, ethnicity and weight of his manager. Beyond irrelevant. That's going to be a no.
    via u/lelawes
  • 29
    Brilliant_Island_1... Back when I was in corporate, a candidate for a middle management role walked into our conference room and before a handshake or an intro, asked if I was there to take notes for the 'boys' meeting.' Suffice it to say, the interview didn't get much better from there.
    via u/Brilliant_Island_121
  • 30
    Bean_Juice_Brew The person was literally running every question through an Al and reading the output to me (via zoom)
    via u/Bean_Juice_Brew
  • 31
    Denver Bronco I see on your application you attended Central High School. My mother is a teacher there. Oh? Who is your mom? Mrs. Bronco, she's teaches mathematics Oh yeah I know her. She's a bitch!
    via u/DenverBronco
  • 32
    Accurate-Ad2393 I wasn't the one conducting, but I had a job interview for a driving position. Well, in the parking lot before the job interview, I accidentally rear ended the managers car. Safe to say I didn't get the job.
    via u/Accurate-Ad2393
  • 33
    CyberSmith31337 I interviewed a middle aged woman who was an abject cunt to my junior project manager who I typically forced to do first level interviews, while I watched. in silence, to see how they conducted interviews and how they handled themselves. It was a way for me to teach them without cramping their style, and
    via u/CyberSmith31337
  • 34
    also for me to see what their style even was in the first place. The woman was a solid 10+ years older than my junior PM. As soon as the call started, she started negging. on my JPM immediately. "Oh wow... you're still a baby! I wasn't expecting to be interviewed by my own child!". That was strike 1, and personally, I would have ended the interview right
    via u/CyberSmith31337
  • 35
    there. However, this was a training exercise for my junior, and they opted to push through it. A few sentences later, the woman made a remark along the lines of "I've forgotten more about project management than you've probably experienced in your career thus far..." Again, I was eager to cancel the interview, but my JPM seemed to breeze right
    via u/CyberSmith31337
  • 36
    through it. Where I intervened, immediately, was when the woman requested to speak to someone with more seniority about the company so that they could ask me questions personally. My JPM tried to gently say "Ma'am, that's what the next phase of the interview process will be. This is the preliminary call to get a feel
    via u/CyberSmith31337
  • 37
    for your background, your personality, and your familiarity with our toolsets." The woman responded with "Honey, listen, I know how to use the tools, and I don't think I need to justify my experience to you*."* At this point, I entered the call. She immediately tried to greet me with a faux sense of warmness, and I just cut right through the
    via u/CyberSmith31337
  • 38
    bullshit. "Hello. I'd just like to let you know that we'll be stopping the interview at this point. I've been listening in to the call, and not only is your conduct incredibly disrespectful, but your conduct isn't welcome on my team, or anywhere within this company. Best of luck in your search."
    via u/CyberSmith31337
  • 39
    The most satisfying moment was when she started to try and say something, and I just ended the call mid- sentence. I don't have time for that bullshit, and I'm not going to expose people under my care to that sort of toxic nonsense.
    via u/CyberSmith31337
  • 40
    Walmartian_Beta I once had someone tell me, "Well, my goal is to be in charge and run the place, so if I see a leadership opportunity, I take it. If I think management is weak, I'll step in and step up to the plate, it's my turn, ya know? I don't like a weak manager and I'm more than willing to take over if necessary."
    via u/Walmartian_Beta
  • 41
    I didn't need someone who would be gunning for my job, undermining me, and attempting a management coup I needed someone - who was going to focus on the work at hand and do their job as directed.
    via u/Walmartian_Beta
  • 42
    I also had someone once apply for a weekend position, then tell me they couldn't work weekends due to religious reasons, so their solution was to hire them for a weekday position, then transfer a weekday employee to the weekends - and if I didn't do that, it was religious discrimination, and -
    via u/Walmartian_Beta
  • 43
    she'd sue us. Because threatening to sue the hiring manager during the job interview is totally going to get you the position.
    via u/Walmartian_Beta
  • 44
    tofudisan I was interviewing candidates for an entry level developer job. I remember one guy had to consult his own resume to recall if he had taken Java in school. He failed very basic developer questions like "explain what branching is used for in code" or "how can you control looping".
    via u/tofudisan
  • 45
    He had gone to one the those unaccredited for profit "university" systems. He did not get to the next round of interviews. I think I'll always remember him because he worked at the Walmart and the very next day I happened to be behind him in line at a register while he was getting his break snack with a coworker.
    via u/tofudisan
  • 46
    He clearly didn't recognize me and was talking to his coworker about how well his interview went and that he couldn't wait to start working for us. I really felt for the kid. He was on the hook for tens of thousands of dollars for a worthless degree that he got no actual skills or knowledge from.
    via u/tofudisan
  • 47
    Berylldama We were hiring for an illustrator at a crafting company. He had a nice portfolio and he could clearly draw, but it was all in his own style. When he was asked if he would be able to shift gears and match other styles he said, "I won't need to because I am so good at my style." We explained that
    via u/Berylldama
  • 48
    he would have to draw additional assets to match existing illustration styles pretty regularly and he just snorted and said, "No, they will have to match my style." He, uh...he was not hired.
    via u/Berylldama
  • 49
    octop opus Guy walked in with his application redacted. He redacted almost everything except his first name and middle initial. Under work history, he had a note saying "We can talk about this during my interview." Yeah, no....
    via u/octop***opus
  • 50
    Got_Bent "Im afraid of heights." I felt bad, but we needed guy to work a commercial contract and 95% of our work was on the ceiling or on a rooftop. I had to tell him no and why and he was relieved.
    via u/Got_Bent
  • 51
    Chillicothe1 Been on the other side: I had the lead interviewer raise his voice to me when he didn't understand what I was conveying. I don't mean he just got louder, he was basically shouting at me. I looked at the other interviewer and he looked all sheepish, which told me that this is the lead interviewer's
    via u/Chillicothe1
  • 52
    personality and it would be exponentially worse if I actually worked for him. I finished the interview and made a point of letting the company know I was withdrawing my application (I had other options at the time).
    via u/Chillicothe1
  • 53
    Years later I got confirmation from someone who worked there that the guy was toxic and scared away staff all the time. Like the saying goes, when they show you who they are, believe them.
    via u/Chillicothe1
  • 54
    joozyan In our interviews for entry level construction jobs, we ask a stereotypical ethics question, basically "if you saw someone on site steal an expensive tool and put it in their car what would you do." Everyone knows to say something like "I would let a supervisor know" or "I would try and stop them".
    via u/joozyan
  • 55
    One guy I interviewed said verbatim "I ain't no snitch." I respected the honesty but also stopped the interview right there.
    via u/joozyan
  • 56
    bakela I called someone for a scheduled initial phone interview. I woke him up at 2pm, asked him to tell me a bit about himself and why he was interested in this job. Response was I don't know, what do you want to hear. Thanked him for applying and hung up.
    via u/bakela
  • 57
    Brunette woman in beige shirt sits at desk and frowns at man across from her who points at paper with a pencil
    via Getty Images For Unsplash+

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

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