35 Hiring Managers Share the Thing That a Candidate Did That Made Them Instantly Decide Not to Hire Them—”They Brought Their Parents”

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Brad Dickson • Managing Editor
Aug 5, 2026 11:15 AM EDT

What is the worst thing you could possibly do or say in a job interview?

There are many ways to guarantee you come up short during an interview. Many of them, as it turns out, are completely outside your control. A hiring manager might have already settled on an internal candidate, taken an irrational dislike to your résumé, or decided for some unexplainable reason that they don't think you'd be "the right fit." Still, there are plenty of genuine pitfalls to avoid, and these hiring managers gathered in an online community to share the moments that instantly made them decide they weren't going to hire a candidate. I promise that nothing you have done in an interview is as bad as some of these.

The advice given by the hiring managers serves as a pretty good guide for avoiding some extreme job interview blunders. 

In a space dominated by performative acts, where everyone is trying to present the most polished and employable version of themselves, interviews really take the cake.

Let's face it: corporate life exists in an almost liminal space compared with the rest of reality. Everything is canned and sterile—much like that idiom I just used. Managers and employees stick to familiar, carefully approved scripts. Outside of talking about the weather, weekend plans, and sports, few people seem willing, or perhaps properly trained, to venture beneath that tepid surface.

Job interviews concentrate all that corporate artificiality into a single uncomfortable conversation. The interviewer pretends that "What made you want to work for our company?" is a meaningful question and that they don't hate their job. The candidate pretends that they didn't just Google what the company was 5 minutes before they walked through the door. Then they swiftly answer the follow-up question by confidently stating that their greatest weakness is that they care too much about their work. Everyone understands that a performance is taking place, yet acknowledging it would break the spell.

If you're like me and really struggle with interviews, you might also struggle with the entire idea of putting on this performance in the first place. And you probably have a tendency to overthink them because of this and try to predict and rehearse how the entire thing is going to go from start to finish.

Unfortunately, all that overthinking can leave you tied up in knots. You rehearse every possible question, memorize perfect STAR answers, and become so focused on appearing natural that you forget how to actually act naturally. Interviewers can usually tell when someone has spent too much time preparing.

The trick, apparently, is to perform without appearing to perform. You need to seem prepared but spontaneous. Basically, you need to deliver exactly the right performance while convincing everyone in the room that no performance is happening at all.

Of course, sounding a little over-rehearsed is hardly the worst thing a candidate can do. There are plenty of faster and far more bewildering ways to remove yourself from consideration, and you may raise an eyebrow at what some candidates apparently consider acceptable to do or say during a job interview.

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  • 01
    A candidate sits a job interview.
    via Ahmet Kurt

    A candidate sits a job interview.

  • 02
    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 DemonSkank
  • 03
    rhevern You weren't going to tell her or something? You should be due severance, although I don't know how it works in India.
    via DemonSkank
  • 04
    DrakeSavory She sat down, plunked her purse on the desk and started with, "I need to let you know, I have issues."
    via DemonSkank
  • 05
    mat42m The wife thing is an odd thing to worry about. I would assume you would've told her right away anyway. If not, that's an issue you should probably look into. Unfortunately, this is why you have an emergency fund. If you spend all of your savings, you're always putting yourself at risk like this. Hopefully you will figure it out, but I would be sure to learn this lesson so you don't repeat
    via DemonSkank
  • 06
    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 DemonSkank
  • 07
    Alarming_Tea_102 You're a marketing director with 15+ years experience and you have no emergency funds? After you get your new job, you should consider changing your spending habits to avoid such situations again. Worst case scenario, sell your house and downgrade to something you can afford. Reach out to your in-person network from the past 15+ years for leads. Reddit isn't the place to look for a job.
    via DemonSkank
  • 08
    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 discussion goes, but they were adamant that they were overwhelmed and wanted to end the interview so we did Poor lass
    via DemonSkank
  • 09
    Ternak-Ovislu6356 I'm sorry you're going through this. The first thing I'd do is make sure you fully understand your severance, notice period, and what happens to your 0.5% equity before signing anything. If there's any uncertainty, it's worth speaking with an employment lawyer. After that, treat the job search like your full-time job. With 15+ years of experience, your network will probably be more valuable than online applications, so start reaching out to former colleagues and contacts as soo
    via DemonSkank
  • 10
    Medium-Sized-Jaque She brought her boyfriend and the boyfriend was answering all the questions.
    via DemonSkank
  • 11
    troyv21 Aside from everyone's suggestions with the job search stop doing any additional work immediately and make a plan to come back and consult on those projects that are critical, you may be reached out to again about them and you may have some leverage to work as a consultant with consultant pay for transitioning them.
    via DemonSkank
  • 12
    DamnitBlueWasOld 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 counter, referring to her as "this b ", etc.
    via DemonSkank
  • 13
    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 "Anyway, I'm here for my interview."
    via DemonSkank
  • 14
    I can't believe that this is actually happening, it seems like awful rom-com movie type sh, but this ride a woman actually expected me to proceed with interviewing her. "I'm sorry ma'am, that position is no longer available."
    via DemonSkank
  • 15
    killersim Had a guy show up to a design interview with my work in his portfolio.
    via DemonSkank
  • 16
    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 DemonSkank
  • 17
    We immediately shut that sh 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 DemonSkank
  • 18
    hatred-shapped Brought their parents to sit in on the interview to "make sure I am fair" in my decision making process.
    via DemonSkank
  • 19
    UsernamelsWhatlGoBy 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 DemonSkank
  • 20
    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 DemonSkank
  • 21
    Smokey-the-bear I once interviewed a flat earther who admitted in the interview within the fist 10min that the main reason he wanted to work in aviation was to be closer to airplanes so he could prove they were holograms since clearly they shouldn't be able to fly since the earth is flat. To this day I'm not sure if he was just trying to show someone "hey look I'm applying for jobs idk why they all say no" or he genuinely believed it, but either way I let the interview go on for like an hour and
    via DemonSkank
  • 22
    [delet... He was really really r de 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 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 t
    via DemonSkank
  • 23
    He looked completely shocked, slammed his fists down on the table and tried 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 DemonSkank
  • 24
    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 DemonSkank
  • 25
    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 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 DemonSkank
  • 26
    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". He had gone to one the those unaccredited for profit "university" systems. He did not get to the next round of interviews.
    via DemonSkank
  • 27
    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. 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 DemonSkank
  • 28
    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 DemonSkank
  • 29
    [deleted] 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 DemonSkank
  • 30
    Bean_Juice_Brew The person was literally running every question through an Al and reading the output to me (via zoom) DangersVengeance I had one of these recently! They'd waffle some inane crop while "thinking" then suddenly be weirdly precise and not quite "right". Weird to see. Cut it short and reported to their agency.
    via DemonSkank
  • 31
    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 DemonSkank
  • 32
    TheBobAagard I asked her about a time that she saw a project to completion. She told us (my assistant manager was in on the interview with me) about how in high school she wrote a 10 minute play that her classmates then put on with her directing, but that my assistant and I wouldn't understand about because we probably aren't interested in the arts because we were men.
    via DemonSkank
  • 33
    In high school, my assistant manager was a band nerd and also painted the picture that hung on our wall. In high school, I was also a band nerd in high school, in addition to being a drama geek. I also wrote a 10 minute play that my classmates then put on. I also happen to be a season ticket holder to two different theater companies on our city.
    via DemonSkank
  • 34
    Not only did she not get hired, "you probably aren't interested in the arts" became a running joke around the office, especially because the person we did hire is an actor.
    via DemonSkank
  • 35
    itsalwaysamyth His phone rang in the middle of the interview which - not cool, mute that - but then he ANSWERED it and gave me the "hang on a sec finger" then said "...nothing, how about you?". I just left the room and asked the admin to show him out.
    via DemonSkank
  • 36
    Murky_Sign_5312 When asked why they thought they were qualified for the job, they replied that they weren't but it was okay because the position was not a career goal for them. They only needed it to pay bills while they found something else. It was a teaching position.
    via DemonSkank
  • 37
    [deleted] He would begin his answers to every single one of my interview questions with "Hm, sh..."
    via DemonSkank
  • 38
    Sticketoo_DaMan I was the 2nd doing interviews for a lab position. A current employee with a chemistry degree from a local university did not know one end of the pH scale from the other...she had a BS.
    via DemonSkank

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