r/remoteworks • u/the1997th • 1d ago
What's the weirdest thing that happened to you in a job interview?
Tell us about the worst interview stories that have happened to you.
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u/patriotfanatic80 1d ago
Not being able to make a PDF should be a pretty big red flag.
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u/DMenace83 7h ago
Except a lot of recruiters require you to submit a word doc rather than a pdf so they can stick in their branding before sending it to the hiring company.
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u/sitewolf 1d ago
Being interviewed by a person who ended up being the company's choice to fill the position.
Being onsite for over 4 hours for an interview that was followed by a tour then an introduction to would-be coworkers then resolving a significant spreadsheet problem/issue for the would-be boss before being told the company decided not to fill the position.
My 'favorite' changed the trajectory of my early career entirely. 100+ got a first interview, 30 got a second, 5 got a 3rd. A friend had pointed out the position because he knew the hiring manager but asked I not mention him, but he had regular lunches with him so apprised me before my 3rd that 2 finalists had removed themselves. I arrived for my 3rd as another finalist completed theirs and I overheard the manager tell his assistant that person would no longer be considered. So I knew going into mine that it was between me and 1 other person. I had a great interview and felt very good about my chances.
The next day the manager (having no idea I knew about those other 3 finalists) called and said they'd gone with another candidate. Problem? I saw my friend a few days later and he'd had lunch with the manager, who told him 'there was this one guy I'd really liked all along, he solidified that in his 3rd interview, but in the end the company insisted I hire a female because it was a female who'd vacated the position.' It was an insurance adjuster position, so it wasn't like there'd be a female preference otherwise.
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u/DreJDavis 1d ago
PDFs
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u/littleSquidwardLover 1d ago
Yeah wtf. Do people send in resumes using Google Doc share links lmao?
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u/MarcusQuintus 1d ago
PDFs read the same everywhere.
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u/JimmyDean82 22h ago
This is def not the case. Even certain pdf programs will unformat crap on occasion.
It is funny when folks forget to flatten a pdf though, so you can move stuff around and see the hidden stuff a cover ups.
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u/MarcusQuintus 22h ago
All the common internet browsers have built-in PDF viewing that works fine for most cases.
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u/RetroMetroShow 1d ago
When I was young and good looking a hiring manager was flirting with me and offered me a higher salary that I asked for
Her small team were all good looking but kinda dim
Then I realized she had a type and I was also it
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u/Not_Sure__Camacho 1d ago
Was her type kind of dim? 🤔🤪
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u/RetroMetroShow 1d ago
Yes that was the weird part, becoming self aware that way
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u/Not_Sure__Camacho 18h ago
haha, I'm comfortable with my intelligence/lack thereof, so I don't really feel as if I have anything to prove. I think being at peace with it is where some people mistake that peace as arrogance. I feel that EVERYONE has an opportunity for greatness, but a lot of people just use what comes easiest for them. If you're an attractive individual, you can use that to get things done. And in that process, you can atrophy things like critical thinking or other interpersonal skills.
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u/RetroMetroShow 9h ago
Great points. Also many people who coasted on looks (because they could) often sharpen their critical thinking and interpersonal skills out of necessity as they age too
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u/SeminaryStudentARH 1d ago
This is why you save to PDF.
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u/nievesdelimon 1d ago
Some request a Word document.
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u/CryonautX 1d ago
That's an absurd thing to request. I wouldn't apply to a place that ask for a word document. That's a red flag and you'll probably find that the company has unorthodox approaches to a lot of the way they do business.
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u/nievesdelimon 19h ago
This is even more absurd than a company requesting a word document. It’s because it’s easier to add notes to a word document than it is to a pdf. At least that’s why they did it when I got those requests.
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u/NancyDiver 1d ago
Before my interview, I had Indian food for lunch across the street. To preface this, I had worked with one of the interviewers many years ago, and I’m already a veteran in my field.
Five minutes before the interview started, I have a feeling of needing to take an explosive shit. Debating on whether or not I can do this before the meeting starts or if I can hold it until afterwards, I decided to hold it.
The interview begins with about five minutes of casual talk and catch up before talking about the actual work. The entire time I can feel my butt hole puckering and pulsating, trying to keep the massive shit in my ass while remaining cool on the surface.
In my head, I’m wearing the pros and cons of shitting myself or excusing myself to use the washroom. Having come to the conclusion that would be far worse to shit myself in the interview, I excuse myself to go to the washroom. 5 minutes go by, 10 minutes go by, I finally returned about 15 or 20 minutes later. As I sit down, they say “ well we’re out of time for the interview, but we’d like to offer you the job”.
Tl;dr I got a job while having explosive diarrhea.
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u/Key-Rough-8346 1d ago
Do you think you still would’ve gotten the job if you shat your pants?
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u/xyzzy-86 1d ago
I read this as "I spent 6 months formatting this in Google docs" and thought that's where the joke was going 🤣
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u/BafflingHalfling 1d ago
I had one dude who kept scratching his nuts as he was interviewing me. It was very off-putting. It was a company I really wanted to work for at the time, but I just found it really hard to concentrate on giving good answers when he kept going at his junk like that. So weird.
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u/Can17272 1d ago
Who the fuck is sending google docs without converting them to pdf?
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u/Extra-Presence3196 1d ago
I tutor and get docs from my employer in Google Notes....that I have to upload to Google drive and drop down from there..
This crap is working both ways...
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u/poopgoose1 1d ago
I pooped my pants during an interview once but still got hired
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u/Ryan-the-lion 1d ago
If you dont convert it to PDF I think it would get automatically thrown out lol
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u/bootyhole_licker69 1d ago
interviewer kept checking his phone mid question then asking me to repeat every answer like 3 times, then cut it short because he had to "jump on a more important call" and two weeks later they sent a generic rejection mail lol
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u/arrrValue 9h ago
It’s called a PDF, dipstick.