Employers have been sharing the weirdest things people said or did in an interview and it’s fair to say these 23 people didn’t get the job

Even if you’re an incredibly confident person with a lot of expertise in your field, there’s no denying that job interviews are incredibly stressful.

But it turns out they can be stressful for the interviewer as well, because sometimes the applicant does or says something utterly bizarre. Over on the AskUK subreddit, user PokeMyLoveless asked:

‘Hirers in the UK, what is the weirdest thing an applicant has done or said in an interview?’

And the answers will make you realise that the time you jokingly said your biggest weakness was ‘doughnuts’ wasn’t quite as cringeworthy as it could have been.

1.

‘Interview for a management accounting job, guy had mentioned he was a ‘competitive origami champion’ in his application in terms of hobbies. Sure enough, when asked about this he had origami papers on him in his wallet and made us an astonishingly complex bird with flapping wings in like 60 seconds.

‘He was of equal experience and qualifications to the other good candidate, but this basically got him the job because we knew we would get on with this guy!’
–Zennyzenny81

2.

‘HR require us to ask an EDI question at interview – usually something like ‘give an example of when you’ve worked within the ethos of diversity and inclusivity’. I always think it’s so dumb because it’s not like anyone would be like ‘Actually, I can’t because I’m a massive racist’ or whatever.

‘Most recently, I had a guy say ‘I don’t like to work with women because they need a lot of support and don’t pull their weight, but I’ve worked with them amicably before’. To me. The female hiring manager.’
–JennyW93

3.

‘When asked about weaknesses one lad said ‘My knee, because I broke it’. Bless.’
–LillyAtts

4.

‘One lady couldn’t guarantee she’d be here at the beginning of the day each day for work, and asked me if we could open later. I’m glad she was honest, but my god.’
–holistichandgrenade

5.

‘Not an interview, but had a CV from some dude in Belarus which included a photo of him dressed as a vampire giving the camera the finger, his cover letter said, and I quote directly:

‘I am best in Europe, and am best best in world in. Give job or off fuck’.

‘He didn’t get the job.’
–Adorable-Boot-3970

6.

‘My weirdest one was the exact opposite of this question… it’s what they didn’t do. Was so nervous that she couldn’t speak. I tried to put her at ease several times, tried to engage in non-interview chat. She just literally couldn’t get a single word out… was like a fairy had stolen her voice. She eventually burst into tears and ran out, without saying a single word.

‘Weirdest thing is, she was an internal applicant that I’d worked with for 3 years prior.’
–ForcyBo

7.

‘Not an interview I did but a senior colleague I normally pair with for interviews. Chap came in, interview was going OK though the conversation was a little stilted. Asked if he could take a quick break, went outside, got in his car and sped off!’
–cognitiveglitch

8.

‘In one interview, they took a call and told the person on other end the interview was going well and they were confident they got it.

‘Another when asking us questions, asked me how I would response if they sued me personally for sexual harassment in an hypothetical situation (I’m male and they were).’
–cgknight1

9.

‘Hiring for engineers at my previous workplace, we had one applicant who described himself as an ‘engineer, entrepreneur and inventor’ on his CV. We asked him about this and it turns out he’d developed a shower head specifically designed for women to pleasure themselves, he was very proud of this fact. He also claimed to be a personal friend of Prince Andrew. We didn’t hire him.’
–pickle_party_247

10.

‘I once had a guy interview for a job at my firm and he had written about having done work with the government of Japan. We asked him about it and he proceeded to do a full on racist Japanese accent as part of his response. We ended the interview right then and there.’
–superjambi

11.

‘Had several who blatantly knew absolutely nothing about the skill set they claimed to had. One who took several minutes to turn their camera on after being reminded it was a requirement, and then were so brightly back-lit that all I could see was glare and a shadow. They floundered utterly – clearly hoping to be coached through everything by someone sitting with them.

‘Another who took 20 seconds to start answering each question, and gave blatantly ChatGPT replies to everything.’
–txe4

12.

‘Handing over his USB stick for his presentation to the IT technician that also held his ‘private photo collection’. Why would you run that risk!’
–fuelledbywine12