I recently attended a Teams meeting from HR where the presenter was in their ‘cartoon’ or avatar the whole time they had their camera on. I felt like Doc McStuffins with a nose ring was giving the talk. I asked in the chat ‘What would you do if a potential candidate wants to take their interview video in their avatar?’ I don’t think they got my point. What do you all think?

I'm posting for him, he doesn't use social media 😒

Years ago, when my husband and I first got married (today is actually our 17th anniversary!!), he got set up with a welding job through a temp agency. All was good, he'd already gone in for the welding test, which was done with a first shift supervisor, all he had to do was have a final interview with the 2nd shift supervisor, who he'dbe working with. We really needed him to get this job.

He went in, and the supervisor was my ex's father, my ex who my husband had to punch in the head because he was physically attacking me. This was literally only about 3 months before, and we lived in a really small, rural town where everyone knows everyone. My husband and I still lived in the same place I used to share with my ex.

My husband was sweating bullets and had pretty much resigned to the fact that he wasn't getting this job.

So my husband goes in, gets introduced to everyone, and then 2nd shift supervisor took him back into an office. He had a totally unreadable face the whole time.

They sit down, and this man says to my husband: "ah, so you're T, huh? I've heard a lot about you. Well, just relax, I can imagine what you must be thinking. But don't worry, my son is a dick and I'm sure he deserved whatever you gave him."

My husband said it was glorious and he did get the job and worked there until they went out of business 4 years later.

So I went on an interview not too long ago for a position that would be mobile. So they wanted me to meet another tech at a place that he was working on some units. Not your typical place. But anywho. I arrive early and meet said person and we chit chat for a few. I did not know this was a working interview. They wanted to see what I had. Well effit why not?. This person is struggling with these units (3 of them all same issues) so I fix the 1st one in a matter of minutes. Was a programming issue. The 2nd one was cut wiring and bad lens. The 3rd was a bit difficult but managed to figure it out to get the customer to get proper parts. So for 4 hrs of free labor THEY WERE MOVING ON WITH SOMEONE ELSE AND IN A DIFFERENT DIRECTION. so shame on me for doing my best and getting results so they can make money. LESSON LEARNED Fool me once shame on you. There isn't going to be a 2nd time

This happened a few years ago and it still annoys me to think about to this day. This story is kind of the reverse of how most of the stories here go, so maybe it doesn't fit... but lmk

So, I used to work at a coffee shop, and we had this batty, loony-bird manager.

One day, one of our semi-regulars mentioned that she needed some part time work. We were hiring for part time, so I put in a good word for her, knowing she would have been an easy choice. She had a lot of experience and had a good rapport with everyone who worked there.

She gets an interview. Manager sits down with her, offers her a coffee. She says sure, just a mug of drip coffee. They have the interview, and she leaves.

I ask my manager: "Well? Isn't she great?" Manager says: "She was okay, but she accepted a cup of coffee which is just really tacky." I thought she was joking. I ask: "Are you serious?" Manager says: "Yes! You should never accept something offered to you at an interview, that's so inappropriate."

Her résumé was great, she's personable and already well-liked by all of her potential new co-workers, but she accepted a cup of coffee -- at an interview at a COFFEE SHOP -- so she's out.

The person who was hired instead was awful. She had never worked in the service industry before. She was rude to customers and got into arguments a lot with them. She also couldn't help dial in the coffee ever because -- hahaha -- she doesn't drink coffee due to her "impressive" caffeine allergy.

And just for the record: Yes, you should accept the offer of coffee at an interview, if for no other reason than to avoid having to work with managers like this.

Anyone else been finding that positions for lower skill are seeming to get initial messages from applicants that are perfect copy-pastes, from multiple names that really look suspicious?

As we've been going back into the season and started hiring more servers/setup staff I've had nearly 3 dozen applicants with different names send a message immediately upon applying that reads: "Hello, I feel like I'd be a great fit for this position and would love to talk more about my experience. I'm available for an interview on... I am available for an interview at any time please give an opportunity thank you"

Is there some sorta bot apply thing that people are using nowadays that spams this same exact message? Is it because people are using chatGPT? Is it some sort of scam going around? It's ridiculous to me that so many applicants send literally the exact same message instantly after applying, I've never before seen this behaviour.

EDIT:

Upon searching applicant postal codes on google maps, a number of them came back to places where you literally could not possibly live; IE the middle of an industrial complex with no housing for miles; or comercial-only areas. Now I'm really starting to think this is the work of some sort of bots, just amalgamating nonexistant people and applying to job postings in the area.

Six years ago, I was searching everywhere as much as possible for a job after getting laid off. I have a big background in clergy and administration in the medical field. One of these interviews was for a lawyer and it was not only with the lawyer himself but also what I think may have been, his secretary. Interview is going well, they're impressed with my resume, all up until the secretary pointed out my eyebrow piercing. She not only pointed it out but explained that it "must come out or replace it with a clear ring". I was very baffled. I had worked in a doctors office for many years with it and the last job I had never mentioned it either but it wasn't acceptable at that lawyer's office? You have got to be kidding me!

I never got the job but I did land myself a great position at very well-known hospital, in my state, where they gave no effs about that. No employer ever cared as it is.

I worked for a big retailer many years ago, back in the day when people really did pick up a paper employment application form from the counter -and fill it in with a pen.

Pinned to the notice board in the staff room (evidently for the amusement of the team), there was a photocopy (it was also the era of the photocopier, of course) of a genuine form that had been returned to one of the shops-the office manager of which had found it such a hoot that he had sent copies to a number of the other stores.

It began okay, with the usual personal information (name, address, age, qualifications-blacked out to spare the applicant’s blushes), then it all went terribly wrong.

There was a section that asked about previous experience (they only really expected to hear about the last two or three jobs over the past two or three years-it was just a lowly retail sales assistant job, after all). However, this was a candidate who really believed in being thorough.

He had put (in neat, perfectly legible handwriting) twelve previous jobs, each one precisely described with the job title and exact dates, spanning the previous 4 years. Of course , these didn’t all fit into the space provided, but this didn’t put this guy off. He actually attached his own blank piece of paper, on which he had apparently taken a ruler and created a continuation of the box provided on the actual form.

Twelve jobs in four years? Wouldn’t it have been better if he’d kept that to himself? That was nothing. He believed in full disclosure-and that’s exactly what he was going to do.

In the box marked “Reason for leaving”, the meticulous candidate had written the same thing, twelve times: “Difference of opinion with the manager”.

So at the time I(34f) was 27, and I went to interview for a VP position at Progressive! My interviewer was very stern. Like literally emotionless. The interview went ok, then he asked the last question -“Do you have any Questions about the role at hand?” I asked a few then the Last question I said “Also does Flo visit the office pretty often?” Just to break the ice-for context for those who are the who’s Flo- you know the lady from the infamous Progressive commercials!!! When I tell you he didn’t crack a smile and never followed up! So funny when I think about it- like why did I say that?!! lol Anyway one door closes a few more open up!! I Am Thankful for the Lessons and Blessings!!

Im not sure if its too early for me to be wondering if i got used for free labour but idk. So i had a trial shift last week it was unpaid and i thought it went well, i got along with the team and i had fun greeting and serving customers, i was told what to do at the beginning of the shift and i just got with it; helping the other waiter, greeting customers and taking them to their tables, cleaning tables... yk the regular waitress shebang. I emailed the restaurant a couple days after the shift showing gratitude for the opportunity and to to hopefully hear back from them, nothing too forward however still no response im pretty sure they just completely ghosted me and used me for free labour. Should i just move on or should i keep waiting because i really wanted this job. How long do people usually wait to hear back from a trial shift?

Edit: I live in the uk for anyone wondering

Update: they chose someone else, sucks but nothing i can do fr

I was a hiring manager for my department at a well known sports team. I look at this every so often when I need a good laugh.

7 years ago I moved to be closer to family. I was looking for a salaried position (I was on contract at the time so hourly and no benefits). I had an interview with a local utility. I knocked the interview out of the park. They even said they were very impressed, but they only were interviewing people because they had to, they already had someone to hire. So I lost an afternoon of pay for nothing.

This was probably over 10 years ago, my (at the time) new wife and I moved into our first home with our 1 year old and I was looking for jobs closer to home, less of a commute. I had two interviews in 1 day as I didn't want to take multiple vacation days from my current job for interviews so I scheduled one in the morning and the other in the afternoon. The 1st interview went so well that they asked me to job shadow so I was there alot longer then I expected. Once I got to my car I called the 2nd prospective job and let them know I was going to be late and if we could reschedule, they insisted that I still come in, so I did but got there about half an hour late. While waiting I could hear the manager yelling, like I mean ripping into someone that it looks terrible that I was late, that I would NOT be considered for the job basically reeming out the HR associate for even telling me it was ok to be a little late. She insisted that she was not going to interview me and gave the task to a supervisor, walked into the waiting room with a fake smile, introduced herself and said she was leaving for the day. The supervisor introduced himself and led me a meeting room where he proceeded to ask me normal interview questions but then questioned everything on my resume. Started asking me if I knew random people at my current job (a large insurance company with over 500+ employees, there was no way I was going to no every single person there) and kept rolling his eyes with every answer I gave him. I don't even know why I stayed for the interview to be honest, after hearing the manager screaming I should have gotten up and left but it wasn't how I was raised, so I stuck it out. This was probably the worse interview of my life, after I left I threw all there cards/interview material out and deleted all there contacts from my phone. Even if I got the job I would never take it.

It was the first time I applied for a role where a degree was needed, before I applied to roles like waitress and so. I was also a recent graduate but I was applying in a foreign country. In my country, in my line of field, interviewers will only check of the degree was valid or legal and your transcript. But this was not my country ... I went to the first interview, I had to explain what my degree was exactly and how it fitted what they were looking for. I'm a female and I was interviewed by 2 men. I went for the second round... The same two males and a female who was meant to be my line manager... The guys started questioning me... Have you ever done anything in html? Do you know what CSS stands for? And similar questions... Very easy... Then after no more than 3 minutes in this line of questioning the lady rudely interrupted them staying that she didn't like their questions. She asked me very hard questions about JavaScript and Java... Even if I was a recent graduate... I haven't touched Java in 5 years! More than 10 for JavaScript! Then she said that the only reason I was there was because I was not too ugly and the guys only wanted a not so ugly face to fuck, she also stated that she refused to waste any more of her precious time on a slut and she left abruptly. We didn't know if we should continue with the interview or not but we did. It was obvious that it was a rejection.

I used to work nights at Walmart, school on the weekend, taking care of kids after school, and sleeping during the day. I was finishing up school and was applying for jobs. All job interviews were when I would sleep.

One day I forgot I had a job interview and took NyQuil before going to sleep. I remembered the interview last minute and set an alarm to wake up for it. Needless to say, the NyQuil wasn't out of my system in time and I was VERY groggy during the interview. So groggy that even saying my name took me a bit to figure it out.

In hindsight I should have explained myself and tried to reschedule, but my groggy mind didn't think of that option.

I got a rejection email in 20 minutes. Fastest rejection I have ever gotten.

He has the traits of a solid cook. He doesn't waste time on nonsense, he's honest, and he can work well under the influence. That means when he stays up all night partying he'll be more likely to come in the next day. I bet he gets the food in the window fast AF too. Plus no culinary school means he'll be easier to train because he doesn't think he knows everything already.

I used to sell cars, when I sold cars I sometimes would help interview people. One guy in particular was a young kid like 22-23 and his resume said he had gone to Harvard and got an MBA and here he is applying to sell cars.

Selling cars is a very hard job, also the majority that tries fail. So why is a guy with an MBA trying to work for us?

Anyway I call him up I basically throw all my interview concerns out the window. I get into how horrible the job is, I talk about all the crap that makes people quit. Like can imagine to work 2 hours past closing just for a deal to fall apart cause the wife discovers her husband has a girlfriend as they are in F&I.

I explain our training, and how if you don't hit certain key milestones we will fire you, obviously, we'll be nice and give you the chance to resign with a positive reference.

Then I ask him "Why do you want this job?" he tells me he hears he can make a lot of money. This answer really ticks me off cause that's the type of answer that would make me want to hire you. But here's a problem if I can't understand why this guy with an MBA from Harvard wants to work for us, then he's lying and if he's lying I don't want him.

So I go "Look what struggling is why is someone from Harvard trying to sell cars?" he can't give me a good answer, honestly heres what I think the truth is.

He's some ambitious young kid, maybe he did go to college, but he didn't go to Harvard. But now he's trying to get a job, the problem is this

• If he's lied about going to Harvard that's a big lie, that's a concern. While I understand people embellish on resumes outright lying about where you went to school is dumb.

• If he really has an MBA from Harvard he shouldn't be selling cars he needs to be in some other position higher then me doing more important stuff

So I figure he's hungry, he's dumb, he needs to be taught a lesson.

So I explain "what would Harvard say when I call to verify your status?" he goes "You'd do that?" I said "No, cause their answer is irrelevant" I then explain that he's either lying about his Harvard MBA or he's over qualified either way I don't want us to invest the resources in moving forward with him.

He's a bit feisty and goes "I did get my MBA from Harvard!" I go "Ok, fair enough if I offered you the job would you take it?" confused he goes "Sure" I go "Great, I'll offer you the job if Harvard confirms that you graduated with an MBA from Harvard deal?"

Here's the deal

If he really did EVEN go to Harvard, but esp if he did get his MBA from Harvard he should be jumping to say yes cause I bet its pretty trivial to prove you went to Harvard.

If he didn't go to Harvard (which lets be real, he didn't) he knows I'll figure it out and he's fucked either way.

I hear him go "Um...." I go "So do we have a deal?"

And he hungs up

He didn't get the job

When I wrote up my other disgruntled post I never imagined there would be a part 2, let alone the magnitude of what I discovered this guy was doing with his position of admittedly limited power.

With word out that he's basically abandoned his position, pissed in the cereal of both bosses, and fear of reprisal dead; just about every female employee has come forward with allegations of gross sexual misconduct.

Seems he spent just about every minute I wasn't watching him flirting, hitting on or trying to extort female staff with shit like "I'll get you fired unless you gimme your number." or unwanted sexual advances.

It's basically now my displeasure to have to go through the resigned and/or fired staff to take statements about this dirtbag. While he's definitely fucked himself over big-time; this is basically a nightmare for a business owner that a guy with supervisorial duties used them to do this shit.

I am fucking livid with this guy, particularly the fucking hypocrisy of acting like his gay boss is 'into him' just for being the same level of nice I am to every employee; while being the worst sex pest I've seen in 15 years in my industry.

I don't lose my temper easily, but this lil shit is lucky I haven't seen him in over a week at this point. I'd probably end up doing something I'd regret, and something he'd not be alive or at least conscious enough to end up regretting.

I haven't felt this much seething hatred for someone before. The level of betrayal this douche has managed to enact makes me feel fucking stupid. Like 'how could I have not caught on to him being a little sex-pest bigot in all the time he worked for me?'

Also, for those who weren't reading the comments on the past one, homophobia wasn't the extent of his bigotry, as he was rather openly and casually racist towards Indians, Pakistani and South East Asians in industry.

I'm 100% going to have to implement some sort of policy that shit like that is not tolerated, and no one will be in any way looked down on for reporting it, regardless of if it's a supervisor doing it, or a bus boy.

I feel like a failure for letting him make anyone at all believe that he had even remotely enough power to do jack shit if they brought his misconduct to my attention.

So, today I think I might have come across the most laughable excuse for an employee I've seen in 15 years in my industry. I'll give a TL;DR for those who don't care for the whole story, but it starts out with a rather promising seeming individual.

Well, in spite of their experience and recommendations, it turns out that they aren't all they painted themselves as (shocker, I know), but it gets better. Over time their work, and actually bothering to show up for shifts or even maintain communications gets shittier and shittier.

I definitely cut this guy way more slack than I ever should have, because it really looked like he was trying, at least at first. What does this guy go and do? Turn around and bites the hand that feeds. The special treatment I gave this little punk was unreal, pay advances, organizing rides into work because me missed his bus, even giving him extra work outside of the business itself when things were slow.

What does this guy do to thank me? One day, out of the blue, he just texts in literal minutes before his shift "I'm not coming in" because he spent the day before on a drinking bender. When pressed on it, the smart ass thinks he can just resign on the spot, no notice (despite it being codified in employment standards here that there is a two-way reasonable notice of termination/resignation) on one of the busiest two weeks we have.

This basically comes out of nowhere, he's never spoken on issues, never voiced a single complaint other than bemoaning texts sending him his schedule, or asking 'are you able to make it in tomorrow?' At first, this behaviour was utterly baffling, but then after having to explain his absence to those called in to fill in, things started to fall into place.

It turns out this little shit is a massive homophobe, to the point he's been bemoaning me and my partner being in a gay relationship to other employees. He's apparently said things along the line of "I think the bos and his partner are trying to have sex with me, it's so gross, who would ever want to touch another man?" and "I can't believe those two faggots, can you believe actually sleeping with another man?" "I think those two faggots who run this place are trying to turn me gay."

Oh, but it gets better! when confronted about the literal employment laws, he starts pulling out threats, physical violence, trying to 'smear' our reputation, getting his buddies to spam bad reviews, etc etc. Seemingly all because he's a homophobic little shit that has it in his peabrain that I'd be the least bit interested in a tiny twig of a straight guy who smokes like a chimney and barely takes care of himself.

TL;DR: Employee starts a ton of bullshit because he can't handle his boss being gay, and has convinced himself that his gay boss is out to 'turn him gay.'

I wish I got rid of this homophobic little shit the first time he pulled a NCNS.

What’s your most embarrassing intern story?

I have an opportunity for a job that I only plan to work for in the Summer. Im a student and its in my field (construction) but Im still in school after Summer. The people hiring me are straight up asking me if classes will prevent me from working in the Fall and the answer is yes, but I'd really like the experience so I'd have to lie. They said they could work me with me on my schedule in the Summer if Id be available for full time in the Fall. I wanted to hear what people hiring on the other side think so I came here.

Thank you

Edit: Thanks everyone for your perspectives. I've given it thought and decided to pass on the job because I'd prefer not to lead them on like this. Thanks again for not judging and for giving me your honest opinions.

Back when I worked at a local law school, I had a coworker that referred me for a legal document assistant position (I had gone to school to be a paralegal) as she was coming to the school full time and had to quit the other job.

When I get to the interview, it was being done by an older lady that looked like she had a permanent scowl on her face. During the interview, she began talking poorly about my coworker and saying how coworker was screwing her because she was supposed to go on vacation soon and now had to find someone to come in asap. I want to note that my coworker had told this woman she was moving away as her reason for leaving because this woman scared her. She really just talked crap about coworker for a good majority of the time there and I really liked coworker.

After spending an hour in a cramped office that was barely workable for one person let alone the two that were expected to work in there, the nightmare finally ended. I emailed her within the hour that I was going to pass on the job and good luck. Surprise, no response.

A guy came in for an interview at my work. After introducing myself and the other interviewer, shaking hands and exchanging pleasantries, we sat down to begin.

As standard procedure, I started by asking how he heard about the position/opening. He proudly boasted that he was referred by "blatant mispronunciation of my name." The other interviewer snapped to see my reaction. I was stoic while deciding how to respond.

"I see. And when Mr. Mispronunciation referred you, I'm sure they qualified why you were such a good fit with great detail. Would you mind walking us through what was divulged, as well as your undoubtedly complex understanding of the role and responsibilities?"

Needless to say, he didn't receive a job offer and was dismissed. After tracking the name, we finally figured it out! My:

Wife's> Ex-employee's> New boss's>

Husband was looking for work and heard about the job through the grapevine. I had never met or spoken with "new boss" or their husband. The office had a good laugh while the decline email was sent. I'm betting he'll take a more honest approach in the future!

Had someone NCNS TWO interviews back to back because they could not be assed to ensure their video, or at least voice was working before interview time. Despite being given a phone number for backup, and told they can contact us ahead of the interview if they have technical difficulties, none of that was done...

Naturally, I moved on, nothing special about NCNS on a video interview. But holey F, when this lady got the boilerplate 'were moving on with hiring and you aren't selected' email, now she's blowing up text, email phone and indeed. We blocked everything but indeed... Apparently we can block candidates there.

This lady is going absolutely nuts, screeching angry messages "INSTEAD OF COMPLAINING THAT I'M LATE FOR INTERVIEWS, MAYBE YOU COULD HELP ME!" Alternatives were provided in the interview package, not my fault you didn't read literally 3 para of text with a flipping bold & underline phone number backup.

It only goes downhill into insulting, verbal abuse and rage... Not all of it directed at us either (she's literally berating her boyfriend in these communications for disabling her laptop cam), blaming the world, blaming people by name who I assume are friends or family, it's everyone's fault but hers, apparently.

This shit is why interviewers ghost people, better to leave them unsure, then give them a polite 'we're sorry, you aren't what we are looking for, and here is why.' One psycho lady is probably enough for any recruiter to never risk it again.

Bullet dodged on this one, it seems.

Edit: Due to demand: I pulled the crazy off of Indeed though.

These are mild compared to the text and voice stuff, and for the record, I have no idea who the people she references by full name even are, they're not even references listed on her resume...

Can't provide text messages from the company system, as I deleted those shortly after noticing them, don't want the staff to have to eat this crazy B's verbal abuse. Will screencap if she sends more crazy, maybe see about recording a voice message, no promises though, I'm not great at sound editing and stuff and have a busy schedule.

Spring is honestly the most dogshit season for caterers, sparse bookings, and you gotta start staffing up for the warmer months. And some of the absolute 'geniuses' who apply really test your patience. If it's not hideously bad hygiene practices, it's immense levels of stupidity... Sometimes both.

I had some genius ask if they can do a work for a prep cook position remotely... Just how in the **** do they think that's gonna work? You can't just prepare food in your home kitchen, health and safety would have my ass if I even considered signing off on that. Some of these candidates just have no clue how a kitchen job works.

I swear it's only worse that the company I work at pays the best for kitchen staff in town, it seems to attract a lot of people who have no business being in a kitchen to apply. Aside from mr remote-cook, I've had candidates who refuse to wear hats/hair nets, won't remove rings, have long nails etc.

I had one hit the bathroom and take a shit, tried to go right to the kitchen and start work without a hand-wash. The number of people who basically fail right out by not even attempting to wash their hands is the worst part. Because I know some fast food join will hire these bozos.

Had another who was super eager for a working interview... Until they found out it wasn't 15 minutes... WTF even? How am I going to evaluate your kitchen skills in 15 minutes? Who would want to commute to our location for just 15 minutes pay rather than a decent number of hours anyhow? Only way it's gonna be 15 minutes is if they last 15 minutes before hitting a major health violation and fail the interview. Not something to aim for, TBH.

Though to be honest, some of the most bizarre candidates are the ones who call in directly, ask for an application, act super excited because of what they've heard about our quality overall, and that we're one of the best and most highly rated in the area, then fall off the face of the planet. Like, I have had 3 do so, submit resumes out of normal hiring periods, say they'd come on at lesser pay, just to be somewhere not making overpriced trash food.

Then it's like they cease to exist, two of them even seemed to have their phone numbers disconnected, as trying to each them back later I got a 'the number you have dialed is no longer in service' message. Gotta wonder what's up with that, TBH. Maybe they're just yahoos who get a kick out of pising off a kitchen manager. Anyway, I can't wait until the wheat is sorted from the chaff, and everything settles again into the busy season.

I interviewed a person for a veterinary assistant job. She was very nice, came from an animal care background, and seemed to genuinely care about being in the field. It was going well until we asked her what prompted her to leave her current job, which she had mentioned she really loved. She immediately started crying, because she said she “couldn’t handle” when the dogs would get adopted…. If she can’t handle the happy ending parts she definitely wasn’t gonna handle the euthanasia and very sad medical cases that we saw daily… she kept crying on and off through the rest of the interview. I had to eventually just cut it and ask her to leave.