From being asked to moo like a cow to a fake cancellation, applicants have revealed their worst job interview experiences.
Going to a job interview is often the most stressful part of a job application, and every applicant has had their own bad job interviews. However, for some people this experience can be downright strange.
Aixin Fu had her own nightmare job interview when she applied for a minimum wage job as a college student ambassador. Ms. Fu says that during a group interview they were asked to crawl on the floor on their hands and knees and “moo like a cow.”
speaking to bbc news Mrs. Fu said, “We did it for about three or four minutes.”
‘At that point, I was quite upset. He was very inappropriate.
Axin Fu says that when she applied for a minimum-wage job as a university student ambassador, she was asked to “move like a cow.”
Ugandan-born Pearl Kasirye was asked in a job application for a remote job at a PR firm in Milan and told she would be paid a Ugandan salary instead of a London salary.
“But there was a little bit of peer pressure because everyone else was doing it.”
The interviewer told the group that the strange cow-related activity was to see if the candidates were “fun.” However, Ms Fu believes the interviewer might have been “on a power trip”.
After the interview, Ms. Fu has learned to challenge the interviewers if they ask her to do “strange” or “unreasonable” things during the interview.
If Ms. Fu’s experience is not unique in her strange interview techniques. In Lae’s case, she didn’t even make it to the interview process.
Lae arrived early for a job interview at a law firm in Bristol and, after waiting 20 minutes, was told it had been canceled and he had to return tomorrow.
After leaving feeling understandably upset, she became even more distressed when she received a message telling her that the supposed cancellation was a test, that she had failed and didn’t get the job.
Lae described the experience as “totally strange” and then decided to set up his own business where he uses more typical hiring styles.
Other people may experience prejudice during the job application process, as was the case with Pearl Kasirye.
Kasirye, who was born in Uganda but moved to Europe as a child and now lives in London, was asked about her heritage during an interview for a public relations position at a fashion brand in Milan.
The interviewer for the remote job insisted on being paid a Ugandan salary rather than a London salary. After this, he chose to withdraw the request from him.
Meanwhile, many women during the interview process face sexist comments about their marital status or whether they have or plan to have children, something that is illegal for employers to ask.
Data from recruiting platform Applied found that nearly one in five women were asked during interviews if they had children or planned to have children.
Applied CEO: Khyati Sundaram says she’s been asked if she has children or plans to have children in job interviews “more times than I can count.”
Applied CEO Khyati Sundaram herself says she’s been asked that question “more times than I can count.”
Ms Sundaram says these questions are often asked due to concerns about maternity leave.
She said: “The higher the salary, the more you have to pay maternity to find cover, and they don’t want problems.”
In 2022, people across the UK took to Reddit to reveal their worst job interviews.
One person wrote: ‘I was interviewed before at Toys R Us and the woman who interviewed me asked me why I didn’t have a job for about a year. I told him it was because my mother had died and my mind was a little confused at the time.
‘His next question ‘how did your mother die?’ I responded and told her it was a heart attack and she said, ‘Oh, so it was a painful death.’
‘I left the interview right there and went to talk to her manager about what she said. “I don’t know what happened after that, although I guess everything was screwed.”
Another wrote: wrote: ‘Delivery driver for Iceland. I had to sit in a circle and talk about yourself, what an animal you would be, shit, build a tower out of newspaper and tape, bitch. I didn’t stay until the end.