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49 Absurd, Awkward, Or Downright Illegal Things People Were Actually Asked In The Middle Of Job Interviews
Reddit user Correct_Spray5890 recently posed this question to the r/AskReddit community: “What is the dumbest question you’ve been asked during an interview?” Much to my horror (and, TBH, my delight), hundreds of people shared the awkward, bizarre, and jaw-dropping things they’ve actually been asked during job interviews. BuzzFeed Community members chimed in, too. Here’s what they revealed:
1. “I went for an interview/selection two-day process for a police force in the UK in 1983. At the interview, I was asked if I masturbated! The rationale, so I was told, was to test your reaction to an offensive question you might be subject to as a police officer. I replied honestly, and I asked the interviewer the same question, to which he replied something like, ‘Not anymore!'”
—Anonymous
2. “‘Do you get along with other women? Because we seem to have a lot of catfights here.’ At a DISTRICT ATTORNEY’S OFFICE. I couldn’t believe it.”
3. “‘If this job offered no money, would you still want to work here?’ No. The answer is no.”
Baona / Getty Images/iStockphoto
4. “I have a uniquely spelled name. They stopped me while answering a question and asked if I spelled my name correctly on my resume. When I said yes and joked about it being unique, they asked if I was sure. I didn’t get the job.”
5. “‘What’s the most dangerous animal you’d be willing to fight?’ When I said, ‘People,’ that was apparently the wrong answer.”
6. “‘How would you describe a vending machine to someone who doesn’t know what one is?'”
Chuck Savage / Getty Images
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7. “‘Is it okay with your husband for you to work?'”
—Anonymous
8. “It wasn’t during the interview but rather on the application form. ‘For female applicants only. Duration of menses ____ days.’ I suppose they were assuming that women would be useless for a certain number of days each month.”
—Anonymous
9. “‘If I were to go into your room right now, would your bed be made?’ It was for a marketing position at a church.”
Lourdes Balduque / Getty Images
10. “‘Do you care if I hit my Juul?’ And before I could even answer, he hit the Juul, lol.”
11. “About two years ago, I was asked in an interview to choose between spending time with the company or spending time with my family, and obviously, I chose family. The interviewer ended the call right there, citing that I did not possess the values required for the job. The company literally just filed for bankruptcy last month.”
12. “‘If your grandparents visited, clogged your toilet, and left without telling you, would you call and ask them why they did that?’ Lmao, this was for a hotel receptionist, and I got the job.”
Alsu Faskhieva / Getty Images
13. “‘How badly do you want to work here?’ As if anyone’s gonna beg, lol.”
14. “‘If someone tried robbing us, how would you protect the cash register?’ They didn’t like my reply, ‘I wouldn’t protect it.’ I thought this was some test, but it wasn’t. They wanted their employees to put their lives on the line for whatever money would be in the cash register. This was a minimum-wage-paying job, by the way.”
15. “‘What makes a salad, a salad?'”
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16. “I had one that asked me if I’d applied to any other jobs, and they were upset when I said I had. They told me the right candidate would be so committed to getting this job that they wouldn’t apply anywhere else. I replied that they were only interviewing law school grads who graduated in the top 10 of their class. Anyone who graduated in the top 10 of their class would be entertaining multiple offers. They didn’t appreciate that. In the same interview, I was asked why they should hire me if they had another candidate who was ‘better than you in every way.’ I tried naming different soft skills of mine, but the interviewer kept saying, ‘They’re better than you in EVERY way.’ I finally said, ‘Well, if they’re better than me in every conceivable way, then you SHOULDN’T hire me.’ Apparently, that was the wrong answer. That interview lasted six hours.”
“I interviewed with a law firm specializing in employment law, and they asked me when I plan on having children (which is considered gender discrimination in the US). I answered that I didn’t plan on having them, because I didn’t, and I really wanted the job.
I interviewed at a firm that got back to the recruiter with feedback after deciding not to hire me. They had asked what I considered to be essential to a functioning company culture. I had replied, among other things, that a mutual respect between employees and employer was important. According to the recruiter, they considered the request for respect a ‘red flag.’ I said that I thought that was a red flag itself for me, and I wouldn’t want to work there anyway.”
17. “When I was interviewing for an entry-level position at an insurance carrier, fresh out of college, I listed my major and minors on my resume. The interviewer asked me some questions about my history degree, and then became very confused about my minor in women’s studies. I explained what it was and what I had particularly studied in relation to my history degree. He then looked at me and asked if I was going to burn my bra in the office. I think I said something about how I didn’t think undergarments should be visible in the workplace and left it at that. I got the job and took it because I was desperate, and now I outrank the guy who interviewed me.”
18. “‘What church do you go to?’ This was not in any way a church-related organization, department, or position. I was meeting with the entire department, and the department head blurted that out. The 15 other people in the room fell absolutely silent while he obliviously blathered something like, ‘Well, I don’t care WHAT church, but I do want to know you have some sort of spiritual life and a moral compass.’ I didn’t confront it directly, but I mostly deflected with something about growing up in a generic denomination and moved on. There was nothing but crickets after the interview, but eight months later, I got a call that they wanted to arrange a second interview. Sorry, oddly enough, I happened to need food and shelter and, thus, found a different job.”
Stefania Pelfini La Waziya / Getty Images
19. “This one was from Subway: ‘If you could get away with it, would you steal from us?’ I would love to meet the person who said yes.”
20. “‘If I asked your friend what you were like in high school, what would they say?’ I ended the interview right after that.”
21. “‘Do you believe in UFOs?’ I mean, yeah, there are all kinds of things flying around that haven’t been identified. Not sure if they were asking if I believed in aliens…”
Joe Regan / Getty Images
22. “‘If we hire you, what won’t we like about you after a year?'”
—Anonymous
23. “They asked if I went to church and had a boyfriend. I was interviewing for a public school teaching position.”
24. “‘If you could be any kitchen appliance, what would you be and why?'”
—Anonymous
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25. “I had this question in an interview for a job I didn’t get: ‘What would be a good reason NOT to hire you for this position?’ My reply was, ‘A pre-approved or better candidate.’ I had a ton of snarky replies in my mind, but opted for the neutral reply.”
26. “‘Are you planning on getting pregnant?'”
27. “‘Will you pray with me?'”
PhotoAlto/Michele Constantini / Getty Images
28. “‘Are you sure you want to start at the top of the salary band? That won’t give you much room for growth.'”
29. “While applying for an internal promotion at my last place of work, HR asked me if I didn’t like my current job. Recently, I was applying for another job (go figure), and they stopped my supposedly final interview because I couldn’t be at their offices the following Monday at 10 a.m. I explained that I was currently employed, and the HR person looked surprised and asked why I was applying for a job if I had a job with another company.”
30. “I got hit with, ‘Is your car clean?’ as a teenager for an admin assistant job. I answered yes, and we stopped the interview so he could look inside my car in the parking lot because ‘a clean car means you are organized and can do a good job.’ He said, ‘I don’t hire people with messy cars because they’re pigs.’ I didn’t work there long.”
Gudella / Getty Images/iStockphoto
31. “‘If you needed to eat an elephant, how would you go about it?’ I guess this question could assess problem-solving skills or your approach to seemingly insurmountable tasks, but I could think of better questions for that. I ended up quoting that one Shel Silverstein poem about the girl who wanted to eat a whale and how she ate it one bite at a time. They seemed to like that answer.”
32. “They asked what my high school GPA was. I was in my late 30s at the time. I honestly didn’t remember.”
33. “‘If you could be any kind of tree, what kind would you be?'”
Seksan Mongkhonkhamsao / Getty Images
34. “‘What genre would the movie of your life be, and why? And which actor would play you?’ This was during a group interview. Everyone was instantly stressed.”
35. “‘How is your relationship with your family?'”
36. “‘What do you like to have for lunch?’ I work in the trades. Why TF did that matter?”
Epoxydude / Getty Images/fStop
37. “My buddy interviewed for the PA State Police. They asked him this: ‘If you had no clean underwear, would you rather wear a dirty pair inside out, or would you rather not wear underwear that day?’ There was no right answer; it was more of a personality question to assess your thought process.”
38. “‘How did you get to this interview? Oh, you drove? Is it your car? Is it your dad’s car? Do you have to switch on and off with him frequently? Why don’t you have your own car? Can you not afford it?'”
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39. “‘What group sports did you play in high school?’ It was obviously asked to assess my ability to be a team member, but this was a Master’s-level job that required a minimum of three years of experience. I was 32, had years of relevant experience, and never played a team sport in high school. A search committee member quickly asked, ‘What teams have you been a part of?'”
—Anonymous
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40. “I’m a professional nanny, and I have a few memorable interviews. The first one was back in the day of classified ads in the newspaper, where you would call the number listed in the ad. Yes, kids, that’s how we found jobs back then. I called the number and spoke with a man who identified himself as the father. In a typical phone interview, most families will brief the candidate on the position, followed by a series of questions. The first question I was asked was what I would do if the child were naughty. He then rephrased the question, asking me what I would do if the child were a demon. I asked questions about the job, such as location and start date. He denied answering, stating he didn’t want too much information out there.”
“The next question he asked me was what I looked like, such as my body type, and if I had a boyfriend, how serious we were. Instantly, the red flags were higher than they had been before. I don’t think he actually had kids; I think he was looking for a nanny for himself. He was a creep, and I hung up on him.”
—Anonymous
41. “During an interview for a controller position at a small company, I was asked how I (a woman who is 5’0 and 100 pounds) planned to manage the team since I was so petite. I told them that I wasn’t planning to arm wrestle anyone. Didn’t get the job.”
—Anonymous
42. “I was interviewing for a senior director position at a larger institution of higher education. The Chief of Operations and Head of General Counsel asked me, ‘What was the last movie you cried at?’ I was shocked. I am a female and wondered if he asked this question to all people or only women. All I could say is that I don’t watch movies. I almost didn’t take the job because of it.”
—Anonymous
Seb_ra / Getty Images/iStockphoto
43. “I was asked where I lived, if I had a boyfriend, and what my father did for a living.”
44. “Interviewer: ‘Give me one good reason why I should give you this job.’ I replied, ‘Give me one good reason why I should accept it.’ I got the job.”
45. “I was asked to name my favorite color and defend that choice. I was applying to be the controller of the accounting department.”
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46. “‘What is your relationship with your father?’ This was for a job as a chartered accountant. ‘Er, I’m his son?'”
47. “I graduated with an electrical engineering degree and became an industrial electrician, making $130k a year. I moved towns and applied for an engineering job, and the interviewer asked me, ‘Why didn’t you get a real job when you graduated from college?'”
48. “‘What car make, model, and color do you drive, and why did you choose it?'”
Douglas Sacha / Getty Images
49. And: “At a final interview for a senior engineer position, I was only asked one question: ‘Do you have any good stories?’ Apparently, I did because I got the job!”
—Anonymous
What’s the most absurd thing you’ve ever been asked during a job interview? Tell us in the comments or share anonymously using this form.
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