Candidate flubs job interview in seconds with the worst answer ever

Ben Cost
·2 min read
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A job candidate detailed the embarrassing saga of how they botched a job interview in seconds by giving the worst response ever.
A job candidate detailed the embarrassing saga of how they botched a job interview in seconds by giving the worst response ever.

They set a speed record for dropping the ball.

A job candidate has detailed the embarrassing saga of how they botched a job interview in seconds by giving the worst response ever.

According to a Reddit post, the interviewer had asked the unnamed applicant, “How did you get here today?” — prompting them to matter-of-factly respond: “By bus.”

They had reportedly taken the answer far too literally. photofriday – stock.adobe.com
They had reportedly taken the answer far too literally. photofriday – stock.adobe.com

That’s when the employment hopeful realized that the prospective boss was not speaking literally and that they’d epically fumbled their answer.

“I got a stone-cold stare as the realization hit me … he meant in my career, not to the physical office,” recalled the Redditor, who reportedly spent the next 58 minutes of the interview “going through the motions.”

The mortifying ordeal resonated on Reddit, prompting others to share their own embarrassing incidents of job interviews gone awry.

One embarrassed commenter described getting asked what their “background” was on a video call, prompting them to look behind themselves and mistakenly respond, “Well, it’s kind of a mirror.”

This prompted Redditors to share their own embarrassing tales of botched job interviews. zphoto83 – stock.adobe.com
This prompted Redditors to share their own embarrassing tales of botched job interviews. zphoto83 – stock.adobe.com

They quickly realized they’d taken the question too literally after the interviewer clarified, “I mean, what is your background in work?”

“I’ve never recovered from that,” lamented the failed applicant.

Another recounted how they epically bumbled a secret phone test while applying to become a receptionist.

“I’d been plagued by spam calls in recent days, and I got a ‘no caller ID’ call and answered it with silence … there was also silence on the other end,” the applicant described. “After about 10 seconds, I say, ‘So, are you going to say something? What do you want?’ in an annoyed tone. Turns out it was the GP receptionist calling me to test my phone manner as a screening process. I didn’t get the job!”

Some even ruined their interview before it began.

“The building was confusing and I walked through the wrong door,” recalled one Redditor. “The interviewer saw and told the receptionist, ‘I definitely don’t want that one.’ I went and got very drunk in the pub opposite instead.”