Okay, be honest: what's the worst way you've ever answered an interview question ? This topic could unite us all. No matter how long you've worked, no matter how qualified and prepared you are, every person gets nervous going to job interviews. It's a universal fear, and for many people, it's just one of those things you have to do every few years in order to advance your career. For every five or ten interviews you do, you might get offered the job one time---or not at all. It's brutal out her…

This job candidate was surprised when an interviewer asked for a free writing sample on an oddly specific topic. This person told their story to r/MaliciousCompliance, sharing the exact way they got back at this company who tried to avoid paying their fair share. You'd think a huge group of lawyers at a law firm would know better than to have shady hiring practices. When OP interviewed for a job there doing research and writing, they applied, but red flags began popping up almost immediately. S…

Usually, when we negotiate leave dates when starting a new job, we'd expect those dates to be honored—not thrown to the wayside as soon as we're locked into our employment. After all, that's all part of the bargaining process, and once a bargain is struck, every agreed-upon detail becomes the foundation for the rest of the relationship. This worker shared how their extended family goes on a trip every year, this time with a significant personal reason motivating the trip, and they've already bo…

Sometimes, the games and manipulation start from the interview, with the hiring party pulling ticks, like showing up late, to “test" candidates, claiming to be testing for traits like “loyalty” and “patience” when really they're just looking to see how much of a pushover the candidates are. Really, if you're pulling stunts like this, you're probably discouraging the best candidates from working at your company, which you probably think is fine since you're obviously looking for desperate and pl…

These resumes and cover letters were supposed to land them a job, but these interviewees are getting laughed at behind closed doors. Hiring someone for a job position might seem easy at first — you post a job listing on a few sites, and the resumes should come pouring in. Depending on your industry, you might get 10 resumes, or 1000. But either way, not everyone will have the right qualifications. Some applicants actually do have the skills, but they have no clue how to format a resume and cove…

A job interview is just as much for a candidate to see if they want to work for a company as it is for a company to see if they want the candidate to work for them. The application and interview process can be so stressful and intensive for a candidate that this often gets overlooked, with candidates who are too desperate or eager to please get themselves into exploitative situations after missing extremely obvious red flags during interviews. Let us be brutally honest here, most of the time, a…

Looking for a job is stressful, mainly because you need to send out 1,000 resumes and chit-chat with 100 interviewers before ever getting into a room with a company to discuss the job. For that reason, a lot of folks looking for work will often spam out their resume in a mass-application, which inevitably leads to them forgetting what position they're even applying for. We just need a job, okay?

Trying to find a new job is hard enough without being misled about the realities of the role. Jumping through hoops, attending multiple interviews, then finally signing a contract, and attending training—all just to find out that the new job isn't actually as it was described. That's what this worker shared their experience on a thread that they posted on Reddit's popular r/antiwork workplace discussion subreddit community. They described that during the interview process, the role seemed to be…

When you make a request of someone to uphold a certain standard, do a certain thing, or act a certain way, there's a general expectation that you will uphold the same—acting in a manner that makes your request appropriate. It's called “leading by example,” and people seem to really struggle with it, with many leaders making no attempt or actively avoiding having to do so. This job candidate reported being specifically asked by the HR worker, who was setting up the interview, to ensure that they…

The usual decorum for interviews is that of subtlety—and for good reason. The fact that you're looking for other work is one that you'd probably prefer your employer wasn't aware of. Their gut reaction could very well be to fire you and secure the future of their business and the security of their company. Now, jobless, the job you were applying for now has much higher bargaining power over you than they held previously. For this reason, it's usually an unspoken rule that an interviewer As an a…

The modern job application process is as dehumanizing as it's intended to be. Apply to 200 jobs, and you might hear back from five, eventually getting an interview with three, with (hopefully) one actually having a chance of progressing to employment. Long gone are the days of “Turn up at the office and chuck your CV at the nearest manager" to prove your gumption. I highly doubt that method was actually as efficient as we've been led to believe. Still, if your older relatives are to be believed…

Feedback is important but usually not well received. People generally don't like hearing all of the things that they could have done better; those with overly inflated egos tend to take this especially poorly. Sure, it doesn't feel good, but most of us would take the feedback—maybe apply it, maybe not—and move on from it. Only occasionally recollecting the exchange when the intrusive thoughts move in while trying to go to sleep at night. Rather than doing this, this company decided that they ne…

Starting a new job is stressful; you've traded the relative security of whatever job you've just left for the uncertainty of a new one. This entire process, from start to finish, is time-consuming and emotionally draining, leaving you hoping that you'll never have to go through it again… and then you get fired on your second day. This old bait and switch probably means that either someone realized they didn't have the budget for a new role that they thought they did, or layoffs are on their way…

You should always be wary of the “walk back” as a manipulation tactic. Often used in sales and scams, the seller starts by offering something acceptable and slowly changes the terms of the deal to something that might have been unacceptable to start with but is now reluctantly accepted due to the sunk cost of invested time. Consecutive slight alterations to figures or terms should always raise red flags, and if something doesn't seem right you should always trust your gut instinct, just as this…

Just a tip for the next time you're in a job interview: Don't tell the interviewer that you're more qualified for their job than they are. That's… just not going to end well for you or your prospects. This three-part story has taken place over the course of just as many years, with the original poster returning this week to provide a wholesome update and conclusion to their tale of the most insolent job candidate they ever interviewed. The tale starts with the candidate “Annabelle” coming in fo…

It always pays to be kind—or at least decent. You never know when that karmic pendulum is going to swing right back at you and knock you on your rear… The world is a far smaller place than we take it to be and only gets smaller as you isolate down into the people you're likely to interact with based on demographics. Within a given industry, it's more than likely that you'll encounter the same people over the course of years spent in different jobs, even if you move cities. This idea gives rise…