Recruiters dish on Reddit forum
It's the fear of every job applicant -- making a complete gaffe and
blowing the application process. But rest assured, for however poorly
you've fared, it's likely someone's done worse. And now there's proof.
Hiring managers from across the country recently participated in a Reddit forum to share their most memorable nightmare experiences
from job applicants. Suffice it to say catching job applicants engaging
in workplace theft, or listening to the applicants admitting to
drinking on the job didn't charm the managers. But awkward interview
behavior wasn't always a barrier to a job offer, either. So see below
for some of the most memorable anecdotes as shared by the hiring
managers.
Caught in the act of shoplifting
A former Blockbuster manager shared one experience in which a job
applicant had just completed an "awful" interview. The manager didn't
get into great details about why the interview was so "awful," but
whatever did occur, there's no way it could have been worse than what
happened when the manager walked the applicant out the door. As the
applicant was making his way to the parking lot alarms went off; "it
turned out he stuffed three DVD's in his suit jacket before being called
back to the office," as Reddit user, "nicmccool," the former manager,
described. "Blockbusted," commented Reddit user, "arleneb8."
Such a brazen and self-destructive manner of robbing
is not without precedent, as has been reported by AOL Jobs. Last
summer, an applicant for a gas station position at a Citgo gas station
in Florida was caught by the station's security video reaching into the
site's cash register to grab some cash after dropping off an
application. In total, he walked away with $130, and no job.
Too much honesty?
Reddit user "MissyBat" had an all too identifiable experience from her
time interviewing veterinary technicians. She noticed a long gap of
several years between an applicant's college graduation and state
license exam. So she asked the applicant what had happened. "It was pure
laziness," the applicant admitted.
Full frontal for the hiring manager
Most of the hiring managers participating in the Reddit forum
acknowledged that applicants with a criminal past faced a high burden to
landing a job. And as AOL Jobs reported last year, job applicants with a criminal conviction
are 50 percent less likely to be called back for an interview or
receive a job offer. In the face of such an environment, hiring managers
participating in the Reddit forum stressed the best strategy is to be
upfront about a criminal record to show acceptance and the distance
traveled since the wrongdoing. Which is exactly what one 40-something
applicant named "Anita" did while applying for a floor sales position
with a "retail company, that looks like a red bulls eye," as Reddit user
"iJo3ly" noted in the forum.
"Anita" admitted to having just been released from prison three weeks
before the interview after having served an eight-year prison term. The
crime? "Selling an illegal substance," as "Anita" described it. Yet it
soon became clear in the interview "Anita" was not trying to cover up
the details behind the "illegal substance." Instead, she preferred to
tell the story through a visual presentation. And so she "pulled down
her pants and showed" her "burnt" private parts before explaining she
was injured when her meth lab exploded on her in her trailer.
Making fun of the hiring manager's children
Reddit user "never_been_butta" participated in the forum but did so on
behalf of his mother, who he said worked as a hiring manager for a car
repair shop. And among the many memorable instances she shared with her
son from her career was what happened with one applicant applying for a
mechanic position. And as the applicant was being escorted out of the
store, the applicant took a look at a young girl standing in the shop
and said, "ew, what a pig." It turns out the girl was
"never_been_butta's" sister, aka, the hiring manager's daughter.
Emergency worker drinking on the job
Knowing how to cope with stress is integral to every job. But when you
are a 911 dispatcher it's understood you'll be trustworthy under any
circumstance. So when Reddit user "10_96" asked an applicant what are
some preferred stress-coping strategies, he was taken aback by this
response: "I won't lie, sometimes I have to drink to make it through the
day." Probably not the person you want on the end of the 911 emergency
line.
Leaving it all on the table
Reddit user "50_MillionYearTrip" didn't share the workplace his most
memorable hiring experience came from. But he certainly didn't forget
one "crazy nervous" guy who came in for an interview, as he described
him. "You could tell by the fantastic handshake the nerves were still
there," the Reddit user recounted in the forum. And after motioning to
him where he should sit for the interview, "50_MillionYearTrip" didn't
even have time to ask a question before the applicant "barfed all over
the table." But the incident didn't sink the candidate. "Funny thing was
he was one of the better applicants, so he did get a call back."
Have any nightmare experiences from your career? Share in the comments section below.
Check This video: You Won't Believe These 6 Nightmare Job Applicants