Candidates recount long waits and baffling questions in job interviews

People have described job interviews that left them waiting, bewildered or questioning what a workplace might be like, in a BBC report on poor interview experiences and how candidates can respond.

Tiara Allen said she waited about 40 minutes for an interviewer for a retail job. A colleague called the interviewer two or three times before they arrived; Allen said she was told the meeting had not been scheduled. She took the job because she needed work, but later said she would not accept one after such a wait again.

Chas Edwards recalled being asked at an interview for an assistant’s role at a New York book publisher whether he was “a crier”. He thought the question was a joke, but said he was later told it was why he got the job: the previous assistant had cried, and the interviewer wanted someone who would not.

Edwards said the job proved miserable and that the boss had previously seen assistants leave within three months. He stayed for 13 months. He later said the experience made other jobs, even bad ones, seem less difficult by comparison.

Corinne Card said an interview for an administrative job ended after she answered yes to the opening question, “Do you like working with people?” The interviewer told her the job would not suit her.

What candidates can do

Career manager Corinne Mills advises candidates to ask interviewers to clarify unusual questions. She also says an off-putting line of questioning may offer clues about the workplace, and that interviews give candidates a chance to assess an employer too.

The BBC’s guidance, drawing on employment and careers specialists, suggests staying polite, noting what happened and requesting feedback. It also says candidates who believe they were treated unfairly can make a subject access request to find out how their application was discussed internally.

Some interview questions may raise more serious concerns. Employment lawyer Roy Magara said asking women whether they plan to have children is a common form of bias. Discrimination based on protected characteristics, including sex, race, disability and age, is unlawful in the UK.

The report also notes that interviews can be stressful partly because employers hold greater power in the process. Hiring software co-founder Euan Cameron describes an interview as “just a conversation between two people” — though, as Allen’s account illustrates, that depends on both people turning up.