tell me about your most embarrassing job interview!

Nurses Job Hunt

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my friend who is a RN , went for a job interview . the person who was interviewing her asked her , now that you left your last job what would they be saying about you? she said " what do you mean?" the lady said to her well , would they be saying your mean , or rude or will they say your bad to work with and on and on. well she said she sat there stumped not knowing what to say. then said i always thought they liked me and the lady said " well what are they saying? she said i don't know and started crying. the poor girl had no idea what this lady wanted her to say. then the lady said " all i wanted to know what are your strengths and weaknesses? the girl said to her why didn't you just ask that? i felt so bad for her. i told her ya know what ,that was a stupid question. i have never been asked that in a interview have you? she said she doubts she will get the job . i said so what big deal. tell me about your embarrassing interview !! thank you !!

Here is a bad manners one:

Interviewing for a GI office/lab. Was brought into a break room that was the size of a thimble. You know the kind. Where the table fills the entire space and you can't pull out any of the chairs much to sit down, you need to climb into them pretty much. So. I go in and move towards the window - climbing over chairs and shifting chairs over to take a place at the far side of the table, so if more people came in, I wouldn't have to awkwardly climb over and into another chair. So I do this and straighten my suit and put my purse down and I hear the NM say, "do you want some coffee?", I say "sure" but notice without looking up that she does not move at all. So, suddenly I understand that I am to get my own coffee. I look up and see her on the other side of the table sucked up against the counter standing next to the coffee pot but not pouring any coffee or getting me a cup even. LOL!!!! I stand up carefully and have to climb over and around 5 chairs and table to get to her and ask her where the cups are etc. get my cup filled. Then, I reach across the table and set the cup down with a thud at the spot at the table I was previously sitting. I climb back over all those chairs back to my seat. See, the whole time I was not even an arms length away from her and she offer's me coffee, knows the room problems and makes me crawl.

How rude! Manners peeps! Needless to say she was a mess. She even told me that I was probably overqualified for this job (I was a new grad nurse!!) and that she thought that I should go back to doing what I used to do careerwise because if she could get out of nursing she'd love to do that kind of thing!

OMG Hygiene! That is awful!

Hygiene I'm sure it was a blessing in disguise. I'm sure other people were uncomfortable around the pervert doctor too but didn't say anything.

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Specializes in Geriatrics, Home Health.

I interviewed for a job at a copy shop. At the time, I was having serious sleep problems. When I went for my interview, I'd been awake for 35 hours. I got a large coffee at the shop next door and did the interview. I was appropriately dressed, and acted as professional as I could, but I didn't get the job. Looking back, I probably came off as drunk.

This was an interview in which I felt embarrassed FOR the person I was interviewing! First, she came in jeans and a tank top and her hair was tied in a knot on the top of her head, like she'd just gotten out of bed. Strike 1 for first impression! I asked her why she had left her last job after only 3 months. Her response to me was that the DON "had it in for her" because she had missed a few days and it was made a big deal out of because she had really been sick. Strike 2-Attendance problem After we discussed the expectation for attendance, this girl topped it off by telling me that she would really make an effort but sometimes she had trouble with her car and her boyfriend didn't always want to "babysit" their child. Strike 3!! I thanked her for coming but told her I would need someone who could make a commitment and stick to it and invited her to reapply when and if she were able to do that! Talk about what NOT to say at an interview!!

I was the interviewer, interviewing a RN. The lady was middle aged, very polite, professional and was very classy looking in her skirt. I offered to give her a tour of the facility mid interview. She stood up and her slip immediately fell all the way to the ground - pooling around her ankles. Quicker than a blink of an eye she grabbed her slip, threw it in her purse and said "Yea, me! My weight loss plan is working good" and was ready to go on with the tour. She never missed a beat and the entire thing didn't seem to fluster her at all.

What a way to prove you can handle pressure! I hired her that day.

I think this is hysterical, something that would definitely happen to me!

This is an old red head friend of mine on her first interview:

Interviewer " of you were a type of food what would you be and why?"

Friend "ummm.....a carrot, cuz they're orange and fluffy"

Specializes in NICU, Peds, Med-Surg.

I was having a great interview and two of the buttons on my dress popped off. I did NOT get the job....LOL!

Specializes in Acute Care, CM, School Nursing.

After I had been home with my kids for years, I decided to go back to the hospital per diem. I sent in a bunch of resumes and applications. I wasn't hearing back from any places, but I knew that the job market was very different than it was in the past. Finally, I got a phone call from a hospital, asking me to come in for an interview! I had applied to their hospital online, completing the application and attaching a resume. I was thrilled. So, the day comes, and I was totally excited. My parents were watching the kids so I could go on my very first job interview in years. I was so ready for my "new beginning".

I got there, waited, then took a med calculation test. Finally, I was called in to speak with the HR woman. She began with your standard interview type of questions. Then she starts looking at my paperwork and says, "You haven't worked in 7 years?" I told her that was true, thinking it was strange that she hadn't noticed that on my application or resume. She tells me, "I'm sorry, but they never should have called you in for an interview. You'll need to do a refresher course before we could even consider hiring you." She did seem a bit flustered and embarrassed herself. I don't know how that bit of info escaped everyone's attention.

Anyway, I was absolutely, positively humiliated!! Here I was, all dressed up in my interview clothes. I had been giddy about this interview for days. I felt like such a fool. I gathered up the last scrap of my dignity and went to my car, where I called my husband and burst into tears. Plus, I knew that when I got home, my parents would excitedly be asking how it went... Talk about having your bubble burst!

FWIW, I did end up doing a refresher class, and getting a per diem position at a different hospital. So, all's well that ends well... But I still cringe when I remember that interview.

Specializes in Sleep medicine,Floor nursing, OR, Trauma.

Little known facts about CheesePotato:

I worked in business for....a long time for a major corporation.

I worked there until I went into nursing/healthcare.

I thought I could handle any interview tactic after dealing with the workings of silver tongued business people.

I was wrong.

So here I am in the office of the director of a sleep lab, having had a wonderful interview that eventually devolved into light-hearted casual conversation. The office is decked out in two wing-back chairs used for interviews, etc and the director, we'll call her Pamela, is just coming off a night shift of covering for a tech that was out sick. So the fact that she is now curled up in the chair with a throw across her lap draws little but not remarkable attention.

I glance away for a moment to pluck my coffee cup from the side table and am taking a sip when a low, demonic growl snarls across the room.

"Don't **** me!"

Many of you will know what I mean when I say did a perfect "spit take". One decimated hanky later, I'm gaping like a nest of angry hornets just materialized in the chair across from me. "I beg your pardon?"

And there she sits, perfectly composed, face almost blank. She sighs like she's going to relax more but then hisses, "Don't even think about ******* me over."

And here....here is where the real CheesePotato rears her ugly head, stirred to life by the presence of profanity.

"Not on the first date. And I usually at least buy you a drink first."

: facepalm :

Damnedest thing I've ever experienced.

I glance away for a moment to pluck my coffee cup from the side table and am taking a sip when a low, demonic growl snarls across the room.

"Don't **** me!"

Many of you will know what I mean when I say did a perfect "spit take". One decimated hanky later, I'm gaping like a next of angry hornets just materialized in the chair across from me. "I beg your pardon?"

And there she sits, perfectly composed, face almost blank. She sighs like she's going to relax more but then hisses, "Don't even think about @#$%ing me over."

Dear lord, CheesePotato. :eek:

What on earth was wrong with the woman?

Did she fall asleep and then was dreaming?

Psychotic or what??

I would have high-tailed it outta there.

Specializes in critical care, Med-Surg.
My worst job interview was when the interviewer asked me if I was married or had kids as it is always more difficult to accommodate the schedule needs of nurses with families.

Isn't that ILLEGAL?

RUN for the door.

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