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Almost everyone can identify with the experience of needing a job, and most of us agree that the process of searching and interviewing for a new one is in no way pleasant. We need jobs, which can make an interview something of an imbalance of power.
That said, we also have to know our self worth, and we have to pay attention to the boundaries that make us feel most comfortable – and when these 15 people realized the job wasn’t for them, they walked right out.
Here are their reasons why.
15. They both knew it was over.
Not so much a walk out, but we both knew that it was over.
Interview with Radio Shack around 1990. I was a home stereo geek and was looking for the next college job. Interview with a regional manager for a slot in one of his stores.
Interview goes well and he asks if I have any questions. I ask about compensation. He explained that there was a base rate, close to minimum wage, but salespeople were “expected” to exceed that with their commissions on sales made. He went on to tell me that the vacant position was due to someone that couldn’t do this on a consistent basis.
“How do you feel about that?”
“Well, I can’t say that I’m confident enough about your product line for that to make me very happy.”
Yeah, it was over at that point.
14. Why so secretive?
Refusal to discuss salary…this was interview #3.
From my end, thats an interview #1 thing, preferably even before the interview. I don’t want to waste time if the range isn’t going to fit.
I don’t need to drive an hour for something that is not in my range and they don’t need to waste 15 minutes on someone who will decline if the salary range isn’t right.
13. That’s weird.
I’m in my 30s but look in my 20s. I applied at a music store. The place was an independently owned place in Mineola NY run by some eccentric old guy. He didn’t believe I was even in my 20s.
He thought I was a teenager lying about my age and demanded to call my parents and high school to get their permission. So, out the door I was…
12. He didn’t want to play the game.
Years ago, I went to an interview, and sat down with the man who was to interview me. Sat in silence while he read something on his computer for a few minutes, then waited for a minute or so while he looked over my resume (it was a small business, he is the same person who called me to set up the interview and he’d had the resume for a few days.)
He finally looked up at me and said, “Well, I’m not sure why you applied for this job; you really don’t have any of the skills or experience I’m looking for.” He was just so arrogant and I felt like he was trying to make a power move to make a lowball offer. I didn’t apply to any job that I wasn’t qualified for. I was just instantly pissed that he was playing games. I calmly said, “Then I’m not sure why you‘re wasting my time,” and I stood and walked to the door. He said something like, “Oh, no, let’s talk,” and I told him I wasn’t interested in working for him.
I had a job already, I just wasn’t terribly happy with it, so I really didn’t feel like putting up with his b.s.
11. Like a vague threat.
Owner of a bar told me in the 1st interview. to never approach him with a problem because I wouldn’t like how he fixed it.
That tells me he either doesn’t know how to fix things, or he uses illegal methods to fix things.
10. It was not legit.
Showed up for a construction/trades workers “hiring event”. I’m a plumber by trade and work was bleak as hell in my city at the time, so I went.
It looked legit until they sat us down to speak about the work scope. They claimed to be one of the companies that were building Rogers Place in Edmonton. After they gave us sketchy details they said “however, if you don’t want to do that you can….”
And started speaking about how to do door to door sales of mostly chocolate in the higher end communities around the city. They talked construction for maybe 15 minutes and the rest was door to door chocolate sales and unicef fundraising and how we can have an income of 150k+ a year doing that. I left probably 20 minutes into that.
I had a friend who champed it out and stay the entire time. The stories he told me were hilarious. Ironically, 30 minutes after I left, I got a call from a company who was actually a contractor on the Rogers Place job and ended up working for them for 4+ years.
9. Everyone else played along?
Applied for a software developer position for an online retailer. First round of interviews was a traditional technical skills and whiteboard coding session, second round was a cultural fit interview with HR.
I assumed it would be an one on one interview with HR, it was a room with 20 something people applying for anything from legal to finance.
They asked us to stand up, then crawl into a ball and pretend we were flowers opening.
At this point I honestly thought it was some kind of prank, then I saw everybody around me doing it.
I just said thanks for the opportunity and left.
8. Why didn’t you say that before?
Sat down with the owner and the first thing he said was, I don’t hire people with beards. I said okay, got up and walked out.
7. It wasn’t safe.
I once went to a job interview for a large welding shop, in the middle of a rain storm. After talking to the interviewer for 30 or so minutes, he walked me out to the shop floor to take a welding test. The machine we went to was in decent condition, but was literally sitting in a puddle of water.
The welding table’s legs were rusty and not grounded well, and also in said puddle. Over half the shop was flooded. I turned around and said “No thank you.” Then proceeded to walk out the door.
My life is worth more than $20 an hour.
6. That’s not gonna work for him.
The guy interviewing me interrupted the interview to scream at one of his employees. Like red in the face screaming and berating the guy.
And then tried to just pick up where we left off like it was nothing. No thank you.
5. No, it’s not.
I applied for a register position at Pizza Hut. I specifically told them during my 2 interviews that I cannot be a delivery driver due to my car being unreliable, they even acknowledged that and told me okay.
Got the job, came in for training on the first day, the very first thing they do is sit me down in a chair and started up a training video on delivery driving.
I asked them if I could skip it since I’m only working the register/in the kitchen, and the manager tells me that every position is a delivery driver.
Walked out right then and there and got paid for 1 hour of training.
4. They’re not that hard to sniff out.
Pyramid scheme advertised as “sales and marketing”.
It was a group interview. They served wine for fucks sake! They had obvious stooges initiating conversation about how great this opportunity was.
I got very drunk and stopped being polite about it.
3. Time wasted.
Happened fairly recently. Made it to the third interview for a large company. The first two they told me what my role would be, base pay + commission, told me they were so excited to have me on board because of my experience.
So I sit down for the third interview. They again go over my role, my pay, etc. They say they’re prepared to offer me that job right now and had the paperwork ready since this morning. BUT THEN. They say “But we already hired someone for that. So instead what we’d like you to do is..” and proceeded to tell me the pay was less than half what they were already offering me prior for a lot more work. Basically I went from being offered a management job to just being asked to train all the new employees they just hired then step down to cashier for $10 per hour. And no guaranteed hours.
I stood up and told them I was worried I was wasting their time prior to this interview because I wasn’t entirely sold on the job yet. But after today, it’s become pretty apparent you guys were the ones wasting my time instead. No thank you. And I left.
About an hour later I got a phone call asking for a fourth interview. They called almost every day for two weeks asking me to come back and talk to the owner.
2. A toxic environment.
I’m a vet tech. Interviewed at a primary care, single doctor practice. The manager was over 25 minutes late to my interview. While I waited for her, the front desk staff ignored me while they talked crap about the techs, manager, and clients.
The manager said they did not believe in referring to any specialists, because “Dr. A is a specialist in everything from grizzly bears to canaries.” He was not, he hadn’t even done a rotating internship and definitely had not done any type of residency program.
I had already worked in a toxic clinic, but at least the doctors were competent. When she asked if I had any questions, I just asked if I could have my resume back, so I didn’t waste the paper.
1. They weren’t getting along.
It was a virtual interview and I ended it. The interviewer was a complete jerk, had an ego, and would make condescending remarks.
Just told him that it sounds like he’s not interested in working together so in the interest of both our time, we should just end the call.
I am aghast at some of these stories, y’all, though I don’t know why I’m surprised.
Have you ever walked out of an interview? Tell us why in the comments!
