Curiosity

Creeping and Pretending Like a Cow - Worst Job Interviews

Job interview

Lae arrived in time for a job interview at a solicitor's office in Bristol. 

But after 20 minutes, he was canceled and asked to go again in a day. 

She left upset, only to receive a message saying that the "cancellation" had been a test, which she had failed. She was not accepted at work. 

She said that the experience was "terrible" and that it encouraged her to start her own business. 

Lae is not alone. According to recruitment agency Hays, more than half of people have had negative experiences during the job interview process. 

The BBC has obtained the stories of many of these people. 

Like Lae, Aixin Fu had a terrible experience when she applied for a job at a university as a student. During the group interview, everyone was asked to crawl on their hands and knees and "make like a cow". 

"We did that for three or four minutes", she remembers. 

"It was very inappropriate, but it was a bit of pressure because everyone else was doing it."

The interviewer had said he was trying to see if the candidates were "fun". 

"I won't retire for a while"

Julie from Mossouri said she realized that interviewers can sometimes be "very isolated" from actually being an interviewer. 

He realized this after an interview in 2022 for "copywriter". 

At first he seemed to be doing well, but at the end the interviewer asked him: "How many years do you think you have left?"

"I am in my 60s. I won't be retiring for a while,” Julie replied. 

Age is not the only bias in interviews. 

Pearl Kasirye, marketing manager, said she was asked about the background during an interview. 
Kasirye lives in London after leaving Uganda. She said that the employee insisted on paying her in Ugandan currency and not in pounds because of her background. 

Many people said that they were also discriminated against because of their gender. 

According to data from the employment platform "Applied", one in five women have been asked if they have children, or plan to have children. 

This platform found that this problem is even more frequent when women apply for senior positions.