And the thread soon had thousands of replies, as people shared some truly awful and/or infuriating job interviews they had. Here are some of the top-voted and best comments:
1. "I applied to a job as a junior programmer and within five minutes the guy goes, 'Look, I'll be honest, there is no job, you can get an internship, no pay, we offer the bus pass.'"
2. "I took vacation days to interview, bought my own plane ticket, and paid for my own hotel. First thing the interviewer said was, 'I have no intention of hiring you. This is just a courtesy because I knew your brother.'"
"I had eight more hours left in my interview day. It was painful. They ended up offering me the position many weeks down the road because they couldn't fill the position. I politely declined and got a very passive-aggressively worded survey to fill out explaining why I passed.
Edit: I'm an eye surgeon. This was for a training position at an Ivy League institution."
3. "I walked in as the HR lady farted — it was a small office with no windows. I later asked her questions about their employee retention rate that she couldn’t answer. The fart stayed the duration of the interview, and I hope the fart got the job, because I didn’t want it."
4. "During college, I applied for a bunch of jobs at Ikea. I got an interview followed by a rejection email. A week later, they called me for another interview. I got another rejection email. They interviewed [me] five times for five different positions. I got rejected all five times. I'm still salty about it two decades later."
5. "The interviewer was just stone cold. I tried to work in some small chitchat to break the ice, but the most I got was a smirk."
"Then came the technical questions. I botched every question, and each time he gave me a hard 'no,' then proceeded to condescendingly explain why I was wrong. Luckily, I landed a job with a different company shortly after, but man that interview really destroyed my confidence."
6. "The interviewer proceeded to berate me for not having a 4.0, saying clearly I needed to study more and I was obviously out partying too much and not learning anything. I had like a 3.6, not a 0.6."
7. "Applied to work at a vet clinic. Veterinarian did the interview while spaying a cat, apparently one of the cleanest and quickest surgeries they do. I fainted. Was not offered the job (after I woke up)."
8. "I interviewed for a position to be secretary to the principal at an elementary school and I expected it to just be the principal. It ended up being the principals of all three elementary schools in the area, the current secretary that was leaving, the librarian for some reason, and the front office lady."
"It was the most bizarre interview I’ve ever been through, lasted almost two hours, and I had to demonstrate my understanding of how to send a fax. For a $20k a year job. I was plenty qualified, I thought I interviewed well, and I literally never heard anything back from them even after I tried to follow up."
9. "I interviewed someone for a servers position in a club, she said she couldn't work weekends or past 8 p.m. We're a nightclub that's open from 7 p.m. till 2 a.m."
10. "I applied for a job in a planetarium, the interview was conducted in a big dome. Problem was that the planetarium staff was doing fire alarm tests during the interview. The dome amplified the sound so much, it was deafening. The interview staff acted like nothing was going on. We had to shout so we could hear each other."
11. "Part way through the interview, the boss had something come up and got her assistant to show me around while she was busy. As soon as we were out of earshot, this guy tells me to get out while I can."
"Apparently, the boss was a tyrant on a sinking ship, and either that was true and I should leave, or this guy is insane and I should leave. So in the second part of the interview, I declined the offer.
That set the boss off like a firework, which made me think the guy's warning was sincere. It was the first time I'd turned down a job and felt kinda empowering so her venom didn't stick."
12. "I was 23 at the time. The manager of the company who interviewed me was old enough to be my grandfather. He asked if I had a boyfriend and if he was jealous."
"He told me that there were going to be thee options for me: The first one was to work from home, the second was to work from the office, the third one was to go on 'business trips' with him twice a week. The third option had the highest pay. He told me that I look like a smart girl and the third option would be the best for me. He was such a creep and made me feel so uncomfortable."
13. "Interviewed someone for a call center job and when we got to the salary part, he takes out his phone, calls his mother, and puts her on speakerphone to help negotiate his salary (like he was getting a job in the C-suite). Did not get hired."
14. "It was my first interview after graduating college with an economics degree. When the interviewer asked about my expected salary, he literally laughed and told me that I would not be able to get that starting salary anywhere and told me that I should be 'grateful.'"
"I literally found a job that following week that paid what I was seeking. Know your worth, then add tax. :) Get what you deserve."
15. "I once had an interview that asked really personal questions, like 'Are your parents divorced?' and 'Were you bullied in school?' The interview was for a really small, sketchy business with four or five interviewers and lasted around two hours. I'm glad I didn't get the job."
16. "Guy stared at my boobs the whole time, asked me how old I was, what my 'credentials' were, told me I seemed young to be a director, and then said, 'Are there even any men on this team?' I was the one doing the interviewing, by the way.
17. "I was interviewing a guy once and asked him why he wanted the job. He replied, 'Well that’s a stupid fucking question.'"
18. "Wanted to work at H&M, got interviewed by the worst person ever. One question was, and I am legit not lying, 'What is your favorite color and why?' I answered, 'Baby blue, because it's calming and not too harsh to the eyes.' My interviewer then said, 'Oooh, sorry! Red is what we were looking for.' And then proceeded to show me the exit."
You can read the full thread of responses on Reddit.
Note: Some responses have been edited for length and/or clarity.