The worst interview questions and situations are ones where the interviewer is antagonistic and passes more assumptions about the candidate rather than trying to explore the candidate background and experiences. They also tend to be situationally awkward and make the candidate feel uncomfortable in some way. A lot of the below questions and situations are related to discrediting the candidate, because likely they either feel threatened by the candidate, don't like the candidate, are clueless themselves, generally employ clueless people, or prefer someone else. Sometimes, it can also be linked to institutional racism and gender biases. Also, if they keep asking the same questions over and over again shows the interviewer has poor listening skills, bad organizational skills, could not be bothered to take notes, or are simply just disinterested in the candidate. Usually, interviewers that are disorganized and guided by assumptions tend to indicate red flags either about the team or the organization. Generally, such lines of interactions spell a lot of negativity around the role, and unprofessional practices, which tend to be ones that a candidate should not bother to pursue.
- You didn't do this yourself, did you?
- Someone else did this for you, right?
- This wasn't done by you, right?
- So, what part of the work did you do?
- Most of this work was done for you, right?
- Asking the same question to the candidate about their past roles multiple times via email and through every interview stage?
- Any other questions where they make more assumptions about candidate?
- Reading a bunch of questions from a cribsheet, some of which the interviewer does not even know the answer to, or funnily enough has wrong answers to?
- Giving puzzles for the candidate to solve on the board that even the interviewer cannot solve themselves?
- Interviewer arriving 1 to 2 hours late to an interview and expecting the candidate to be ok with it?
- Interviewer having issue with the way you greet them?
- Interviewer refusing to shake your hand after the interview?
- Interviewer commenting on your racial background or sharing their opinion of people of specific backgrounds?
- Interviewer openly sharing their gender biases during the interview?
- Interviewer that can't stop playing politics even while they are in the interview?
- Interviewer that asks the candidate to make tea or coffee for them while they are sat there with a grin on their face?
- Interviewer that doesn't want the candidate to have that job because they applied to it as well?
- Interviewer that actively practices nepotism and cronyism for job placements?
- Interviewer with poor sense of hygiene?
- Interviewer making sexual remarks and advances directed towards the candidate?
- Interviewer being overly touchy towards the candidate?
- Interviewer dressing inappropriately to the interview?
- Interviewer constantly having their pet cat or dog interrupt the interview?
- Interviewer having a snack or lunch during the interview?
- Interviewer that rather than being bothered to interview you, spends their focus on checking emails or doing work on their laptop?
- Interviewer that rather than interviewing you, spends the time talking about their spouse or their divorce?
- Interviewer that dismisses the candidate's technical replies to something as being inaccurate while to the contrary being incorrect and inaccurate themselves?
