They don’t creep and crawl, but they might make you scream. We’re rounding up our best recruiting horror stories! Scary candidates, resumes that will make you want to gouge out your eyeballs, and phone screens guaranteed to give you nightmares. To protect the identity of our horror storytellers, and candidates, all posts are anonymous.
Proceed...if you dare.
Horror Story #1:
“When I first started off in recruiting, I was working at a staffing agency. This was before I knew how to cut bad interviews short. This one woman put me through my worst interview to date. She showed up late, smacking her gum, asking me personal questions like, “Do you have a boyfriend?” and “What size are you?” She also sat uncomfortably close to me while I interviewed her. When the interview was over, she asked me if I wanted to go to dinner with her. I did not.”
Horror Story #2:
“I was screening resumes when I came across something that looked unfamiliar to me. It was a document, but wasn’t formatted like a resume at all. I began to read it and realized that someone had uploaded a receipt instead of their resume. Even worse, it was an invoice from their last doctor’s visit.”
Horror Story #3:
“I once had a candidate show up for an interview in a taxi that cost her $200 cash. She didn't have $200 cash and asked if we would pay the taxi waiting outside. My team and I collected a few dollars from each of the staff members around the office to make-up $200. The taxi driver was pissed, and worst of all -- she didn’t get hired or ever pay us back.”
Horror Story #4:
“A recruiter on my team was semi stalked by one of her candidates. He would call her at all hours of the day, including weekends. He then showed up at her office a few times unannounced and asked her on dates. She ended up needing to block him on her phone and on her social media accounts. He left her alone after a while, but it was really freaky.”
Horror Story #5:
“One time a candidate called me at 3am. Of course I frantically woke up scared out of mind, and picked up thinking it was an emergency. She was based in the UK and forgot I was in the US.”
Conclusion
Recruiting can get you into some scary situations. One of the best ways to prepare for the worst is to plan ahead for an interview. Get ready using our guide, How to Conduct Better Interviews, filled with templates, advice and go-to questions to ask. And Happy Halloween!
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