What’s Your Most Embarrassing Interview Moment?

This contest is up and running once again through February 18 at 5pm ET. Stop by to share your funny or embarrassing interview stories and you could win an iPod Nano with built-in video camera courtesy of www.interviewfollies.com and BriteTab.

I had moved to the States recently and was looking for work. I answered an ad for a Spanish-English person to work in a law-related field, about which I had no experience (I guess they called me because I was bilingual). I thought the interview would be with one person, but I almost fainted when I waked into the room and there were 5 unsmiling men, well-dressed men in their early 60s with whom I had to interview. In my so-so English I not only answered with opinions, not facts, but let it show that I had not idea what the job was about, which didn't please my interviewers. I could sense their frustration in their faces after some 10 minutes and couldn't wait to leave the room. That was 26 years ago, my English is better and I learned my lesson: keep the opinions to yourself and go prepared.

I was interviewing at a law firm in DC and was meeting with two partners at the same time(who I later learned where pranksters). They asked me to take a seat on the leather couch in one partner's office. I proceeded to sink deep into the couch and could barely see over my knees. Ha ha. I adjusted to sit at the edge of the couch (a struggle) and proceeded with the interview.

@steve - I had a similar experience when the interviewer started asking me questions way over my head, one after another ("Did you ever do x?" No. "Know anyone about Y?" Sorry, no). Turns out he thought I was a recent MBA grad, when I was only a freshman looking for a summer job.

My most embarrassing interview was with Pfizer, Inc. My interview was for a desktop support position and I was grilled by three people about everything having to do with network administration. Terrible interview...the worst.

With a fresh degree in business administration, I was set to wow them all. I had an interview with a marketing firm in the city, and I had answers to difficult questions practiced and prepared, and I was dressed for success. I came out of the interview feeling pretty good about it until I looked in a mirror - a full length one. There for all to see except me was the shredded mess of what was that very morning an expensive pair of dark hosiery. My legs looked like they had been attacked by a bengal tiger. I don't know when or how that happened, but it was definitely before the interview. And I thought the interviewer kept looking at me because he liked what I wore. Nope, didn't get that job.

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Britetab.com isn't a resume writing service-it is a resume enhancement company.

Without a doubt my most embarrassing moment
interviewing came years ago when I had just gotten out of the military. I used to drive a
truck in the military so when I got out I applied
for a job as a honeydipper, driving a sanitary
waste truck. The interview went o.k. so it came
time to show my potential boss I could drive his
truck-- no problem. So then we went to a customer's house and he proceeded to show me how
to hook up the hoses and open up the septic tank
and drop the hoses in. Then he started to show me a valve on the truck and how to turn it and
when I looked up I realized I should not have
taken the other end of the hose out of the
septic waste because it changed the pressure
of the hose on his end by the truck. The hose
blew off covering him from head to toe in
septic waste.
While trying hard not to laugh I was hard
pressed to ask for a ride back to his shop....

Without a doubt my most embarrassing interview moment was when the senior recruiter and I both realized that the position description I had applied/interviewed for was completely wrong. Some type of mix up in the process by a Jr-level recruiter. We wasted a whole hour. Perhaps she was just trying to let me down easy?

s.c.