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Candidate ruins job interview in seconds after being asked ‘how did you get here today’

Candidate ruins job interview in seconds after being asked ‘how did you get here today’

In their defence it was a pretty easy question to misunderstand.

When you go into a job interview every question is a potential minefield of tricks, traps and techniques designed to get you to spill the beans about yourself while also revealing your personality.

Or sometimes it's just a series of questions that'll help someone figure out whether you're the right person for the job.

There's plenty of tricks and pitfalls which interviewers employ to get what they think is a better insight into the candidates, and you've got to be prepared to have good answers for them.

Of course, it helps to actually figure out what the question is really asking before you fire away with your answers.

You may think you're telling the interviewer what they want to hear, but it's not going to make a good impression if you don't understand what they're talking to you about.

"Oh god, I've totally ruined this interview and there's still another hour to go." (Getty Stock Photo)
"Oh god, I've totally ruined this interview and there's still another hour to go." (Getty Stock Photo)

That's what happened to one poor soul in a calamitous job interview which they realised they mucked up within seconds.

Of course, good old Reddit is the place to share this information and recently someone created a post asking how people had sunk their chances of getting a job during the interview.

They kicked off proceedings by admitting that two minutes in to an hour-long interview they were asked 'tell me how you got here today' and their answer was 'by bus'.

Realising that they meant career-wise and not how they physically made it to the office, they said that 'the remaining 58 minutes were going through the motions'.

This prompted plenty of others to share their own interview nightmares, with someone else admitting that when asked 'what's your background' they turned around and started describing what had been behind them.

"Ok, so I did lie on my CV but I didn't expect you to actually ask me about it." (Getty Stock Photo)
"Ok, so I did lie on my CV but I didn't expect you to actually ask me about it." (Getty Stock Photo)

Another was asked whether they had a driving licence and a car, to which they responded in the affirmative before being asked 'is it clean' and telling the interviewer they just washed their car recently, only to realise they were asking about points on the licence.

In all of their defence, these questions were somewhat ambiguously worded, ask somebody 'how you got here today' and it's entirely reasonable to assume they'd tell you about their journey in.

One person admitted that they'd gone for a job as a GP receptionist and once got a call with no ID, leading them to pick up the phone and answer with silence.



Only it turned out to be someone calling to test their phone manner as part of the application process, and they didn't get the job.

A particular example came from someone who'd exaggerated slightly on their CV and said they knew French, only to be bamboozled when their interviewer opened the conversation in fluent French.

"The interview was over before she'd even sat down," they admitted, so it's a helpful reminder not to fib on your application.

Featured Image Credit: Getty Stock Images

Topics: Jobs, Reddit