Job seeker fails interview after being asked simple question by manager

A mortified job seeker has shared their story of how they dramatically failed at an interview with their would-be employer after they totally misinterpreted the question they were asked

A job seeker has shared their story of how they were left mortified when they ruined a job interview over a simple question.

The candidate was being quizzed by her potential future boss after arriving at their meeting only to entirely misinterpret one simple question leaving herself red-faced. The would-be employee shared her dismay over the incident on social media as she told her story and urged others to share their own experiences.

She asked: "What's the earliest you've messed up a job interview?" Before sharing her own embarrassing story adding: "I was asked, 'Tell me how you got here today?' and I said by bus. I got a stone-cold stare as the realisation hit me."

Read more: Man blows job interview in 2 minutes after awkward answer to basic question

She continued in her post on Reddit: "He meant in my career not to the physical office. The remaining 58 minutes were going through the motions." Fellow users of the forum them joined the conversation as they admitted finding her story hilarious and pointed out that it was an easy mistake to make.

One wrote: "To be honest, that's a weird way to phrase the question." A second user agreed: ''Tell me how you got here today?' is very open to interpretation. I'd have done the same as you." A third offered a comforting comment posting: "I've been interviewing a lot lately. I would not at all be bothered by that answer, it would be an amusing ice-breaker, to be honest."

A fourth social media user said: "Any interviewer who didn't find that amusing would be an awful person to work for." The job seeker then added further comment as she explained that her interviewer "wasn't in the mood to break the ice and to laugh it off," and that the "death stare" he gave her after she responded "still haunts" her.

Other users then shared their nightmare stories from job interviews including one candidate who admitted they got confused during a video chat with their prospective employer. They shared their hilarious reply when asked what their "background" was.

They posted: "I look behind myself and back around to video call, 'Well it's a sort of mirror?'. 'I mean what is your background in work?'. I still haven't recovered from that."

Another described their mortifying moment as they admitted they had a an altercation in the car park prior to their interview with shouting and rude hand gestures, with the other driving turning out to be the hiring manager. One more user comically typed: "I was told I had a colourful CV. I said 'Thanks, it's just a Microsoft Word template'."