One of my most embarrassing interview experience

Have you ever been soo unemployed that you were drowning? That was me around December to January last year, I was desperately looking for anyone to hire me. Watching everyone else go to work and make progress in their lives made me feel even worse about my own situation. I needed something to click…and fast. I had applied to a few-okay more than a few- graduate and full-time roles, and for one particular role, I felt pretty confident after the initial assessment call. I thought, “What could go wrong?”

Mistake #1: Procrastination is the enemy

After the initial assessment call, they informed me that if I made it to the next stage, I’d receive an email with a test/assessment to complete. A few days later, I got the email, and I was thrilled! I skimmed through it and saw that I needed to submit the assessment at least a day before the interview, along with a slide presentation of my findings. I figured, “I have time—I’ll start this in a week.”

A week went by, then I procrastinated another day…and another. Before I knew it, I had just two days (and a few hours) left to start and complete the assessment they had given me weeks ago. “God, why am I like this?” I kept asking myself, because as someone in the depths of unemployment, I really had nothing more important to do than GET A JOB.

Anyway, with only two days left until the next stage of the interview, I noticed I could no longer download the file to start the assessment. I started to spiral a bit—how could I explain to them that I hadn’t even started? It would reflect so poorly on me. So, I turned to Reddit for motivation and ideas on what to do, which led me to sending the email below..

Mistake 2#: Real-world application is different from structured teaching

Thankfully, I received a response, and the document was re-sent to me. Upon opening it, I immediately understood why they had given two weeks to complete the assessment. For context, this was a job that required SQL skills, so they created an account for me in their company software and provided some real data. The task was to use SQL to arrange, extract, and input the data. I had learned this in university, so why was I finding it so hard to figure out?

Quite frankly, I had no idea what to do. I tried to figure it out, but I just couldn’t, and because of that, I had no PowerPoint presentation to show. I essentially did nothing to prepare for this interview. Now, it’s the morning of the interview, and I have no presentation or data ready. I was seriously considering postponing the interview or completely backing out. Guess what I did??

I showed up for the interview with nothing. Nothing. When the call started—it was an online interview—I told them I was struggling with the assignment and had sent an email to the recruiter earlier explaining that I might need more time to complete it. I also mentioned that I’d understand if they couldn’t wait and needed to select another candidate to fill up the role soon. Granted, I sent that email maybe about 30 minutes before the interview, so I am now assuming the recruiter hadn’t seen it or had a chance to inform the interview panel? I don’t know.

All I know is that as I explained the situation again, they looked at me with a mix of shock and confusion, asking if I really came to the interview with nothing to present. In so many words, I said yes. We ended the call amicably, but their parting words were the infamous, “We’ll be in touch.” Ladies and gentlemen, brothers and sisters, I am here to announce that I never heard from that company again.

With that, I can confidently and unequivocally tell you that this was one of, if not the, most embarrassing interview experiences I’ve ever had.

What was an embarrassing moment you experienced in a job interview? Have you had something similar happen?