12 Job Interviews That Turned Disaster Moments Into Big Opportunities

Job interviews rarely go the way we expect. No matter how polished the outfit or rehearsed the answers, life loves surprising us — sometimes with embarrassment, sometimes with luck, and sometimes with twists no one could plan.

• I met this guy at a job fair. He loved my work, gave me his card, and told me to call him the next day. I called him, and we set up an interview. I went to his office, he looked at my portfolio, told me that it’s great, and said I’m a great fit for his company. He proceeded to give me a tour of his entire office, introduced me to a bunch of people, and told me about the great lunch spots in the area.
  At the end of the interview, we sat back down, and he said this, “I love your work, and you seem great, but we’re actually not hiring right now, but I’ll keep you in mind.” I was stunned. © Burrito_Loyalist / Reddit

• I walked into the interview room and realized the manager wasn’t speaking — at all. He only nodded, wrote things down, and pointed at a chair. I panicked, thinking it was some kind of psychological test. My heart froze when, at the end, he chuckled, pulled out his phone, and typed: “I lost my voice this morning. You’re the only candidate who didn’t run away. You’re hired.”

• I once went to a job interview, and the management spent a long time probing my knowledge, and I was fed up with it. So when they asked how I see my job, I honestly answered, “Lying on the beach and getting a big salary.” The executives were shocked, “Really?”
  And I said, “Do you think I’m not serious and honest now, while all those who say that they dream of working 120 hours a day, are telling you the truth?!” They hired me. © Overheard / Ideer

• I was about 22 and very unsure of myself. The accountant who was looking for an assistant took me to the company cafeteria for coffee. We filled our Styrofoam cups, sat down, and he asked questions, very kindly, while I did my best to answer with confidence.
  Then my cup began to leak. Coffee just started quietly seeping out the sides. I had no idea what to do (now, I would laugh, but that was a long, long time ago). I tried to hide it. Tried to pretend it wasn’t happening.
  There were no nearby napkins. The leak leaked faster. I froze. Bless his heart, he finally noticed, got up, found some napkins, and I figured out what to do with them.
  The interview went on, although I remember none of it. I got the job anyhow. And I haven’t trusted Styrofoam since that day. © Kathryn Berck / Quora

• They asked me, “What’s your biggest weakness?” Before I could stop myself, I blurted out, “Overthinking everything — including this moment right now.” Silence. I was sure I’d ruined it. Then the interviewer suddenly closed her notebook, laughed and said, “Finally, someone real. Every other candidate claimed their weakness was ‘working too hard.’”

• I was interviewed for a reporter job at a small radio station. One of the interviewers asked me, “What colour are my shoes?” For some reason, they thought such a random question was a good measure of an ability to see detail.
  No, Ma’am, I do not take note of everyone’s shoe colour within five minutes of meeting them. No, that does not make me bad at my job.
  It was as if they expected me to be some savant with a photographic memory capable of recalling the most minor things in an instant. The whole interview was filled with very strange questions like that.
  I wish I was the man I am now with years of experience in the field so that I understood in the moment how truly bizarre that was. It was my first interview out of college, so I had no idea what was happening. © DannyBoy001 / Reddit

• I was at an in-person team interview and brought my laptop to show work samples. Projected my screen for the group and realized my desktop background was a boudoir photo of me. Larger than life, on the wall for everyone to see. Talk about mortified. © I_b***d_blue19 / Reddit

• I was at an interview during a lunch break from another job. I got a call from the job about a server issue. I apologized that I needed to take this and talked the person through how to fix the problem and bring the server back to operation.
  Apparently, the interviewer was impressed and offered me the job on the spot! While I advocate turning off / silencing your device during an interview, I forgot, and my mistake demonstrated a skill that the company was seriously looking for. © William Collins / Quora

• I wore a very fitted pencil skirt, thinking it looked powerful... until it restricted my steps so much that I shuffled into the office like a penguin. The interviewer stared, confused, until I admitted, “I can’t actually bend my knees right now.” He stared at me for a second, but then suddenly laughed so hard he had to remove his glasses, and said, “You know what? Anyone who commits this much to fashion can commit to deadlines.”

• I was the applicant for a job that, among other duties, involved putting titles and names to art illustrations in publications. I made it to the in-person interview after passing the phone interview. Things were clipping along, and the interviewer asked me how I would assure that hard-to-spell foreign names would be transferred over correctly (this was 1989-no spell check!)
  I said I could check other good publications, look up references materials, etc. After I answered this very easy question, he retorted, “You spelled my name wrong on the cover letter.” I still managed to get the job. © Relevant_Ad7077 / Reddit

• It was for a management position, running a mail room. Something I’d done twice before. All the standard questions were asked. I felt like it was going well. Then he suddenly said to me, “I’m hearing a lot of ’I’ from you. I’m concerned, because we are about the team here, and not the individual.”
  What?? It’s a job interview, and you’re concerned that I’m answering questions you have asked specifically about me, with answers that address your questions about me. That’s utterly nonsensical.
  I don’t even remember how I responded, but I knew I didn’t want to deal with his stupid semantic word and mind games, which I was sure I’d only seen the surface of, so I steered us right into concluding the interview, and I left. I also made a subtle show of taking back the copies of my resume that I’d brought with me. © ArmyOfDog / Reddit

• I went to a job interview. A skirt suit, high heels, stuff like that. But the shoes were very uncomfortable. When the future boss saw me, he laughed and said, “I’ll support your candidacy! Thank you for lifting my spirits.”
  And what I did, I just slipped when I entered his office. The director helped me get up, although he was giggling. © Overheard / Ideer

Interviews may be stressful, but these stories remind us that imperfect moments often lead to the best outcomes. A stumble, a laugh, a wardrobe mishap — anything can become the twist that changes everything. After all, success sometimes walks in wearing a crooked heel.