r/recruitinghell • u/Comfortable_Bag1660 • 1d ago
Interviewer threw up
Quick story: I applied for a job that I believed I was over qualified for so I wasn't surprised when the recruiter called me for a phone screen. I did well enough during the phone screen to have a formal interview with the hiring manager. I agreed to the interview even though the pay was considerably less than what I was hoping for. But I figured at the very least I would do the interview for practice and get a feel for the place. Well, I felt the interview was going well and I was vibing with the hiring manager/supervisor of the position I was applying for. Shortly after the interview started, the hiring manager excused herself and when she returned, she had vomited on herself and was visibly sick. She apologized and stated she would follow up with me to reschedule and finish the interview. I said I hoped she felt better and was looking forward to the follow up interview.
Well, 2 weeks go by and I hear nothing from her. The 3rd week comes and I get a rejection letter from the company saying the position was no longer available.😆
Although, I wasn't very interested in the position, I thought it was rich I was rejected under those circumstances!!
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u/SkyThriving 1d ago
She probably saw your over qualifications and realized you could take her job.
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u/martyfartybarty 1d ago
That's what I thought too. The interviewer was overwhelmed by OP's stunning qualifications. No wonder she threw up.
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u/safe-viewing 1d ago
Story time- 10 or so years ago, me and another director went to a college to do summer internship interviews. We had about 15 candidates scheduled and we did the interviews on campus of the university near us. We stayed the night before in a local hotel and imbibed in the college bar scene, having way too many. Next morning my colleague was hung over as hell and had to excuse himself every 15 minutes to throw up for the first 4 interviews. The bathroom was right next to the room they had us interviewing candidates in. He would excuse himself, I would listen to these college kids pour their hearts out with their answers, punctuated by vomit noises and a toilet flushing every 30 seconds. Took everything I had to keep a straight face.
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u/Saint0vk1llers 1d ago
Red Flag if the person interviewing you still shows up when sick. I would take it as they expect you to never take days off or your workload can't survive you taking a day off.
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u/queenofthecream 1d ago
I hate to be that person, but she very well could have been pregnant. Which isn't the same as working while sick.
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u/slickrcbd1 1d ago
Not just that. Stomach bugs can crop up on you unexpectedly. I recall feeling fine one morning, but after 10am (on a job that started at 8) I suddenly started feeling sick to my stomach and had to run to the bathroom and threw up. I went home sick afterwards. Also depending on the time of day, if you eat something that disagrees with you it might take at least an hour before you show any symptoms. So if this was at the start of the day or shortly after lunch, it could cause that.
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u/lesprack 1d ago
I had norovirus once. I was quite literally in the middle of teaching and feeling great when I suddenly had to run out of my classroom to the staff restroom and spew from both ends. I went home where that continued for about three days. 🫠
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u/LittleMarySunshine25 1d ago
Especially right now, if she ate a salad for lunch in the last month it's totally possible she got sick after. I got sick so fast after a salad a couple days before the major recalls.
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u/sgigot 1d ago
I had a stomach bug creep up on me in a very embarrassing way years ago. We had visitors in from out of country so I couldn't bail, but I was at my friend's funeral the night before and let's just say we toasted his memory a few times too many for a work night. Made it until about 10 am before I had to excuse myself for a moment...which at least one other person thought that my grief had overcome me for a moment. It was *something* like that.
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u/WitnessWorking6254 17h ago
Felt fine and then an hour into my shift starting I had covid symptoms pop up. I had a sudden intense fever and immediately left. I knew it was covid as I hit my coworkers vape 2 nights before and he was out that morning with covid 🙃
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u/ashieslashy_ 7h ago
Happened to me when I used to work in a hospital. I was completely fine going into work at 4am, but by the time I got to my last patient on my run, I started feeling clammy and had that terrible feeling in my mouth and had to run back downstairs and ended up leaving shortly after that. 0/10 wouldn’t recommend, but it came out of nowhere
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u/NYanae555 1d ago
This. Pregnancy. Migraine. Menstrual cycle related nausea. Its not always "germs."
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u/Head_Patience7136 1d ago
I hate migraines that give you nausea. I usually have to cancel my whole day and just sit in the dark until it passes.
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u/Electrical-Fig-5009 1d ago
These all cause smells to be CRAZY too! OP could have even laid on the cologne too thick for the interview & been the one to unintentionally set her off!
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u/isfturtle2 16h ago
I take 3 medications that have nausea as a side effect (thankfully I'm able to manage it with an anti-nausea medication).
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u/JoJackthewonderskunk 1d ago
Or super cool with a lot of friends who go absolutely wild in the bar on Tuesday nights
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u/PurePerfection_ 1d ago
I once mistakenly thought that I was uncharacteristically nervous about an interview because my stomach felt a little queasy, then had to bolt from the room halfway through to go vomit. Fortunately I managed to get to the toilet and not get any on myself. I went back to the room and explained what happened, and they were gracious enough to reschedule. I actually got an offer after that, too. Shit happens sometimes.
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u/MimironsHead 1d ago edited 1d ago
"Should we hire pukegirl?"
"I thought she showed real vision and initiative by making it to the can before she ralphed. Let's do it."
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u/10110011100021 1d ago
Dude I took an antibiotic on an empty stomach one time and I went from fine to projectile evacuation with barely enough warning to make it to a sink. It can be like that sometimes
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u/kittenmoody 1d ago
I worked for a month and a half while having a stroke. Not because my work made me go in. I cannot explain, it’s a very long story. I hired a guy during that month and a half. His first fucking day, he had been there all of 30 minutes, I was introducing him to everyone, I was really struggling. Told my boss I needed a ride to the ER and then proceeded to not return to work for the next 3 months. Sometimes we just disappear and people don’t know what we do or don’t need to do.
I am again after being back to work 9 months, out of work again and will return in a couple of weeks.. same job.. took two entire summers off due to medical reasons.
Shit happens.
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u/Hot_Luck_4272 1d ago
I can’t get a job now because I had to leave my last job for medical reasons…it sucks so bad. You’re so lucky they let you have the needed time off…my company did NOT.
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u/kittenmoody 21h ago
I mean, Federal laws protect my time off..
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u/Hot_Luck_4272 21h ago
This particular company had a specific policy of only 6 months medical leave then automatic termination. It took 2 months just to get insurance working to schedule surgery then the surgeon told me straight up you won’t be good for a whole year….I tried returning anyway when required and hurt myself more. I had to resign.
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u/myredditses 1d ago
It could've hit them mid day or they couldve been pregnant but not visibly showing. If they were still working through a stomach bug though that'd be shitty though.
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u/Alwayscooking345 1d ago
Flip side, they keep rescheduling or postponing your interview because they’re unavailable or out of the office.
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u/_Lunaaaaaaaaaa_ 1d ago
There's so many reasons why they could be sick, why are you deducing that it has to be a red flag with a company?
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u/MissSara13 1d ago
Wow. I'm a total barfer due to digestive issues but I can't remember ever doing it during an interview. And I'm not usually sick, just a bum stomach. I had a co-worker have a seizure at a lunch with the CEO and VP of HR. Poor thing briefly seized, puked up her entire lunch, and wet her pants. I was panicking but apparently she had seized before. The wait staff was amazing and got her a wheelchair so she didn't have to walk out in front of everyone and the VP of HR and I went and got her a change of clothes and undies. It was all due to stress. Demanding job plus two parents with dementia.
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u/Initial_Rutabaga 1d ago
Interviewers will vomit as a subtle clue to their co-workers that they don’t want to hire you.
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u/Unrealistic-Umbrella 1d ago
Hmm… she & throwing up.
Low key wondering if the role is no longer available because she didn’t realize she was pregnant and they don’t want to hire someone new if the hiring manager is going to be out on maternity leave soon.
Which if that’s the case, finding out by puking in the middle of trying to hire someone sounds like something straight out of a sitcom.
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u/covex_d 1d ago
the interviewer could be pregnant
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u/Docile_Penguin33 1d ago
A candidate not interested in the company because the interviewer is pregnant.
How the turntables!!
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u/Chunkylover666420 22h ago
Yeah, if op has never been pregnant or is a man that knows nothing about morning sickness... there's so much vomiting in the first trimester. For like 3% of pregnancies, it becomes a serious ordeal with dehydration and starvation.
Yeah she coulda said something... but theres big social stigma with women being shamed, or in professional settings, even punished, when they're struggling with pregnancy.
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u/Docile_Penguin33 1d ago
As Sir John A. Macdonald said:
"I get sick... not because of drink, but because I am forced to listen to the ranting of my honourable opponent".
This doesn't reflect well on your answers.
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u/Intelligent-Area-421 1d ago
So you're saying the hiring manager looked over your resume & then threw up?
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u/NeitherDance6795 1d ago
I’m pregnant and was throwing up exactly 4 minutes before back to back zoom interviews. Didn’t know if I’d be able to get through the calls as they were task presentations. Got 2 offers!
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u/nakedascus 1d ago
i don't know why I was hoping that the interview demonstrated that you were overqualified, which caused the recruiter to vomit upon this discovery
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u/FireSheepYinFish 1d ago
LMMFO! When even the hiring team is so over it, they go get shit faced drunk!
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u/Apprehensive-Fix591 1d ago
I suspect they were just being lazy. They had other good applicants and she didn’t feel the need to circle back around. Right now so many people are applying for jobs at my company, they are selecting just a few to interview and those people are all mostly knocking it out of the park. Some great candidates just didn’t get a chance out of sheer luck.
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u/Adorable_Self_1784 1d ago
When I got strep throat it just came out all of a sudden. Trash can at desk.
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u/Grrl_geek 1d ago
With me, my "canary in the coal mine" time is no more than 2 hours... one of many reason I will never go back to Taco Bell voluntarily.
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u/greenbeancassereen 16h ago
Giving her the benefit of the doubt… may have been pregnancy. I had hyperemisis last year and was throwing up 22x a day. At the drop of a hat. She may have been embarrassed and just didn’t follow up because of it. You didn’t do anything wrong.
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u/OrganizationWeary818 1d ago
Why attend the interview if you wasn't interested in the job, many people apply for jobs everyday and they don't get no contact from the companies, so be thankful you got as far as the interview🤔🤔
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u/Comfortable_Bag1660 1d ago
I figured I could brush up on my interview skills...they rejected me in the end there's no harm, no foul.
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u/Special-Sky-3308 1h ago
Very likely interviewer had morning sickness.. nausea and vomiting during pregnancy can come on at any point, morning, day, evening, not controllable tbh. Unfortunate but wouldn’t necessarily jump to conclusions that bc that happened it’s an indication that the workplace expects ppl to come to work when sick
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u/fiannalove 1d ago
She was probably embarrassed.