Woman gets rejected from job interview after mentioning her hobbies, sparking debate

Job interviews are inherently scary and unpredictable. Even after presenting their best selves for each interview, many get rejected. While the reasons for the rejection are usually legitimate, sometimes recruiters resort to trivial reasons for rejecting a candidate. Reddit users u/Alikona_05 shared the shocking story about how their senior coworker rejected a very nice candidate due to her hobbies. The post has gained 1.9K upvotes and 211 comments on the site. The individual wrote, "My boss is currently looking for temp help while I’m out on medical leave later this year." They added, "We had a candidate come in last week and I was asked to sit in on the interview because my boss had an important meeting that she couldn't reschedule." 

They mention that the other person in the room was their coworker, who they considered a "boomer." The interview was conducted, and the individual liked the candidate because she spoke well and had most of the skills that the job required. All was going well until the woman mentioned that she could start working immediately if given a specific day off for a trip. She had paid for the hotel and flight tickets some time back and did not want to waste it. They shared: "Her 'mistake' was going into detail about this trip. She's a big fan of Star Tek and she's going to a comic con to see an actor she likes." The coworker interpreted her hobbies as a "red flag," suggesting how it pinpointed the woman being a lazy person who would not be ideal for the job. The individual was quite appalled to see their coworker react like this and stated how they felt even more compelled never to share their interests at work.

They also stated, "My boomer coworkers would probably die if they knew I sat at my desk listening to European Power Metal about space wizards fighting undead unicorns or the fact that I spend what little free time I have playing video games with my friends." The individual clarified that their hobbies outside work never affected their job, "Literally has 0 effect on my job performance other than the fact that I tend to be a better problem solver." People who read the story shared their thoughts about the incident in the comments section.

u/overkillsd commented, "I bring up my gaming and death metal fandom in interviews so potential employers can out themselves if they suck." Another individual, u/That_White_Wall, made a crucial observation about recruiters, saying, "People wonder why it's so hard to get hired. When the people deciding to hire you are insane, this is why people never hear back." u/thedaj highlighted, "That'd be considered a justification to hire in any logical environment. I don't think I've ever met a dumb Star Trek fan." u/Scizmz pointed out, "Meanwhile if she said she watches 8 hours of TV a night to keep up to date on her shows, boomer would be vibing with that."

Editor's note: This article was originally published on April 12, 2024. It has since been updated.