Hiring Managers Share Their “They Were Perfect Until We Googled Them” Story

Being a hiring manager is a tricky job. The perfect resume might show up on your desk, but you never really know who’s going to walk through your door when it comes to interview time. The girl that shows up in jeans and a t-shirt could be the best employee you’ve ever had. Or, it could be your very worst nightmare waltzing through in a nice suit and tie.

A background check will usually catch “undesirable” candidates before they’re hired, but occasionally, it’ll come back clean, and something will still just feel off. That’s when it’s time to open a new tab in your browser and start Googling. Once you type in your search and hit “enter,” you might just be in for a totally bizarre ride. Check out these stories from hiring managers who thought they had the ideal candidate- that is, until they Googled them…

Never Assume

When I was a store security manager, I was gonna hire this guy who was 21 years old. Judging by his answers to my questions, he had a ton of legal experience. I assumed that maybe he’d grown up with lawyers or maybe cops as parents. Well, that is until his background check came back and I found out the real reason he knew all about the legal system.

He had roughly eight or nine petty larceny charges, a handful of drug charges, 2 DUIs, and a domestic assault arrest. Here’s the kicker, though: not only had he been arrested for grand larceny at our store but he had even assaulted the last security manager, and threatened violence against that manager’s family. He did not get a callback. Reddit User: ionicomb

A Smooth Criminal

I remember this one girl I interviewed a while back. Everything looked good on her resume. She was very professional, enthusiastic in her interview, and just had that “thing”. You know, that “it” factor. The self-starter attitude and this incredible confidence that made you feel like she was here to kick butt, take names, and get things done. I would’ve hired her on the spot had it not been for company protocol.

After the interview, I ran a background check and my heart sank. Literally nothing checked out. She was not actually licensed in her field like she claimed, she had about a dozen priors for various white collar crimes, and none of her work history or references were legit. I guess she was just hoping that her charisma would win us over and that we wouldn’t bother checking up on her. She was almost right. Reddit User: uhB4

Fool’s Gold

I work for a tutoring company and my job involves hiring private tutors to work with middle School students. Once, I had a great conversation with a potential candidate. In fact, she seemed like the closest thing to an ideal candidate that we’d had in a while. Well dressed. Well spoken. She carried herself in a professional, straightforward manner. A solid gold find.

For the entire interview she stressed, again and again, how much she wants to be a role model for young girls, basically exactly what we were looking for. Then, after the interview was over, I googled her and the first picture on her Facebook is her “partying,” if you catch my drift. Yeah, that’s gonna be a “no” from me. Reddit User: [redacted]

He Seemed So Normal

I’m not a hiring manager, but this is wild, so I have to share. This guy got hired when I was in between being a contractor and permanent employee at this company, so I never met him. But, his story goes like this: this dude had just left a good teaching job in a real hurry.

He was also vague about his reasons for leaving and for seeking a temporary, lower paying job with fewer benefits. I’m told he was apparently super normal and very nice, everyone liked him. A few weeks after getting hired, he just stopped coming in. Turns out that the night shift workers were bored and started googling people in the company.

Well, they found out this guy had been arrested for having loads of illegal inappropriate content on his computer. Obviously, that bit of information flew around the company at the speed of light. Once it got to HR, they fired him immediately. Last I heard, he was in prison. He stopped showing up because he was in prison. Reddit User: techlabtech

Seems Legit

I used to be a restaurant manager, and the owner at this one place hired some random guy as a chef without doing basic research. Unfortunately, this wasn’t unusual for him. Anyway, this dude said he had won several awards and worked with celebrities, etc. The usual garbage people with over-large egos tell you to sound impressive.

The guy was a total jerk to everyone on staff from the get-go. So, I decided to google him over the weekend. The first hit I got was a mugshot from a recent arrest. There were even articles about him. One was about a time he’d lied about getting a James Beard award from a previous restaurant he worked in—that’s not how the James Beard foundation works.

The only positive restaurant review he had was from 1990. I came in the following Monday to show the owner what I’d found. I was too late, though. I learned he was fired the night before for exposing himself to one of the waitresses. Cute. Reddit User: [redacted]

She’s Never Even Worked Here

I wasn’t the hiring manager, but my teammate was when this happened. A candidate came through who, after my teammate and some other colleagues interviewed, seemed pretty okay for the job. This is…until they checked her out. Turns out she was in the process of trying to sue us—yes, the company she was applying to. So, my teammate ended up not hiring her. Obviously.

I wasn’t privy to all of the details of her lawsuit, and my colleague wouldn’t tell me much, but apparently she was suing us for an insane amount of money. The best part was that she’s never worked for my company or any of its subsidiaries. I never did find out what she was trying to sue for, and probably never will, but I’m sure she was running some kind of scam. Reddit User: Miya81

I Only Dabble

I used to work for a staffing agency. This one guy is hired at a restaurant and comes in for a background check and drug screen. He has tons of priors, but he was working in the kitchen so we got the okay to continue the process. That’s pretty normal for the food industry. When we got to the drug screen, he started to get a little nervous.

I tell them that we are going to do a drug screen and he asks to put it off til Monday. Typically, we’d have to have it that day so they could start work but this was 4:45pm on a Friday and we wanted to go home, so we said okay. Monday rolls around, he shows up for the test, and it comes back positive for a variety of substances.

We told him that we test for multiple things and that he was positive for some hardcore stuff. We asked him if that was a surprise. He told us “I do dabble, but I thought this was a test for small-time stuff.” We politely told him we would not be moving forward with the hiring process. Reddit User: fitflowyouknow

It Happened In Illinois

This was pre-Google era, but I think it fits the theme. My family owns a trucking company and literally everyone in my immediate family has or had a CDL at some point. This one time, it was my mom’s turn to take a newbie for a pre-hire road test. During the road test, they were involved in an accident. It wasn’t their fault. They were hit while stopped.

Now, our company is based out of Indiana, but the accident happened in Illinois. Despite it not being their fault, the newbie was arrested on the spot. It turned out that he had warrants out for his arrest that hadn’t been in effect long enough for the background check to pick them up. One of the warrants was for stalking a female dispatcher from the trucking company he worked for before us. In Illinois. That was his first and last trip for our company. Reddit User: zombiemann

He Had A Prior Engagement

I had a guy apply for an entry-level post with my company recently. His resume was pretty decent, so we reached out to him for an interview and he accepted. He sounded pretty stoked. His social media profiles seemed okay, too—I always try to check that beforehand because you never know.

But, when the day came, he never turned up for the interview. A couple of weeks later there was a story about him in the local paper. Turned out that he had been living at a boarding house and was found in the kitchen one morning, totally wasted, wearing nothing but a pair of socks.

When a couple of women who also lived there tried to escort him back to his room, he ended up getting violent with them. From the dates stated in the paper, he didn’t turn up because he was in jail at the time of the interview. Reddit User: bookpixie

500 Miles

We had hired a new entry-level graphic designer. Let’s call him “Will”. He had talent and a decent portfolio, but there were some strange things right from the beginning. For example: he would always come in wearing really expensive suits, despite our very casual dress code and him having a very low-paid position.

Not really a big deal. We just had no clue how he could afford it, but that’s none of our business. He’s a designer and I guess he likes to look nice. The strangest thing was that he refused to use direct deposit. He wanted a physical check every other week. Weird, but okay.

So, one evening we’re all working really late on a project together and we’ve got some bottles of wine, pizzas, etc. It’s miserably long hours, but we’re a good team and always have a good time. Suddenly, “Will” looks up from his computer and runs as fast as he can out the door. No explanation. He just books it.

We tried calling him. No answer. So, we finish up and go home, still wondering what happened. He didn’t show up for work the next day, or the day after. His emergency contact doesn’t respond. So, we google him and see an FBI press release with “Will’s” name on it. He was arrested about FIVE HUNDRED miles from our office a few hours after he ran. Turns out he’d been defrauding payroll companies for years.

He’d got away with over a million, in total. That’s why he didn’t want direct deposit. What he didn’t know was that the same payroll company that handles our direct deposit also handles our physical checks. They reported his new address to the FBI. Oops. Reddit User: Anschauung

Almost Fatal Attraction

I used to manage a group home for developmentally disabled adults. I was also in charge of hiring the staff that we needed to make the house run properly. One day I was sent an application for a person that the corporate office wanted me to interview immediately.

I thought I recognized the name on the application, so I immediately googled her to make sure. The application was from a girl that had an obsessive crush on me years ago, and, according to her social media, still did.I was in a panic. I really couldn’t back out because I’d found out a mere five minutes before the interview had been scheduled.

She was already on her way in for the interview. She came in and, as you can probably guess, it was weird. She acted totally normal during the main interview, so I showed her around, and I thought, “Wow, maybe she has done some maturing and just let it go.”

When we got back to my office, I started to say something like, “well, it’s been a pleasure having you here and I-” She completely cut me off and goes, “oh, no no no, we aren’t done yet. You think you can ignore everything like you don’t know what’s going on? I know where you work, now. I know where you live, and I’m going to keep calling you.” I called the police on her and immediately filed for a restraining order. Reddit User: csjohnson

It Don’t Mean A Thing

I hired a girl once who interviewed so well. There were some red flags on her first day, but I figured I was misjudging or misinterpreting. You know the deal. Second-guessing myself. I didn’t want to feel like I was jumping to conclusions. But, registers started to come up short, other employees reported missing their own money.

Also one of my personal belongings disappeared. Nothing like this had happened prior to her joining the staff. She routinely insulted her coworkers and made customers uncomfortable. Less than 4 full weeks from her start date, I wanted her gone but didn’t want to pay unemployment.

Finally, I did an internet search and found arrest records in multiple states for domestic violence and theft. She ended up saying she could “just assault” one of my other employees, so I fired her on the spot for harassment. Check everyone out no matter how well they interview. Reddit User: achemcgee

Just In Case It Happened Again

I was hiring someone for our late night shift—shifts ending at 2 or 3 in the morning—and this girl was willing to work anything. She only wanted about 25 hours per week, too. This was absolutely what the company was looking for, so we hired her quickly.

She had mentioned that she was grieving a loss in the family and needed to do something to occupy her time. I definitely felt sorry for her. She finished her first day of computer training and just stopped showing up. Later in the week she sent me an email stating that she “wasn’t ready to come back to work like she’d thought.” She’d just experienced a loss, so this was understandable. It takes time to heal.

Still, my assistant manager and I decided to look her up and found out that she had multiple GoFundMe pages—all from different times in recent years—set up to help her family deal with the loss of the SAME person. She asked for the job back a few months later. We declined in case that particular family member passed away. Again. Reddit User: taakoyakiii

He Probably Wrote Them Himself

We had a near miss with a potential senior hire. Something just seemed a little off when we looked him up. It was like he didn’t exist at all. I guess that’s not too odd, given his more advanced age. But, the occasional, super positive tidbit of information we found was always a little too much to be completely believable.

I mean, one or two people saying you’re the best thing on earth is one thing, but these were all super sporadic, hyper, and even manic observations about his greatness. One of the junior members of the team overheard what we’re talking about. Turned out she’d worked with him at two different companies. She told us that he’s extremely good at his job, but an absolute nightmare to be around. Harassment, bullying, turning up hungover or still drunk.

He has a really niche skill set, so it’s not like he had lots of competition, but he would still bully colleagues out of his team. Then, when HR would step in he’d hit them with a wrongful dismissal case and drag lawyers in. She said he’d done it at her last job and the one before.

It’s one of those things that once you know, you start to notice stuff. Like when you buy a car and suddenly everyone has the same one. So, at events, when somebody mentioned this guy’s name, half the table would just give each other a look and the others would have no idea. It’s not quite an open secret, but it’s definitely on the grapevine. Anecdotally if not formally. Glad we dodged that bullet. Reddit User: dukeofbun

The Backup Plan

I heard we’d hired a new guy and I looked him up on LinkedIn. Turns out he was just leaving a job where my father-in-law worked. So, I sent pops a text asking him about the new hire and opinions on him, but I got no answer. When I went to the in-law’s for dinner the following weekend, I asked again.

Turns out this new hire said he was leaving his former job to go and take care of his ailing mother in Africa. Pops’ company told him not to worry about it. “Take an unpaid leave, and come back when you can no matter long it takes.” I went in on Monday and told my boss what I’d found out. He didn’t fire him immediately, but when he didn’t perform well in his job after a couple of months, he got canned.

He then proceeded to go back to his former company and tell them he was back from Africa and ready to start working again. They did not rehire him. Guess Pops spilled the beans there, too. I guess he thought he could keep the last job if we didn’t work out. Reddit Use: [redacted]

I’m Not Supposed To Tell You This

Not a hiring manager, but I was an intern responsible for checking references and running background checks at our company. This happened in my first week, when I was just learning how things worked. This one guy did great in the interview, so I got the go ahead to run a background check and call his references.

Something popped up in his background and, because it was recent, I had to call the police station to get a copy of the police report since there were no details yet. I talked to someone on the phone and gave them his name, who I was, and what I was calling for. They put me on a brief hold before taking a callback number and promising to call me as soon as she had the info. About an hour later I received a call from the police department.

An officer told me “I’m really not supposed to be doing this, but I just wanted to let you know that this guy was arrested for carjacking a woman. He carjacked a woman who works at your company.” He saw the company name and the guy’s name so he’d wanted to warn us. I mean, it’s my job, but I’m so grateful I dug into that. Reddit User: oooohweeeee

He Got Stung

This one guy had a good resume and he was former military. We always try to place veterans when we can and they have the qualifications. We were going to call him in for an interview. It would have been a formality because we’d pretty much made up our minds. But, for some reason, we decided to google him first. So glad we did.

Well, it turns out he was arrested for arms trafficking. The report said he had stolen two or three small arms as well several flack jackets, some ammo, and a Humvee from the base he’d been stationed at. Oh, and a Stinger missile system. The people he’d been trying to sell the arms to were undercover officers. Looks like the stinger got him stung. Reddit User: ilre1484

If Only He Hadn’t Given Us The Link

Years ago, at my previous company, a few coworkers met a young man at a local trade conference who was interested in a software development position with us. So, they invited him to come interview with us later that afternoon. The kid had even eagerly provided the link to his blog. Being the curious type we were, we looked it up to see what he was about.

The top post was about having recently been released, on probation, after a stint in jail for selling substances. There was also a part about how his supplier was kind enough to front him startup capital and some new inventory to resume his little “side-hustle.” We decided to read a few more posts just to make sure we didn’t confuse him for the wrong guy or had the wrong link. Nope. It was him.

We had to try very hard to keep straight faces when he came in for his interview. He was actually reasonably knowledgeable when it came to the job and, somehow, we managed to completely avoid the question of his side-gig in “recreational pharmaceutical” sales. We gave him an A+ for honesty, and a F for good sense. He was not extended an offer for employment. Reddit User: j_allbertus

Always Trust Your Gut

I know this may not be totally relevant here, but there was a time I was screening tenant applications for a room for rent. I’d just had a bad roommate experience and wanted to make sure I got the right fit this time. I was exchanging emails with this nice lady who was super eager to move in. I explained to her the process and that a background check was needed—to be done by the property manager.

But, I had this weird gut feeling about this lady. Maybe she was a closet alcoholic, had a gambling problem, or liked to start arguments on social media. You know the type. So I googled her name and a bunch of arrest records popped up, including several domestic disputes. That was a “no” from me and I politely declined her application. Reddit User: sweetragnarok

But, Wait… There’s More!

Had a guy come in to apply for a dump truck job. He seemed ok, very well spoken, clean cut, but not the type you usually see applying for a job driving a dump truck. He told me he had a PhD in Psychology and had his own DWI/addiction counseling business, but his wife divorced him and he lost everything. Curious, I googled him. Everything he said was true, but the story goes much, much deeper.

Turns out his wife was cheating on him. So, when he found out where the boyfriend lived, he took enough substances to give himself a heart attack, went to the guy’s house, and found his wife’s car parked outside. I don’t know all of the details, but suffice it to say the wife and her boyfriend didn’t survive the encounter. Somehow he got off with only six months in jail and probation. He didn’t get the job. RedditUser: NCisawesome

It’s An Insurance Thing

This one guy sent me his resume, but, instead of sending it as an attachment, he emailed me a screenshot of his resume he had stored on his phone in his photos. Except, he’d screenshotted the photo gallery, not just the resume. The photos were mostly him smoking and drinking with his buddies.

Normally I don’t care what someone does in their personal lives. But, my main priority is to protect the company, and the job entailed driving company vehicles, machinery, operating equipment, etc. I can’t knowingly hire someone who might fail a drug screening if he gets in an accident.

The insurance company will not pay for it. Still, the main reason he was passed over was because he emailed me with a screenshot as a resume, not as an attachment. Also, his email said “Ayyyy I saw this job on craigslist, my numba is x, I live in xxxx. Can start asap. hmu.” Word for word. Spelling and everything. Reddit User: [redacted]

We’re Under A Lot Of Scrutiny

We hired an ex-policeman as a technician in our trade division. He seemed willing and able. He had also passed a stringent background check and his driving record was clean. He said he was wanting to be out of law enforcement because of the “scrutiny” officers were under and needed a career change.

This dude looked like a cop to a “t”. Anyway, he worked for a couple months and did well at the job. Then, one day, we got a call saying he’d blacked out behind the wheel, crossed several lanes and medians, and bounced his company truck off a tree before finally lodging it in someone’s house. We went to pick him up and assess the damage.

The firefighters thought it might be due to dehydration and no charges were filed. It was only then that we googled him. This guy had been charged with DUI in the middle of the day only one year prior. He’d wrecked his cruiser in much the same way. On that day, paramedics discovered that he was completely drunk while on duty.

He’d even confessed to it. Dude was a full blown “functioning” alcoholic. It didn’t show up on his driving record because it wasn’t his personal car. Luckily he was still inside his 90-day probation period, so termination was simple. Reddit User: Cashforcrickets

Mind The Gap

I was head of HR for an answering service at one point in my life. Staff turnover was atrocious. There were people coming and going all the time. Most of the resumes that came through were from people that had zero job history or were chronic job-hoppers. So, imagine my surprise when “Renee’s” resume showed up on my desk one day.

With the exception of a ten year gap in her employment history, she appeared to be an ideal candidate. And then, I found the articles from a newspaper for a town about two hours away. That ten year gap? She was serving time for kidnapping and murder…with an axe. I hired her and as far as I know, she’s still there. Model employee. Strong work ethic. Positive attitude. 10/10 would hire an axe murderer again. Reddit User: sanquhar

I’m Being Framed

We had this dishwasher/delivery driver at the restaurant I work at at one point. He was a great guy at first. He filmed commercials for big companies all over the world. So, obviously he was kind of rich. He was working with us, essentially, because he was bored. Not too long after he was hired, he started hitting on a waitress, and the waitress reported it.

Fast forward about a week, and he gets confronted by management for it. My boss says he needs to talk to the guy for a minute, and the guy immediately goes, “I can’t work here anymore. I’m being framed, I swear!” He then walks out and never comes back. Naturally, we get suspicious, and google his name.

Turns out, he was being investigated for having some illegal illicit content on his computer. He was later caught and charged with production, distribution, and possession of said illicit content. Needless to say, we google every employee now. Reddit User: DHThrowawayy

That Was Unexpected

I was once asked to do a technical interview of a candidate for a senior level position. When I got his resume I noticed it was very long, but he had good experience. I am a serial googler, though. I google everything and I can find most people. Within the first few searches I got hits for his name on government websites.

Even better than that, the hits that came up were for a federal case he was involved in. I look into the case and find out that our candidate was actually the defendant in a federal trial for selling contracts at his prior employer or something to that effect.

I did cross references to be sure it was him. Then I found out that the result was a 1.5 year sentence in a federal prison. Looking back at his resume, he was conveniently self-employed for that time. He had to have been released not more than a month or two prior. Still, we carried on with the interview.

It went really well. I recommend him for a hire and the hiring manager was impressed, too. We even made him an offer. He rejected it to accept an offer from another company. I was a little shocked to find out that a man who was just released from prison turned us down because he had too many offers. Reddit User: AlphaAlgorist

So Much For The Background Check

I was working at a small retail sports chain as an assistant manager at one point. The District Manager had hired another assistant manager for our store. About a month into him working there I had something come up, so I asked him if he could cover one of my shifts.

His response was, “I would but my probation officer doesn’t want me working alone with girls under the age of 17.” Um, say what now? Up until this point neither my manager, the DM, or myself knew that he had a probation officer. We were aware that he was formerly in the military and knew where he was from so I simply googled his name, making sure to include all the information I had.

It turns out he was dishonorably discharged because he had been found with a ridiculous amount of illegal content on his computer. I texted our district manager the links I had found, and that was the nail in the coffin. So much for background checks. Reddit User: KFlynn87

That’s Not A Real Thing

This happened very recently, actually. This dude I interviewed had a near-perfect resume. He had very relevant experience up until about 4 years ago when he’d left his traditional job to try and get his own startup off the ground. Unfortunately, his startup was not working out—not a big deal, most don’t work out—so he’s looking for another job.

Of course, I opened up google and looked for his startup. It’s complete and utter garbage. He’s been trying to get people to invest in the equivalent of a perpetual motion machine. To clarify: it was not a perpetual motion machine, but something equally sci-fi that also doesn’t actually exist. No wonder he couldn’t get any investors or traction of any other type. So yeah, hard pass on our end. Reddit User: rsqejfwflqkj

He Was Almost Perfect

Oh, man. We almost hired this one. And, I guess, technically we could have, but I’d never have been able to live with it. Plus, it could have come back to bite the company in the butt. So, this ideal resume shows up on my desk one day, this guy had the perfect skills for what we were looking for. His in-person interview was off the charts incredible.

I was extremely tempted to hire him on the spot. But, for some reason, I decided to google him first. I found this blog… It didn’t have his name on it but it has his hometown, current town, his university, date of graduation, and degree were listed in the details.

There was no one else that it could possibly be. His hometown and university were extremely small; there was absolutely no mistaking it. This was his alt-right, hate-filled blog. Suffice it to say, we didn’t end up offering him a job. Reddit User: inexile1234

Trying To Avoid The Question

I was hiring for a city engineering position for a small municipality. I received an application packet from what seemed like the perfect candidate. He’d held a similar position with a larger city, had a well written resume, and he interviewed really well.

The only thing was that he seemed just a little cagey about answering the “why did you leave your last position” question. We ask that to any applicant, but he did his best to avoid giving any real response. On a hunch, I did a deep-dive google search and found out some information.

I learned that not only had he been fired from one previous local government job, but also he was the subject of a variety of hostile-work-environment and union grievance claims. It turned out that the city that he last worked for basically paid him to quit.

On top of that, I found a blurb where another town’s park and rec board had banned him from attending any of his kid’s soccer games there, for physically assaulting a ref. Never before or since, have I shredded a resume with such intensity of purpose. Reddit User: MostlyCivil

Sometimes You Need To Google The Company Too

This is somewhat the reverse: I was almost sharked by a guy who was running his own startup and looking for talent in my specific field. I liked the look of his company, his business model seemed viable, salary was competitive, and he offered equity in the company.

I was bored with my current position, so it was very tempting to leave. Out of curiosity though, I googled him and the email address he contacted me through, thinking maybe he’s used it to register anywhere else and I’d be able to find a little more info.

What I found were a bunch of posts by him on a South African forum that were really, really offensive. He used all kinds of racial slurs and was super aggressive. I declined the offer and linked him to what I found that sealed my decision.

He responded back saying that he wished I’d reconsider, and that it turns out that those comments were actually made by somebody else. The thing is, he used his LinkedIn profile photo for his avatar on that forum. So he wasn’t a particularly good liar. Reddit User: GoOtterGo

Where’s The Honor?

I’m not a hiring manager, but I did interview and google this guy. We were a small recruiting firm at the time, so hiring a new person was a big deal. Well, in walks “Scumbag Steve.” His resume says he’s a former MP who was doing recruiting for years.

He’d even had his own firm for a while in another state. His story was that he’d decided to move and wanted to join an existing operation. Something about him felt off, and I voiced this to the boss, but a few others interviewed him and said they liked him.

So, a few weeks passed, and he’s constantly bragging about his connections, his Mercedes, and being on some special committee at an Ivy League school. This was all too grand to believe and he didn’t seem to actually have much knowledge about the industry we recruited for.

I called nonsense on it. So, I googled his name, the committee’s name, and the school. I wanted to see if there was anything legit about his story. Well, what do I find waiting for me on the first page? A video and several articles with “Scumbag Steve” being perp-walked in an orange jumpsuit.

Not only did he never serve in the military as an MP but the reason he left his previous city was because he’d done time there. Why did he do time? He created a business commerce group dedicated to minority businesses and then robbed said businesses blind. I showed my boss what I found. “Scumbag Steve” was promptly fired. Reddit User: interesting_chap

Be Careful What You Say

I work for a fast food chain, and I interviewed this girl once who was friendly but didn’t have much experience and no actual relevant references. So, because she had no references, I looked her up on Facebook. Her profile was public and her last status was talking about how “the fat cow” at that fast food place better hire her. I took a screenshot and never called her back.

Well, she came into the store a few days later to follow up and ask if I’d made a decision. Obviously, I had. In response, I just showed her the screenshot of her post. She tried to tell me it had been directed towards the other location across town. Unfortunately for her, I was very well acquainted with the staff at the other location and knew, for a fact, that no female hiring managers worked there. Always make sure your social media profiles are locked down. Reddit User: [redacted]

The Devil’s In The Details

I didn’t google this, but I checked this person’s references. Always check the references. So, I interviewed what felt like the perfect junior designer. Humble, eager to learn, energetic, and smart. Overall, a great package. We were so eager to have him onboard and to see what he could bring to the team.

He was fresh off an internship, and I knew people where he interned so I asked about him. They told me that he is everything I’d hoped. But, they also told me that he was also a dangerously good “office politician.” Apparently he knew how to escalate the slightest disagreement very, very high up while making himself look as innocent as a puppy—disagreements are pretty routine when you’re on a creative team.

I was told that, after his internship was over, the office was a toxic mess of people who didn’t really want to talk to each other because they had all taken sides over the guy. If you ask me though, I luckily avoided hiring the Devil. Reddit User: icommentor

I’m Surprised He’s Still Alive

I interviewed this guy once who wanted to get work with us as a digital marketing consultant and claimed to have tons of experience in real estate. The interview went well. He was well dressed, well spoken, and had a great “way” about him. If he were a doctor, I’d say he had a great bedside manner. Well, I typed his name into Google and found some super suspect articles about his career as a con-artist.

The most heartbreaking result was some forum where his victims were posting about how he’d robbed them of their retirement funds and, at age 70+, they were broke and about to lose their homes. From the number and severity of stories about him, I’m a little surprised he’s still alive. I’m also shocked he never went to prison. Obviously, we didn’t hire him. RedditUser: lucidthrowaway123

We Googled Him Too Late

I worked as a tattoo artist a while back and this one temp turned out to be a nightmare of a human being. I had to take a leave of absence for health reasons, so they got another artist to sit in for me while I was out. The guys’ portfolio was excellent. He’d been tattooing for nine years already, and even had a client base to bring with him.

Unfortunately, in this case, the googling came a little too late. The first few months went well, but the guy slowly started getting lazy. He started cancelling on clients or just not showing up altogether. He was even booking clients for full day sessions and, after two hours of work, he’d tell them their skin wasn’t tolerating the needles or they were bleeding too much, so he had to stop and reschedule.

But, instead of just charging for two hours, he’d still charge the full day rate and then take off. He generally started getting lazy with hygiene, too, which is just dangerous. At this point, I googled the guy. He’d posted on loads of different tattoo sites begging for jobs.

Each post had conflicting information about his background. I brought it to the attention of the shop manager, but they decided to give the benefit of the doubt, and kept him around to see if he’d improve. He did for a bit, but then he started only tattooing younger women and was giving them suspicious discounts, if you catch my drift.

When he was confronted with the information, he “quit.” But, then came back during the night and stole over £800 worth of machines, inks, and other stuff. Most of that stuff actually belonged to me. It still makes me mad to think about. RedditUser: BubblesHootenanny

What A Waste

I once interviewed a girl who was amazing. Witty, outgoing, and super friendly. She had the job before she walked out of the office. The next day I sat down to call her to see if she could start Monday, and another manager in the office came flying into the office and handed me a page from our local newspaper.

Homegirl had been arrested, literally the night after our interview, for trafficking and distribution. I was shocked. She’d seemed so “clean,” I guess? Needless to say, I hired someone else. I don’t like them nearly as well, though. Not gonna lie, if it hadn’t been all over the news, I probably would have still let her work here. She was that good. RedditUser: MOONLOVE

All But Dissertation

This one applicant’s resume listed a bachelors, masters, and doctorate degree. Pretty impressive stuff, right? I mean, the dedication alone to go to school for another 7-8 years after high school is noteworthy. I was sure I had the “full package” on this piece of paper on my desk.

But, being the naturally nosy person I am—basically a requirement for hiring managers—I decided to google this guy. When I did my search, I found another version of his resume. This version also listed a bachelor’s degree, a masters degree, and a PhD.

Except, the masters and PhD were both listed as “ABD.” All but dissertation. It’s a term that was invented by masters and doctoral candidates who couldn’t defend their dissertation—meaning you didn’t complete the program—but felt they were deserving of the degree, anyway.

During his interview, I asked him, point blank, if he had successfully defended a masters and doctorate level dissertation. It’s not something I would normally ask; but, sure enough, he’d never even attempted a master’s dissertation and was unable to complete his doctoral dissertation. He was not offered the job. Reddit User: [redacted]

Mary’s Steakhouse

This one guy flew down to Houston for an internal interview—meaning a new position at the company he already works for. The interview went very well. We loved him for the job. Afterwards, he goes out to lunch on the company dime, and then flies home.

He submitted an expense report for this lunch, as well as his flights, rental car, etc. This is all very standard for our company, so we didn’t think anything of it. That is, until my fellow interviewer—who was asked to approve the expense report—sees he listed “Mary’s Steakhouse”. It is supposedly in the area, but she has never heard of the place, and our potential new employee racked up a $150 lunch tab. So, she googles it.

Mary’s Steakhouse is apparently the name of a local “gentlemen’s” club. Not only did he not get this job but he also nearly lost the one he had. The company refused to reimburse his “lunch” bill. He’s also banned from traveling for the company for two years and his boss must now scrutinize all his expense reports. Reddit User: OSUJillyBean

A Real Whopper

I work on Wall Street. One woman we were interviewing showed up a solid 40 minutes late for her interview, toting a jumbo size soda and a bag of fast food. She even admitted, with a big smile, that she was late because “she had to have her fast food, you know how it is.”

She hadn’t gotten lost. Her watch hadn’t broken. Nope, she made it clear that she just took her time getting her fast food fix. When I made it clear that she wasn’t even going to be considered for the job at that point, she panicked and tried to blame our receptionist, saying that it took her a full 40 minutes to sign her in. I’d walked past the receptionist not five minutes before this lady actually did show up. So, that was a bald-faced lie.

She was so late that my boss gave me the green light to show her to the elevator without bothering to interview her. She tried to get our receptionist in trouble on her way out, but the boss man wasn’t having that and ripped her a new one before the elevator doors shut on her. Reddit User: emergencycat17