The original poster (OP) asked the Reddit community if he was wrong after he told an applicant’s mother she cost her son the job.
Helicopter Mom
OP, the hiring manager of a prestigious tech company, was searching for summer interns.
Only 19 years old, a young man appeared as a hopeful candidate. The interview was conducted virtually, via Zoom, due to the ongoing pandemic.
Unexpected Interruption
But what was supposed to be a standard interview took a strange turn when the applicant’s mother interrupted, introducing herself and vouching for her son’s work ethic.
Despite the OP’s polite attempts to steer the conversation back to the applicant, the mother continued to interject and answer questions on her son’s behalf!
A Feeling He Knew All Too Well
The weight of what happened was heavy on OP’s conscience. He was transported back to his teenage years when his mother’s overbearing presence also suffocated him.
But, unlike this unfortunate young man, his mother’s antics were confined to his menial job at a summer day camp, not during a critical moment in his career as an adult pursuing engineering opportunities.
Strange Email One Month Later
The interview was cut short, and the interview process ended.
OP didn’t think more of it until a month later, an email arrived from the candidate’s mother, demanding to know why her son had not received an acceptance or rejection letter.
This troubled OP. He felt bad for the young applicant, whose mother had ruined his chances with her behavior.
She Was Furious
OP replied to the mother, saying that he could not disclose information about the application to anyone other than the applicant, and asked HR to send a rejection email.
However, OP’s response only escalated the situation, as the mother obtained a copy of the rejection email and called, demanding answers over the phone.
At His Wit’s End
OP explained that he could not comment on the interview performance to anyone other than the applicant but told the mother that her presence during the interview disqualified her son from the position.
He emphasized the importance of independence and self-motivation in the role.
He warned her that most hiring managers would consider such behavior a red flag, putting the resume in the “do not hire” pile.
She Wasn’t Satisfied With His Answer
But the mother was not satisfied, and her anger exploded over the phone, ultimately leading OP to hang up.
He wondered if he would have been better off not saying anything at all.
What Do You Think?
Cat_Got_Ya_Tongue stood up for OP saying, “She snapped at you because you gave the feedback that painted her in a poor light and she thought she did her son a wonderful favour.”
“You’re probably the first person in a while to stand up to her.”
Another user went against the grain saying, “In the end that dude was treated unfairly for things out of his control, maybe he should’ve been given some sort of chance (I mean, even his interview was cut short, so he had no way to make up for that)?”
He Was Named After a God
Recently, a Reddit user shared a story where he legally changed his name, and as a result, his father threatened him. Here’s the full story. His Father Gave Him a Name That Resulted in Him Being Bullied, He Legally Changed It, and Now His Father Is Demanding He Change It Back
He’s a Family Man
Reddit has again provided a source of entertaining reading. Recently on a subthread, a happily married man told the story about a recent visit to the gym. He Went to the Gym for a Work-Out and Took off His Wedding Ring, She Saw Him, Assumed He Fancied Her and Has a Meltdown
Trashy Habits
In a neighborhood plagued by inconsiderate neighbors, one woman took matters into her own hands – or rather, paws. Her Neighbors Were Abusive to Her Dog, so She Decided to Give Them a Taste of His Fur!
Bucky’s Parking Predicament
In this encounter, Bucky, a veteran visiting a hardware store, finds himself in a parking dispute with a self-proclaimed Captain America. Let’s find out how this entertaining showdown unfolds in the battle for parking supremacy. A Guy Tried to Shame This Veteran Out of His Parking Space, so He Got Some Revenge
The post His Helicopter Mom Gatecrashed His Job Interview and Blew His Chances of Work first appeared on Career Step Up.
Featured Image Credit: Shutterstock / Pathdoc. The people shown in the images are for illustrative purposes only, not the actual people featured in the story.
Source: Reddit
