In light of the deadliest night of the year, we’ve put together a very entertaining (or it could go the other way and give you nightmares) piece about horror stories at work – and we asked our community on InAutomotive to share some of their worst experiences too. From first day on the job terrors, to interviews that will haunt you for life, read on to hear the stories you wish would never happen to you:
First day at work
“It was my first day in the office – I managed to fall off my chair, and then the chair fell on top of me…in front of all my brand new co-workers!” – Natasha M, Preston
“On my first day, I was taken around the showroom and introduced to alot of new people. The place in general was wonderful, really impressive, until I finally got time to sit down for ten minutes to throw some lunch down my throat. The kitchen was not in the best state and I made a passing joke to the guy I was shadowing that we should put a suggestion in to the GM about having a kitchen we would survive in – lucky for me the GM was sat on the next table. He replied ‘I’ll pop it in my suggestion box of low priorities’. Eughhh.’” – Tyler C, Reading
“On my first day I managed to spill coffee all down my white shirt, much to everyone’s amusement. It wasn’t made any easier when my boss tried to help and actually spilt her coffee on my grey pants. I looked like an absolute show!” – Anon
Interviews that give you nightmares
“At one interview I went to, the interviewer asked me if I was single…I got the job, but I didn;t take it – probably best!” – Deborah H, Blackpool
“I went to a group interview once and we all had to take on a celebrity persona. We then had to roleplay, pretending we were all on a sinking lifeboat in the sea. One person had to go overboard to keep the remaining celebrities alive. The idea was to see who was the most persuasive and keep their place on the boat. I completely ruined it though when I voluntarily jumped off the boat ‘taking one for the team.’ I thought it made me look like a team player but the interviewees weren’t happy, and I didn’t make it to the next round of the interview.” – Anon
“I was at lunch visiting the local supermarket, and while attempting to park a young lad sped past the queuing traffic – to the nearest available space and took the spot….we exchanged glances, as did a few other vehicles in the queue. The speedster then felt obliged to shout some obscenities towards the queue of cars…
I returned to work, explained the confrontation to some of the team in the lunchroom, then got on with my day – my afternoon consisted of several interviews for a new team member. I am sure you can see where this is going – the abusive, speed freak was the next person to come through the door for an interview – needless to say a person ‘like that’ wasn’t a good ‘fit’ for the team.
He sheepishly left the interview room with his tail between his legs and a muttered apology”. – Jim B, Liverpool
Daily horrors
“In my last job, there was a pet snake (not mine) in a tank in my office. One day I came in and somehow the glass door was open and the snake was on the loose in my office! Needless to say, I made a quick exit and didn’t return until snakey was found!” – Anon
“We had a serial food stealer in our place. Every Sunday I would make up my lunches for the week ahead, and at least one of those weekdays, my food was taken. I tried the whole ‘Red Ross’ scenario where I started to leave obscene notes on my tupperware boxes, but it didn;t exactly help. I wasn’t the only one either – yoghurts, chocolate, breakfast bars, it all went! There wasn;t much we could do but try to catch them in the act, so one day I decided to work next to the kitchen to spy. I really can’t say that I got much work done – half of the day passed before I witnessed one of our account managers walking out with a Weightwatchers chocolate pudding precariously placed at his side as he walked back to his desk – which I didn’t think much of until one of the girls who had just entered the kitchen about ten minutes later came out screaming that her 2-point pudding had been stolen – consider him caught red-handed. My biggest achievement to date.” – Anon
“I was once out on a test drive with a customer, and about 5 minutes after leaving the showroom, he pulled over and told me to get out of the car ‘or else‘ – knowing full well the car had a 2-mile radius on it, I happily vacated the vehicle, only for him to be stopped by the police about 10 minutes down the road. Not the best day of my career but you have to laugh, as I knew he’d definitely get caught.” – Nick
“I had one co-worker who loved to get very close to me when they spoke to me. At first I thought nothing of it, I would just step back a little. But after working there a few months, it became very apparent that this was something that wouldn’t change. I ended up switching jobs because I was so uncomfortable with the daily run-ins.” – Anon
“Myself and our head of departments were together for a day of meetings (it was my first time so I wanted to make a good impression), and it was my turn to make the brews. So I thought nothing of it, poured in the hot water and milk that was on the side and took them straight back into the meeting room to continue. A couple of minutes later, I heard a very disgruntled voice say ‘this coffee tastes like (I can’t repeat what he said), which was met by an overwhelming agreement. Turns out the milk on the side had been out for a while…and my first impressions didn’t turn out the way I expected, particularly when one of the other heads mentioned she’d been ill for a couple of days after.” – Ryan, Chester
