The worst job interview I ever had

Overall reaction to the “worst interview”

• Many see the experience as abusive or “trauma‑baiting,” especially given it was a mental‑health startup.
• Several say the candidate “dodged a bullet” and should have ended the interview as soon as it felt unsafe.
• Others argue the questions were clumsy but standard behavioral prompts that the candidate misinterpreted.

Behavioral questions, trauma, and oversharing

• Common view: questions like “hardest day of your life” should be implicitly scoped to work; giving deeply personal stories is seen as a mistake.
• Counter‑view: if an interviewer asks open‑ended questions and signals a “safe space,” it’s reasonable to answer literally; blaming the candidate is seen as unfair.
• Some note parallel experiences where interviewers explicitly pushed for non‑work personal/relationship/childhood material, which they found unethical and exhausting.
• Several call this “unconsented psych eval” or hazing, designed to test resilience or to select people who can “play the game” with canned STAR stories.

Culture fit vs privacy and legality

• Debate over “culture fit”:
  • Pro: it matters a lot for small/founding teams; you’ll be working long, intense hours, so deeper personal alignment is important.
  • Con: often a pretext for monoculture, ego‑stroking, and discrimination; what people do off‑hours is “none of your business.”
• Multiple comments point out legal risk (especially in the US) around questions that elicit protected attributes (family status, religion, sexual orientation, etc.).
• Big companies are said to train interviewers and provide vetted question banks; many startups do not.

Interview power dynamics and red flags

• Several advise: if you feel helpless, manipulated, or pushed into intimate disclosures, calmly end the interview and walk away.
• Others caution that not everyone can walk; economic necessity often forces people to tolerate red flags.
• Many emphasize interviews are two‑way: use them to assess toxicity, micromanagement, overwork expectations, and general respect.

Coping strategies and meta‑advice

• Treat behavioral interviews as performance:
  • Answer in a professional context even if the wording is broad.
  • Redirect personal questions back to work; politely decline if they cross lines.
  • Prepare a small set of safe, rehearsed stories (STAR format) rather than raw honesty.
• Some reject this framing and prefer seeking workplaces where they can remain “fully human,” even if that narrows options.