Ep. 15 Faceplants, Soulmates, and Tampons: Tales of Bad Interviews and Worse Interviewers

In this episode we talk about the wildest interview fails and the hard truths behind hiring manager missteps. William Tincup and Ryan Leary sit down with Lorna Erickson and Victoria Gates from Expert Interviewers at the FAMA booth during HR Tech. From blood on the interview table to creepy questions about soulmates, it’s painfully clear — most managers aren’t trained to interview, and it shows. Key Takeaways ➡ One candidate face-planted during an interview after pushing her portfolio too many times ➡ The interviewer froze and started flipping through her portfolio while she bled from the nose ➡ 7,000+ interview case studies revealed a shocking number of illegal and inappropriate questions ➡ One interview turned into flirting, then marriage, then a cringey engagement video reenactment ➡ Another manager asked, “Is your boyfriend your soulmate?” mid-interview ➡ Untrained managers ask about religion, politics, plastic surgery, and more — on record ➡ Structured interviews reduce bias and keep things professional, even if you stay human ➡ Candidates want to be evaluated. Proper structure builds trust in the process ➡ The interview is not the place for “what kind of tree are you” unless you're hiring a gardener ➡ Real training means simulations, quizzes, feedback, and accountability ➡ Expert Interviewers splits training and social storytelling with their “That Interviewer” series ➡ If you start off casual, you’re setting the tone — and often it’s the wrong one This limited series is brought to you by FAMA, Modern Candidate Screening. Talent teams use FAMA to improve candidate quality, create safe and inclusive workplaces and place the right leadership for their organizations. You can subscribe and listen to the #9to5Nightmares podcast here https://fama.io/podcasts or here Chapters 00:00 Live at HR Tech with Expert Interviewers 01:00 William’s worst interview story of all time 02:45 The faceplant, the blood, and the frozen response 04:15 Interviewing without training leads to chaos 05:00 Inappropriate flirting turns into a wedding 06:30 The soulmate question and other terrible tactics 08:00 The case for structure and professionalism 09:30 What to do when candidates overshare 11:00 Training methods that actually work 13:00 Building the recruiter and hiring manager partnership 14:30 Meet “That Interviewer” on TikTok 15:30 What Expert Interviewers hopes to take from HR Tech Guest Info Lorna Erickson, Co-Founder, Expert Interviewers LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lornaerickson/ Website: https://www.expertinterviewers.com Victoria Gates, Co-Founder, Expert Interviewers LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vpreston/ Website: https://www.expertinterviewers.com Connect with us William Tincup LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tincup Ryan Leary LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanleary Connect with WRKdefined on your favorite social network Site: http://www.wrkdefined.com TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@wrkdefined LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/wrkdefined Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WRKdefined Twitter: https://twitter.com/WRKdefined Substack: https://wrkdefined.substack.com