Hiring Managers Who Were Shocked After Googling Potential Employees

Some hiring managers learn the hard way that a polished interview can hide a messy online trail. A candidate may sound perfect on paper, but a quick search can turn the whole process upside down.

That is exactly what makes these stories so uncomfortable, because the people doing the hiring are trying to make a smart decision while also trusting what they see in front of them. From shocking social media posts to old records that never stayed buried, the details can change everything in a matter of minutes.

And once the Googling starts, there is usually no going back.

The process of hiring private tutors, especially for middle school students, can be fraught with challenges. One hiring manager recounted a promising interaction with a candidate who passionately expressed her aspiration to serve as a positive role model for young girls. This enthusiasm seemed to fit perfectly with the organization's mission. However, a casual online search revealed a troubling photo on the candidate's social media that starkly contrasted with her professional persona. This incident underscores the critical importance of scrutinizing a candidate's online presence. In an age where digital footprints can greatly influence career prospects, it is vital for hiring managers to look beyond the interview and validate the authenticity of potential hires.

5. Miya81

I wasn't the hiring manager but my teammate was - a candidate came through that he and some other members interviewed and seemed pretty okay for the job until they checked her out. Turns out she was suing the company (yes, the one she applied for a job for), so my teammate ended up not hiring her.

6. techlabtech

A guy got hired at my work when I was in between being contract and permanent, so I never met him.

Dude had just left a good teaching job with a quickness, was vague about his reasons for leaving for a temporary, lower paying job with less benefits. He was apparently super normal seeming and very nice, everyone liked him.

Some weeks later he just doesn't come in. Find out that night shift was fucking around Googling people and found out teacher dude had been arrested for having absolute loads of child porn. The background check hadn't caught it because he hadn't been charged (or maybe I mean convicted) yet (was what I was told).

Obviously that bit of information zipped around the company almost instantly and HR fired him immediately. He was in prison last I heard.

Also one of my girlfriends dated a guy who had killed someone outside of the US. He just told potential employers that he "couldn't remember" his address when he was living abroad and so he's been passing background checks with no problems.<...[truncated]

This kid, early 20s comes in for a job, seemed normal enough. Google him and he was wanted in another state for stabbing a St. Bernard to death.

I wasn't the hiring manager but I was talking to him about a couple interviews he had coming up. He said he looked up one guy and found that he'd been arrested previously for various identity theft/credit card fraud crimes. This position involved taking payments from customers, among other things, so obviously this guy would not be hired, but that had to be an awkward interview.

Had a guy apply for an entry-level post with us recently. His CV was okay, so we offered him an interview. Social media seemed okay too. He never turned up for the interview.

A couple of weeks later, there's a story about him in the local paper. Turned out that he was living at the local 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 got violent and assaulted them. Given the dates stated in the paper, he didn't turn up because he'd been in jail at the time of the interview.

His resume has now been added to the 'do not touch with a 10ft barge pole' section in our filing cabinet.

Also, if you think hiring surprises are bad, these impossible-to-explain marketplace finds are in a league of their own.

11. anschauung

Oh, I've got a good one.

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 expensive suits, despite our being a jeans-and-t-shirt office, and his having a very low-paid position. We didn't care much about that. No clue how he affords that wardrobe, but that's none of our business. He's a designer, and I guess he likes to look nice.

The weirdest thing was that he adamantly refused to accept direct deposit for his paycheck. He wanted a physical check every other week. Strange, but okay. Designers are eccentric sometimes.

So, one evening we're all working really late on a project together. We've got some bottles of wine around, some pizzas, etc. It's miserably long hours but we're a good team and having a good time.

All of a sudden Will looks up from his computer and fugging runs as fast as he can out the door. Not a word to any of us, he just dashes out. We all look at eachother, try calling him, etc, with no answer. We finish up the project and go home still wondering what happened.

The next day Will doesn't come into work. He doesn't come in the next day either. We try calling his emergency contact, but don't get any response there either.

So we Google him, and see the FBI press release. Turns out ...[truncated]

14. csjohnson

I used to manage a group home for developmentally disabled adults. I was in charge of hiring the staff that we needed to make the house run properly. I saw a name come across my desk that I had to interview, and I instantly looked them up.

Turns out, this was a girl that had an obsessive crush on me from years ago, and on her social media, she still did.

I was in a panic because she was basically stalking everything I did, and I really couldn't back out because it was 5 minutes before the interview. She came in, and it was so weird...she acted normal.

We interviewed in a professional manner for about 15 minutes, showed her around, and I thought, 'Wow, maybe she has done some maturing and just let it go.'

Then we got back to my office.

I started a sentence like, 'Well, (name), it's been a pleasure having you here and I-......'

'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.'

There was more she was saying along the lines of me telling her to kindly leave, but a phone call to the police, as well as a restraining order, kept her away from work and my life.

Employees who work at Amazon have come out with some quite surprising stories. Take a read of them here and your mind will be blown!

Want more awkward “mutual friends” chaos, read the AITA about setting up a friend on a dating app.