BOO! Haunted Hiring Stories are Back

Vampires, ghouls, or ghosts — nothing is scarier than a horrific HR hiring story. That’s why we’re reincarnating some of the most haunted hiring stories ever told for the second year in a row.

While ghost stories aren’t real, these stories sure are. Human Resources and Talent Acquisition professionals handle hiring efforts, employee reviews, department complaints, and even what’s out of the ordinary. Take a look at some of their most frightening experiences.

CHILDREN OF THE CORN

"It all began on a high-volume interview day. We were conducting interviews to hire manufacturing workers and we needed to build a talent pool due to the high turnover. Let the spooky games begin. The first interviewee comes in late and he is wearing paint-stained cargo jeans and a white t-shirt. Bring in the next one, he is a younger guy, and when asked what he would do if the line was down he says,“I would write lyrics and practice my rapping.” The third one comes in and answers essentially every question with “I don’t know or I have never experienced that scenario.” After several other interviews that were less than stellar, the interview panel decides to still hire some of them, and guess what? One of them started and lasted less than a week and another never responded to a job offer." 

- Mairysel

ROSEMARY'S DRUG TEST

"Being in HR you definitely get a lot of creative stories told to you. This one was not spooky per say, but was a story. So a drug screen was a client requirement for this candidate who said that would not be a problem. Went and completed their drug screen deposit, which came back as a fail as this candidate tested positive for marijuana. When I called the candidate, she said, "What happened was, I had to go to my Aunt's house to pick up the mail for my mother, but my Aunt was smoking weed in the family room when I arrived and I had to walk through the family room to get to the kitchen where the mail was and I walked out the back door, but that must’ve been how come I tested positive for marijuana." 

- Ellyn 

PARANORMAL WORK HISTORY

"I received a resume that had "experienced fire walker" listed in her accomplishments. Her experience was in line, so I brought her in. She referenced fire walking, so naturally, I had no choice but to ask more questions! She gave us some background and then told a story of her last walk. During the walk, she felt like someone else was beside her. Afterwards, she walked to her car and went home. She said she felt like she had to go back. In the parking lot, there were footprints. She explained that it had rained, so this was amazing. She walked back to where they started and could see a very faint set of footprints next to her own that stopped after about five steps. She even broke out the video from that night and the pictures on her phone! The partner that sat in on the interview was not impressed." 

- Rachel 

THE HAUNTING OF AN EMPLOYEE

"Coming back off of a 6-week recovery from a hip replacement, I noticed that the entrance to my building had changed. We had a continuous rotating door, but now you had to be buzzed in by receptionist/security. Asked what happen, one of the employees who was termed for cause, came back on campus to try and kill my manager. He had a gun in his trunk. He worked in a different building, and one of his ex-coworkers let him in their building unbeknownst to a coworker. He walked over to the building where the Director of HR was, security recognized that he should not be there, called police, and he said he just wanted to talk to the Director of HR, that's all. Police escorted him off-premise, and a high alert was placed on the entire campus because of him. Also because of him, a swipe in/out was placed at every entrance to HR. Due to the position that the severed employee had, he had security clearance. I came in the next day, manager had quit, put his house up for sale, and left the state of Ohio."

- Caron

Not too scared for more?

There’s more spooky stories for those brave enough to keep reading! Check out the full Haunted Hiring Book 2021, and let us know your favorites.

Have a spooky experience yourself? Send in your stories! We’ll include our favorites in the Haunted Hiring Book.