Man About To Enter Job Interview—Horror As He Looks Down at His Pants

Newsweek

2 days ago

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It is normal to feel nervous ahead of a job interview, but one man's feelings were heightened when he looked down at his pants.
Reddit user u/He_Who_Quiets shared an image of his ripped jeans near the zipper on June 2, and it went viral, racking up more than 53,000 upvotes.
Despite this outfit mishap, the man told Newsweek: "The interview went surprisingly well—the interviewer did notice, but only joked at the end of the interview that I could start tomorrow as long as I promised to wear different pants."
In the comments, he added that it would have been hard for the interviewer to miss the rip, as they were sitting on plastic chairs without a table between them.
The viral photo of the man's ripped jeans.
The viral photo of the man's ripped jeans.
Reddit/He_Who_Quiets
He wrote: "The guy interviewing me was chill as hell, just seemed to find it funny."
The man has since updated the post: "I got the job anyway. I think they would have hired literally anyone to wash dishes at this restaurant."
Newsweek discussed the post with HR expert David Rice, who said that accidents happen.
He added: "Don't panic, these things happen. Everyone has spilled something on themselves, sat in something, not noticed a stain. It's part of life."
Rice said: "Give yourself some cushion around the time you arrive at the interview so you can handle these types of things. If you're in a hurry and you're trying to fix something, it's going to compound matters."
Rice suggested bringing a backup outfit for interviews to help ease some of the stress.
He said: "Someone at the coffee shop spills their iced latte and it gets on you? You can pull out the backup clothes and get changed in the bathroom. You probably won't need the extra clothes, but the peace of mind will keep you focused on the task at hand instead of panicking about how you look."
A Harris Poll conducted online for the American Staffing Association in October 2022, which involved 2,019 U.S. adults, found that there were notable gender differences in how men and women approach job interview preparation.
Women were more likely than men to consider various prep strategies important, such as researching the company (73 percent versus 66 percent); choosing an interview outfit (72 percent versus 60 percent); and preparing questions to ask (66 percent versus 56 percent).
Rice, who lives in Atlanta and is the senior editor for the People Managing People podcast, which is aimed at managers and culture creators who want to lead better, said: "It depends on the culture of the organization. If it's a well-accepted norm in their culture that business attire isn't the norm, it may not be a big deal, but you never want to assume that. You should always look presentable because it helps people take you seriously and respect the approach you're taking to the process of finding a job.
"That doesn't mean you have to wear a suit or a dress, but you should be presentable in the same way you would be for a nice dinner. This tells them you're serious about getting the job and, if nothing else, you're capable of meeting dress code requirements if there are any related to the job."
Reddit Reacts
As of now, the post has over 3,700 comments—with many users highlighting the shadow in the image that makes it look like a urine stain.
"Peeing your pants is cool," commented one user, and another wrote: "The first issue is that you're wearing jeans to a job interview."
"Congrats on the job. You'll be able to buy some new pants soon," posted a third commenter.
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