From the article: Job Interview Question: Who Was Your Best Boss?
Describe your worst boss. Read answers and share your answer to this typical interview question. Share Your Answer
Uncomfortable Environment
- My former boss would verbally bully and belittle me on a daily basis, many times in front of other employees. This person would accuse me of doing things I didn't do such as accusing me of changing company policy or "purposely" making changes without authorization. If I made a mistake, I was not permitted to defend myself or explain my thought process. Overall it was an extremely uncomfortable environment to work in.
- —Guest Frustrated
Psycho Political Backstabber
- I worked for an elected official. Everything was great for 8 months. Then I have no idea what happened. Suddenly I had been doing everything wrong for the last 8 months. She would consistantly send me memos with contradictory instructions. She asked me to work late 10 minutes before 5 and after moving heaven and earth to get a sitter, we sat there and she bad-mouthed other employees, members of the community and even her own husband, for 3 hours. She wouldn't let me take my leave time when I had my child, insisting that I bring my baby to work with me! She openly belittled me in full staff meetings. She called me into her office repeatedly to tell me firstly how smart I was and then to tell me how I was doing everything wrong. When I confronted her with her own memos, she told me she she hated me and wanted me to quit. She told the mediator in my unemployment hearing that I was fired for stealing, at my request he asked her what I stole, she says, "that has not been determined."
- —Guest Jen
Worst Boss: Incompetent Communicator.
- I worked for years at a tech firm; I was one of the earliest employees. My team lead was hired months after me. We soon realised he could barely string together a coherent sentence in writing, couldn't seem to read very well, and was incredibly vague and inarticulate in person. If we asked him a question, we ALWAYS had to rephrase at least twice before he would answer the actual question (instead of the insultingly dumber questions he thought we were asking). His answers were usually vague one-liners (or even totally wrong, as HIS manager would interject), and getting a complete, useful answer out of him was like pulling teeth. He was laid-back and conflict-averse, which translated to laziness (playing games at his desk) and failing to enforce basic standards of quality on the team. Our whole team learned to work AROUND him, rather than WITH him, because our immediate productivity was crucial and we couldn't waste an hour of a shift trying to extract the job-critical info from him.
- —Guest Margaret
Working for a Tyrant
- Our boss is a very bad person. She smiles at you and stabs you at the same time. She is always picking on everyone all of the time. She has a wonderful staff under her but picks on them as well as the rest of the 75 or so folks who work here. She goes way out of her way to nail you for something. There are three dispatchers and a handful of mechanics and bus drivers and monitors who are always walking on egg shells. There is no one we can turn to for help. We tried to contact human resources but they blow us off. She is getting worse and worse. She has no idea how great she has it with such a great group of people that work here. She takes off more than anyone in the whole company, and lies about everything to make herself look good. There are fantastic people here who have been here a very long time who are looking for new jobs and that's a shame, because we are the ones who make this place run -- not her! But since her bosses are so far away she makes it look like she is the great one.
- —Guest givemyalleveryday
Sulky Boss
- My worst boss would get mad and not talk to you for 2-3 weeks. One time he received a high electric bill and took it out on the staff and refused to talk to people for 1 month. The next time he broke a window and we paid. On year he wanted all of the staff to cancel our whole life policies that we had had for 8 years and buy a new policy from his friend who was a broker, and the next year he wanted us to donate our bonuses to charity , but he wanted us to give him the money and he would write one check for all of us. When no one accepted his offer he had a fit and refused to talk to anybody for a month. This list went on and on for 8 years untill we all left.
- —Guest Guest
Downright Dumb and Arrogant
- My previous boss was downright arrogant. He would talk to his customers rudely, kick people out of the restaurant and oh ..he fired me for being too nice and upbeat with the customers. Never mind that I was the one that kept them coming back! He fussed at us with cuss words as if we were living in his home, and the fussing was not called for at all. He was so unprofessional! He slept with the young females that worked with me - he's married!!! Gave me all the duties and let them chill. It's okay though. A month after I was fired, he had to close shop. *God never sleeps nor slumber.s
- —Guest Telli
My Worst Boss
- The 1st boss hated me because his boss hired me over his objections. He believed what my previous boss said about me, and refused to see anything that refuted that opinion.( My previous boss yelled, screamed, and threw things at the slightest mistake I made in front of everyone, yet the guys he'd take into his office and close the door to chew their backends! He was a real fruitcake! The 1st boss refused me family leave the day my Dad died. I went over his head, he rode me like a pony after I got back. I went to his boss again, and he left me alone for 6 months until HIS boss was fired and he became VP. The day he officially became VP, he immediately started in again. I was his best programmer!! I finally quit because I had a severe depression and anxiety problem. My latest boss called me a "slut" my 1st week at work, was paying me $750/month - no benefits or withholding. Made me buy my own laptop and office supplies. After 5 years, he admitted he never meant to hire me!
- —Guest Judy
Kept in the dark
- She was such a poor communicator I'm amazed she actually fired me in person.
- —Guest Mushroom
Tyrant Boss
- He was extremely arrogant. He would tell everyone how modest he was followed by a 20 minute self promotional speech of all the so-called great feats he's accomplished. He was also very abusive verbally, especially towards women. He would berate employees and imply they were too stupid to have PhD's and Master's degrees. He would call meetings just to target specific employees and make them look inadequate in front of other staff members, thinking this would have positive results, but it only made employees lose respect for him. He was always on a power trip and would bark and yell, threatening people with job loss and telling them how fortunate they were to work for him, meanwhile paying them below market wages and working them like dogs.
- —Guest Worked4nahole
Worst Boss
- I have worked for a lot of different bosses over the years. Without being specific to one, I would say that the worst "type" of boss I've had to work for were the ones who were afraid to actually manage their employees. The employees knew they could get away with being late, chatting and wasting time during work hours, taking personal calls and he/she never says a word because the employee might get upset. I despise that in a boss.
- —Guest Mary
Most Awful Boss Ever?
- I have been working for local government in the state of Delaware for 9 years. My boss is a jackass, and he has been allowed to bully employees to the point of breaking civil rights. The Town Council is aware of this has allowed him to continue with his bad behavior, looking the other way to avoid bad press. He has had fist fights with one of his employees in the public park in front of women and children. The police were called. Now he has turned his anger towards me I am a fifty year old woman. He beats me down every day with words, calls me in his office one day and say's look at this picture of a fat woman being hauled around on a John Deere tractor and says this looks like you. He yells at me for every mistake whether it is my fault or not. Rips his pants on a office chair stands up and throws the chair twice across the office yelling obscenities, yet he is allowed to maintain his position of authority. This man spies on my phone calls, makes fun of my hearing disability and is a jackass.
- —work4ajackass1
My Boss is a Psychopath
- She accuses me of things that I know nothing about. She once asked me whether I would sleep with her husband on her bed in her house? She whispers in my ear that I am stupid and ugly. She ridicules me and makes people hate me.
- —Guest densy
Look Right Through Me
- This women would smile and only talk to the English speaking workers. She'd ignore the rest of us like we just weren't there. I hated her.
- —Guest say hi
Her title is a Supervisor?
- I was a stellar employee for 17 years, not that I stroked her for bettering myself, its just the way I worked hard. Up until 2 years ago, she was training me for her position if anything happened to her. Then she started playing favorites to another secretary. I know the gossiping, accussing me of wrongdoing, making mistakes etc was taking place between her and my co-worker! She even had other senior staff involved, anyone that would listen to her because she is so unhappy with her own life, she grew a disliking to me. She would find mistakes I did, she wouldn't tell me about them, yet she'd bring them up to me six months later in performance evaluations. I was let go after 19 years of employment. She even had the audacity to have me come in to work and work one day to cover staff that were gone and then the next day I was let go that morning. Every one in the office knew I would be laid off before I did! She is a horrible supervisor, has no business being a boss. GTHB
- —Sorryyouasked
Who Was Your Worst Boss and Why?
- He is a smart guy, intelligent but he always change his mind. Signs the document without thinking. He show-up late whenever there is a meeting (even if its an emergency). He will not give you any chance at all to speak whenever there is a meeting. He loves to talk but never answers the phone. He does not want to answer the telephone when it's ringing. It's really very difficult to manage a worst boss. He will never give you a tap at the back and yet he provides lots of overtime.
- —Guest NiHAWmA
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