Job interviews are supposed to be about assessing skills, experience, and cultural fit. But what happens when the interviewers seem determined to undermine you? When their tone is confrontational, their questions feel like traps, and their manner more like interrogation than conversation?
In some cases, this could be a deliberate stress test, designed to gauge your ability to perform under pressure. But in others, it’s a preview of a toxic work culture, an exercise in dominance, or even a strategy to break down your confidence so that you’ll accept unfavourable contract terms.
Recognising a Professional Stress Test vs. an Unprofessional One
A legitimate stress interview challenges your reasoning and composure but still maintains a level of professionalism. You might be asked difficult, high-pressure questions, interrupted mid-answer, or forced to defend your logic, but it’s done with purpose, to see how you handle a demanding role.
An unprofessional stress interview, however, is something else entirely. Instead of testing your resilience, it feels like the interviewers are acting more like plunderers than professionals - hacking away at your confidence, looking for weakness, stripping you of dignity just to see how much you’ll endure. These are the hallmarks of a dysfunctional culture masquerading as a job opportunity:
- Belittling and dismissiveness – They act as if your experience and achievements don’t matter, speaking down to you or openly questioning your competence in a condescending way.
- Contradictory feedback – One interviewer praises your response, only for another to tear it apart, creating confusion and instability.
- Hostile body language – Eye rolls, sighs, smirks, or leaning in aggressively, signalling impatience or contempt.
- Unnecessary interruptions – They speak over you, dismiss your answers outright, or refuse to let you complete your thoughts.
- Trick questions designed to humiliate, not challenge – Questions with no correct answer, designed to put you on the defensive rather than assess your problem-solving.
- Gaslighting tactics – They shift the goalposts, making it seem like you’re the problem if you push back against unreasonable behaviour.
- A sense of siege, not assessment – Instead of being evaluated, you feel like you’re being tested to see how much abuse you’ll tolerate.
When an interview feels less like an assessment and more like an onslaught, it’s not about evaluating your skills - it’s about seeing if you’ll tolerate a toxic work culture. It could also be a tactic to bring your confidence down so that you’ll accept lower pay, worse conditions, or unfair terms.
How to Handle It
If you suspect you’re in a structured stress interview:
- Stay calm and composed. Demonstrate how you handle pressure - don’t let them rattle you.
- Acknowledge the challenge. You might say, "I see what you’re testing here - this role requires staying cool under pressure. Let me walk you through how I’d approach this."
- Stick to your answers. If they push back aggressively, remain confident in your reasoning unless you genuinely believe you were mistaken.
If the interview is unprofessional:
- Maintain your composure, but don’t tolerate mistreatment. Professionalism makes their hostility look worse.
- Ask direct questions. If the workplace seems toxic, calmly say, "This seems like a very high-pressure environment. How do you support employees dealing with challenges like this?"
- Flip the script. In an interview, they're being evaluated by you, too. If they’re trying to intimidate you, turn it into your own test: Do I want to work for an unprofessional organisation that treats people this way?
- Know when to walk away. If an interview is an exercise in dominance, imagine what the actual job will be like. No job is worth being systematically disrespected.
Sometimes, the biggest test in a hostile interview is whether you’re willing to stand up for yourself - or whether you’ll ignore the red flags and walk willingly into an environment that thrives on intimidation. A strong organisation can assess resilience without resorting to bullying or disrespect.