Job interviews missed for lost phone, spilled jam

LONDON, Sept. 3 (UPI) -- British firm Aspire said an exploding laptop and a jam stain are among the among the oddest excuses hiring managers have heard for missing interviews.

The recruitment firm said it asked hiring managers in Britain, Singapore and Hong Kong to reveal some of the oddest excuses they've heard from potential employees who missed job interviews.

The excuses included a "lost iPhone" reported in an email clearly labeled as sent from an iPhone, a laptop computer that "exploded in the middle of the night" and left its owner "too traumatized" for a job interview, and a mishap involving apricot jam that affected a potential new hire who feared they wouldn't "feel as confident in my other clothes."

The excuses also included the loss of a laptop from locking it in a safe and forgetting the combination, food poisoning from a bad batch of mussels, problems accessing Google Maps and an interviewee who was unable to take the elevator to the office due to being "claustrophobic."

Aspire said one interviewee said they were unable to keep their appointment because it was raining -- in London, a city known for its frequent precipitation.