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The Bad Hire Podcast: Daily Summaries Delivered
by Ken Monroe
The best stories about the wild world of work. Hosted by Ken Monroe, CEO of Bchex, The Bad Hire Podcast unpacks the funniest, strangest, and most shocking hiring stories from offices, job sites, and teams everywhere. From outrageous résumé lies to first-day meltdowns, these tales will make you laugh, cringe, and say, 'there's no way that's true.' Not just for HR or recruiters — it's for anyone who's worked with that coworker or made a hire they'll never forget.
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The most recent episodes — sign up to get AI-powered summaries of each one.
- 4 weeks ago42 min
The New CFO Put His Tires on the Company Card… for the Points
The company was growing fast. Startup to millions in revenue in about a year. So they hired a CFO who looked the part: glasses, résumé, all of it.One month in, the credit card bill showed $2,800 in auto repairs. New tires. His car.When they asked him about it, he wasn't sorry. He said he thought they'd want the points.In Episode 53 of The Bad Hire, Ken and Nathan are joined by special guest Allen Darby, founder and CEO of Alaris Acquisitions, for a round of unbelievable workplace stories involving a job seeker who screamed at recruiters before she ever applied, a receptionist with a company card and a ceramic cow collection, a CFO who mistook the company card for a rewards program, a new hire who made a pass at a visiting director, and a cashier whose whole identity was borrowed for exactly one shift.You'll hear:• A job seeker yells at recruiters for weeks without ever submitting an application• "Terry" the receptionist hides the AmEx bill and buys ceramic cows on the company card• Why her last employer never warned anyone, and what references really tell you• Allen's CFO story: $2,800 in tires and "I thought you'd want the points"• Why hiring is a skill, and why résumés predict only 10% of success• The paid, two-day working interview that sold both sides• A new hire turns every task into a grievance, then corners a married director at the coffee station• Allen on Alaris Acquisitions and leading M&A with compatibility instead of price• A cashier with a borrowed Social Security number walks out with $4,000• Why "How much is your background check?" is the wrong questionKey Takeaways:• Hiring is a skill. Liking someone isn't the same as them being right for the job.• Résumés are a weak predictor of success. Watch how people actually work.• Employment verification confirms dates, not character.• Fit first. When both sides want it, the outcome gets better.• Not all background checks are equal. Know what yours actually covers.💸 Think you've heard worse? Submit your Bad Hire story at TheBadHire.com for a chance to win $10,000.⸻Connect with Us:🌐 Website: TheBadHire.com📧 Email: team@thebadhire.com📱 Instagram: @thebadhirepod📘 Facebook: facebook.com/thebadhirepod🎵 TikTok: @thebadhirepod💼 LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/thebadhire—Sponsored by BChex:Need better background checks? BChex makes hiring safer, faster, and simpler. From visitor management to employee monitoring—BChex has you covered.www.bchex.io—🎙️ Submit your own bad hire story for a chance to win $10,000 at TheBadHire.com
- Oct 7, 202650 min
Federal Agents Arrested the New CFO on His First Day
Four months of searching. Three prior CFO roles. References that held up. On his first day, he came in early, got his badge photo taken, and sat down with the quarterly numbers.Around 10 in the morning, four federal agents walked into the lobby and asked for him by name.He'd been in the chair for less than three hours.In Episode 52 of The Bad Hire, Ken, Nathan, and Kylie break down another round of unbelievable workplace stories involving a retirement question nobody saw coming, a cold call to the company's biggest client on day three, a résumé skill learned on YouTube, a self-review two weeks in, an eleven-minute trip to the parking lot, and a CFO who didn't make it to lunch.You'll hear:• A six-day employee asks the CEO when she's planning to retire• A new sales hire finds the client list and cold calls a top ten account on day three• Mackenzie, CEO of Sacramento Splash, on trusting your gut and hiring slow, firing fast• A new hire's CRM "proficiency" turns out to be six hours of YouTube• Ken on Good Job, BChex's behavioral assessment that finds the hidden gems• A two-week employee submits his own performance review and rates himself exceptional• A former manager calls HR after the hire is already made• A first-day hire walks $100,900 out to the parking lot• A fast food new hire gets sent home after three hours and takes it online• Four federal agents walk the brand-new CFO out of the building on day oneKey Takeaways:• Every word you say to leadership carries an implication.• Moving fast is not a defense for accessing data you weren't given.• Résumés are a weak predictor of success. Behaviors are a strong one.• Trust your gut, hire slow, fire fast, and keep the documentation.• A standard background check doesn't include federal court records unless you ask.💸 Think you've heard worse? Submit your Bad Hire story at TheBadHire.com for a chance to win $10,000.⸻Connect with Us:🌐 Website: TheBadHire.com📧 Email: team@thebadhire.com📱 Instagram: @thebadhirepod📘 Facebook: facebook.com/thebadhirepod🎵 TikTok: @thebadhirepod💼 LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/thebadhire—Sponsored by BChex:Need better background checks? BChex makes hiring safer, faster, and simpler. From visitor management to employee monitoring—BChex has you covered.www.bchex.io
- Sep 30, 202656 min
She Showed Up to Work in the Wrong City
The job posting said Atlanta. The offer letter said Atlanta. The onboarding paperwork said Atlanta. The welcome email even included a parking map for the Atlanta office.On her first day, she showed up in Charlotte.She had assumed the job was remote. It wasn't.In Episode 51 of The Bad Hire, Ken, Nathan, and Emma break down another round of unbelievable workplace stories involving first-hour critics, rearranged offices, references who never agreed to be references, a four-day resignation letter with headers, and a Slack channel no new hire should have ever seen.You'll hear:• Employees submit ideas for a $1,000 bonus, and the company uses them to eliminate their jobs• A new analyst tells his trainer the process is how his old job did it, but worse, in his first hour• Forty minutes into her first day, a new hire disappears to rearrange the office• A candidate lists references who didn't know they were her references• A new hire emails senior leadership a formatted critique after four days• A new hire is accidentally added to the executives' private Slack channel• A new hire shows up to her first day in the wrong city• Mackenzie, CEO of Sacramento Splash, on hiring a close friend who went a year over budget• A new hire rewrites his NDA before signing his day one paperworkKey Takeaways:• Sometimes a bad hire is really a bad manager.• Fresh ideas land better after you've learned how things work.• Always tell your references before you list them.• If you end up somewhere you're not supposed to be, get out.• Put it in writing, and then make sure they actually read it.💸 Think you've heard worse? Submit your Bad Hire story at TheBadHire.com for a chance to win $10,000.⸻Connect with Us:🌐 Website: TheBadHire.com📧 Email: team@thebadhire.com📱 Instagram: @thebadhirepod📘 Facebook: facebook.com/thebadhirepod🎵 TikTok: @thebadhirepod💼 LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/thebadhire—Sponsored by BChex:Need better background checks? BChex makes hiring safer, faster, and simpler. From visitor management to employee monitoring—BChex has you covered.www.bchex.io—🎙️ Submit your own bad hire story for a chance to win $10,000 at TheBadHire.com
- Sep 23, 202653 min
Fired on Day One for Going Home on Time
She worked a nine-hour first day for $28. Not $28 an hour. $28 for the whole day.She stayed until 6:30, a half hour past quitting time, and went home.At 7:30 that night, one of the partners called and told her to come back to the office. No emergency. No crisis. When she said she couldn’t make it back, he fired her over the phone.In Episode 50 of The Bad Hire, Ken, Morgan, and first-time co-host Trey break down another round of unbelievable workplace stories involving disastrous first days, bold demands, no-shows, leaked secrets, and a few new hires the hosts actually defend.You’ll hear:• An intern get fired on day one for going home on time• A fired employee demand $50,000 on his way out the door• A networking hire keep disappearing from networking events• A security guard insist he couldn’t be fired because he never technically started• A new hire insult the owner’s wife and brother in his first two hours• A development director spend three months on coffee and bring in zero new donors• A new hire present a five-year promotion plan on day two• A new hire time his start date around a medical procedure• A product manager leak the company roadmap on LinkedIn before her first dayKey Takeaways:• First impressions start before day one.• A good answer about a résumé gap still needs to be verified.• Ambition is great. Timing and delivery matter.• If you share something confidential in an interview, say it’s confidential.• Low pay doesn’t make the experience worthless.💸 Think you’ve heard worse? Submit your Bad Hire story at TheBadHire.com for a chance to win $10,000.⸻Connect with Us:🌐 Website: TheBadHire.com📧 Email: team@thebadhire.com📱 Instagram: @thebadhirepod📘 Facebook: facebook.com/thebadhirepod🎵 TikTok: @thebadhirepod💼 LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/thebadhire—Sponsored by BChex:Need better background checks? BChex makes hiring safer, faster, and simpler. From visitor management to employee monitoring—BChex has you covered.www.bchex.io—🎙️ Submit your own bad hire story for a chance to win $10,000 at TheBadHire.com
- Sep 16, 202646 min
She Took the Job Just to Meet Men
She interviewed well, got the job, showed up for her first day… and then asked one very important question:Where are all the men?Turns out, she had taken the job expecting a large company to be the perfect place to meet someone. There was just one problem: her department was almost entirely women.So she left.In Episode 49 of The Bad Hire, Ken, Emma, and Kyrie break down another round of unbelievable workplace stories involving bizarre motivations, expensive mistakes, open mic disasters, employee theft, fake credentials, and some truly unforgettable first days.You’ll hear:• A receptionist go on an office supply spending spree• A woman take a job because she wanted to meet men• An employee trash the boss without realizing everyone could hear• A booking agent redirect a client deposit into his own bank account• A forklift driver somehow get worse every single hour• A new hire completely fabricate his college education• An employee accidentally reveal a restraining order HR didn’t know existed• A call center employee take the job to sell products to coworkers• A technician insult a client while standing inside her bathroomKey Takeaways:• People don’t always take jobs for the reasons you think they do.• A great interview doesn’t guarantee a great employee.• Skipping normal hiring procedures can become expensive fast.• Résumés and credentials still need to be verified.• When someone starts showing red flags, pay attention to the pattern.💸 Think you’ve heard worse? Submit your Bad Hire story at TheBadHire.com for a chance to win $10,000.⸻Connect with Us:🌐 Website: TheBadHire.com📧 Email: team@thebadhire.com📱 Instagram: @thebadhirepod📘 Facebook: facebook.com/thebadhirepod🎵 TikTok: @thebadhirepod💼 LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/thebadhire—Sponsored by BChex:Need better background checks? BChex makes hiring safer, faster, and simpler. From visitor management to employee monitoring—BChex has you covered.www.bchex.io—🎙️ Submit your own bad hire story for a chance to win $10,000 at TheBadHire.com
- Sep 9, 202638 min
She Faked Her Child’s Death for Money
What do you do when an employee tells everyone she adopted a child, lost everything in a house fire, and then tragically lost the child — only for HR to discover that none of it ever happened?In Episode 48 of The Bad Hire, Ken, Nathan, and Kylie break down another round of unbelievable workplace stories — from a new employee lighting a cigarette next to 10,000 liters of acetone to a worker who leads police on a high-speed chase and decides the best place to hide is his own office.But one story takes things to another level. A well-liked warehouse employee convinces her coworkers to donate money after a supposed house fire. Weeks later, she tells them her adopted child has died, and they rally around her again. Then HR uncovers the truth: there was no adoption, no fire, and no child.You’ll hear:– A new hire who lights a cigarette next to 10,000 liters of acetone– An employee who publicly trashes his new company on his first day– Jason Bivins on a high-performing recruiter who becomes toxic to everyone around her– A Subway manager who catches two employees stealing in two completely different ways– A new hire who ignores safety policy and sends a semi-trailer sliding off the dock– An employee who fabricates an adoption, house fire, and child’s death to collect money from coworkers– A drunk new hire who shows up 12 hours early for his first shift– An employee who leads police on a high-speed chase straight back to work– A workplace situation where red flag after red flag eventually leads to an uninvited cross-country tripKey Takeaways:• Safety training only works when employees actually follow it.• A high performer can still be destructive to the culture around them.• Early red flags can become much bigger problems when they form a pattern.• Trust and compassion can unfortunately be exploited.• Past experience doesn’t give someone permission to ignore company policy.💸 Think you’ve heard worse? Submit your Bad Hire story at TheBadHire.com for a chance to win $10,000.⸻Connect with Us:🌐 Website: TheBadHire.com📧 Email: team@thebadhire.com📱 Instagram: @thebadhirepod📘 Facebook: facebook.com/thebadhirepod🎵 TikTok: @thebadhirepod💼 LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/thebadhire—Sponsored by BChex:Need better background checks? BChex makes hiring safer, faster, and simpler. From visitor management to employee monitoring—BChex has you covered.www.bchex.io—🎙️ Submit your own bad hire story for a chance to win $10,000 at TheBadHire.com
- Sep 2, 202633 min
She Faked a Carjacking to Get Out of Work
What do you do when an employee calls in claiming she was just carjacked and needs the entire week off… only for her boss to call her actual phone 30 seconds later and hear, “Hey, I’m driving. Who’s this?”In Episode 47 of The Bad Hire, Ken, Morgan, and Nathan break down another round of unbelievable workplace stories — from an employee who intentionally shot himself with a nail gun because of a wasp to a senior developer caught downloading five years of company source code onto his personal USB drive. The Bad Hire - Episode 47 - Video .txtThis episode has fake emergencies, terrible judgment, security disasters, and hiring lessons that prove sometimes the truth is stranger than anything you could make up.You’ll hear:– A production worker who shot himself in the hand with a nail gun trying to kill a wasp– A client referral who conveniently left out a serious felony conviction– An employee who faked an entire carjacking to get a week off– Alexandra’s perspective on why broken hiring processes create bad hires– A Sonic employee who handed a customer’s used drink directly to a health inspector– An IT employee who dropped a monitor, then cursed out his manager before the manager could even react– Judith’s reminder of why you should never skip that final reference check– A senior developer caught copying five years of proprietary source code onto a personal USB drive– Why background checks can uncover information an interview never willFrom ridiculous split-second decisions to potential threats to an entire company’s intellectual property, Episode 47 is a reminder that hiring is about much more than finding someone who interviews well.💸 Think you’ve heard worse? Submit your story at TheBadHire.com for a chance to win $10,000.Key Takeaways:• A great interview can’t reveal everything about a candidate.• Reference checks are worth finishing — even when the first two are perfect.• Security policies only work when employees actually follow them.• How someone reacts to a mistake can reveal more than the mistake itself.• Strong hiring processes require both HR expertise and department-level knowledge.⸻Connect with Us:🌐 Website: TheBadHire.com📧 Email: team@thebadhire.com📱 Instagram: @thebadhirepod📘 Facebook: facebook.com/thebadhirepod🎵 TikTok: @thebadhirepod💼 LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/thebadhire—Sponsored by BChex:Need better background checks? BChex makes hiring safer, faster, and simpler. From visitor management to employee monitoring—BChex has you covered.www.bchex.io—🎙️ Submit your own bad hire story for a chance to win $10,000 at TheBadHire.com
- Aug 26, 202635 min
He Blew $4,000 on the Company Card His First Day
What do you do when a brand-new employee gets a company credit card on his first day… disappears at lunch… and comes back with $4,000 worth of suits, ties, and shoes?In Episode 46 of The Bad Hire, Ken, Emma, and Kylie break down another round of unbelievable workplace stories — from an employee with an impossible streak of family emergencies to a seven-figure executive who simply never showed up for his first day.This episode proves bad hires can happen at every level.You’ll hear:– A new manager hit with one unbelievable excuse after another– A recruiter’s experience inside an incredibly toxic staffing company– An employee who accidentally exposed confidential company work on social media– A new hire who spent $4,000 on clothes using his company card– A seven-figure executive who ghosted his own welcome event– An employee who went to lunch, went home, and casually returned days later– A publishing employee who stole more than 1,000 unpublished manuscripts– Two retail employees accused of stealing nearly $44,000 in merchandise– And an employee who paid to run a background check on his own managerFrom ridiculous first-day decisions to sophisticated schemes that lasted years, these stories show just how unpredictable hiring can get.💸 Think you’ve heard worse? Submit your story at TheBadHire.com for a chance to win $10,000.Key Takeaways:• A great interview doesn’t guarantee a great employee.• Clear policies mean nothing if employees choose to ignore them.• Bad hires can create security risks far beyond poor performance.• Senior-level hires can flame out just as spectacularly as entry-level ones.• Sometimes the biggest red flags appear immediately.⸻Connect with Us:🌐 Website: TheBadHire.com📧 Email: team@thebadhire.com📱 Instagram: @thebadhirepod📘 Facebook: facebook.com/thebadhirepod🎵 TikTok: @thebadhirepod💼 LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/thebadhire—Sponsored by BChex:Need better background checks? BChex makes hiring safer, faster, and simpler. From visitor management to employee monitoring—BChex has you covered.www.bchex.io—🎙️ Submit your own bad hire story for a chance to win $10,000 at TheBadHire.com
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About The Bad Hire Podcast
The best stories about the wild world of work. Hosted by Ken Monroe, CEO of Bchex, The Bad Hire Podcast unpacks the funniest, strangest, and most shocking hiring stories from offices, job sites, and teams everywhere. From outrageous résumé lies to first-day meltdowns, these tales will make you laugh, cringe, and say, 'there's no way that's true.' Not just for HR or recruiters — it's for anyone who's worked with that coworker or made a hire they'll never forget.
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