In a former job I hired a ton of front line employees. I encountered a few applicants who chose to leave when drug testing was mentioned and more that never showed up for testing when contingently offered.So, I had a female friend (note the past tense) who I used to work with at another job site. She left the area for a few years, but we occasionally kept in touch. A few years later, I get an email from her telling me she's back in town and desperate for a job, any job. We didn't have any openings at the time, but I steered her to a job I know of in Hawaii of all places at a sister company that is desperate for people. So desperate that one of the guys at our company was flown out there at their expense for two weeks, put up at a hotel, paid a per diem in addition to his regular salary and had a car rented for him. Tough work, but someone had to do it.
Several days go by and she's back in my email asking about jobs. I ask her if she applied for the one in Hawaii. She said no, she was "too nervous." I'm thinking she must not be as desperate for a job as she said.
Anyway, I steer her to another job I had just heard of that's in my same corporation, but a different company in a town about 15 miles from us. I gave her a good recommendation. About a week goes by and I hear from my boss that this woman went to that job interview and had just sat down, when she interrupted the interviewer and asked if they drug tested. When the interviewer said yes, she said, "well, let's not waste each other's time then," and got up and left.
I was furious. Here I was trying to help this woman and giving her a good recommendation and she pulls a stunt like that. I emailed her back and let her know that I knew exactly what she had done and I told her never to contact me again, until and unless she had cleaned herself up. I haven't heard from her since.
I had one guy who failed to show up for an interview, gave us a sob story about why he couldn't make it and then failed to show up for a rescheduled interview. He then proceeded to go ballistic when we told him we would not be rescheduling again. Neither time did he even bother to call to let us know before the interview or even call in to let us know what happened the same day.