Reasons given included rudeness, lateness, sexism and even drunkenness.

The survey finds that 40 per cent of those who experienced a bad interview were asked questions ‘completely unrelated to their job’, over a third (35 per cent) say the interviewer was unprepared and nearly one in five were turned off by the company culture.

More worryingly, 18 per cent of interviewers were late, while 16 per cent are branded sexist and seven per cent racist. Other unappealing personal qualities highlighted by the survey include bad personal hygiene (seven per cent) and drunkenness (two per cent).

IT worker Kevin Moran had a particularly bad experience during an interview for a technical support job in London. He says: ‘The interview was on a Friday afternoon, but I was surprised to find it was taking place in a bar.

‘When I eventually found the people who were interviewing me, I had to shout over the noise, and one of the interviewers kept going to the bar when I was still speaking, butting in rudely and talking about things that were completely unrelated.’

The survey of 2,000 people, conducted online by Ipsos MORI, finds that job candidates want to see a pleasant working environment (78 per cent), a clear plan of career progression (50 per cent) and to be asked intelligent questions relating to the job (55 per cent), while about a third (34 per cent) want to fit with the company’s culture and values.