Basic, they didn't know what they were doing.
There are few certainties in life. One is that you’ll be asked about your employment history during a job interview. Discussing your previous employment can be difficult. In fact, questions about former employers are consistently listed as one of the “toughest” interview questions. [1][2] By following a few rules of thumb, however, you can turn even the worst employment experience into an interview asset.
Sell yourself. Questions about your previous job are more about you than about your former employer. The interviewer is trying to gauge your skills and professionalism, not the virtues or vices of your previous boss. The goal of any answer about a previous job should be to make yourself look good, not your previous position look bad.
Answer questions about previous jobs by discussing your accomplishments in those positions. Consider key phrases from the description of the job for which your interviewing, such as "strong supervisory skills," and consider how you can frame your experience in your previous job to emphasize that you have what it takes to the new position.
Whenever possible, go beyond buzzwords and give examples from your previous job. Pivot from a generality, such as "self-motivated," by saying, "I know you've probably heard that before, so let me give you an example." Then have a brief two-to-four sentence anecdote from a previous job prepared that demonstrates your self-motivation.[3]
