by: Renee Boatwright | VP of Recruiting
I recently read a Careerbuilder survey ranking the Top Ten Interview Mistakes. See below:
1. Candidate answered cell phone and asked the interviewer to leave her own office because it was a "private" conversation.
2. Candidate told the interviewer he wouldn't be able to stay with the job long because he thought he might get an inheritance if his uncle died -- and his uncle wasn't "looking too good."
3. Candidate asked the interviewer for a ride home after the interview.
4. Candidate smelled his armpits on the way to the interview room.
5. Candidate said she could not provide a writing sample because all of her writing had been for the CIA and it was "classified."
6. Candidate told the interviewer he was fired for beating up his last boss.
7. When applicant was offered food before the interview, he declined, saying he didn't want to line his stomach with grease before going out drinking.
8. A candidate for an accounting position said she was a "people person" not a "numbers person."
9. Candidate flushed the toilet while talking to interviewer during phone interview.
10. Candidate took out a hair brush and brushed her hair.
Comical to say the least!! It is amazing that with all of the “tips” and “how-to’s” available that candidates would do such things! Some readers may think the survey participants exaggerated their stories, but if you work in the area of Human Resources/Recruiting I’m sure this list just caused you to remember a similar situation. One of the latest stories that comes to mind for me involves my best friend conducting an in-office interview followed by lunch with the candidate. After the candidate took a personal cell phone call during the in-office interview, he asked my friend if she would stop at Target on the way to the restaurant to pick up a prescription from the pharmacy!! That story still baffles me!! It all goes back to those simple rules of etiquette and treating others with respect. My advice to candidates that are interviewing, if there is even a smidgen of doubt that what you are doing is unacceptable don’t do it.
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