About five years ago I was directly in charge of interviewing and hiring employees. I have since changed companies twice and am no longer involved in the interview process. However, I was thinking about all of the hilarious war stories on the front lines of the employment front.
Articles on the internet on how to do great in a job interview are a dime a dozen. Colleges and high schools go over ways to prepare for and ace an interview. And all of this is for good reason… job interviews are incredibly important. However, people still don’t pay attention to the mountains of advice.
The Casual Luncher
My girlfriend loves food. I am Italian, so my whole family loves food. I love food (but not nearly as much as the aforementioned people). I get it… food rocks.
The company that I was interviewing people for held on-campus interviews through the Office of Career Management to make it easier on everyone. When the candidate showed up, it seemed like everything was going great. I thought nothing of the fact that the interviewee had brought his backpack as that is common since people schedule the interviews between classes sometimes.
However, things got weird when he reached down and unzipped his backpack halfway through the interview.
What did he bring out? A deli sandwich, a bag of combos, and a bottle of soda. And he started eating his lunch while interviewing. I was polite and finished the interview, but he did NOT get a call back.
I get it, you have a bunch of classes and an interview so you have no time for lunch. Eat in your classes. Eat before the interview. Even better, eat after the interview and avoid bad breath and food in your teeth. But for the love of God, do NOT eat during the interview!
The Trash Talker
When interviewing, everyone assumes you had gripes with your past employer. It is common and completely understandable. However, the time to air these issues is NOT during the interview.
I was in an interview with a junior in college. They were interviewing for an internship and, just like in the above case, were looking very promising. They had worked for a company for the past few years, so I asked them why they decided to leave after putting so much time in.
Their initial answer was great. They explained that they had learned so much from the job but felt they were growing in a different direction. They wanted to try out a different industry that offered them more excitement and the ability to apply their knowledge in a less structured manner. Great, I thought… I was looking for a candidate that was able to think on their toes!
Unfortunately for him, though, he got nervous that there was silence and kept on talking. Silence can really rattle a candidate and make them say or do things they would otherwise never dream of doing! He went on to talk about how a new boss had just come to the company who was an absolute idiot. He was putting policies into place that the interviewee did not agree with.
We chose to disqualify him from our application process. Why? One of the most effective ways to find good candidates is through word of mouth marketing. Would I rather hire a cocky junior in college who may just bad mouth our company (and our brand) once he leaves or someone who would speak better of us once they leave? And besides, he started making me wonder if it was the boss who was the idiot, or him.
The Money Grubber
What if the first thing you saw when you came to my site was, “SUBSCRIBE TO MY BLOG!!” Before giving you any reason to subscribe, any content to show that I am worthwhile, any back story of why you should follow me… I ask you to dedicate yourself to me. That seems backwards.
Well, enter this nice young lady who is interviewing for an entry level marketing position. I would later find out that she has the sense of entitlement that many people claim is a product of Generation Y.
She seems like she is interested in the job, she is nodding along as I talk. She answers the questions I ask very well. About midway through the interview I give her an opening to really impress. I ask, “Do you have any questions for me at this moment?” This could have allowed her to ask some really good questions relating to the company, the industry, trends, and a number of other questions… but what did she ask?
What’s the pay for this job? And how do raises work?
Ouch. I quickly finished the rest of the interview, skimming over things I normally took a little longer to discuss. She asked a question that took her directly to jail, do not pass go, do not collect $200.
The Lady of the Night
A common saying in regards to careers is “dress for the job that you want, not the one you have.” Quite simply it means that you should dress up a level rather than risk looking underdressed for the job you are applying for. If it is a job you hold, instead of wearing jeans and a polo, you could wear khakis and a polo to show that you are a little more serious about the job.
If the girl I was interviewing believed in the saying, then she must have thought she was interviewing for a Corporate Prostitute job. Seriously. Short skirt, tight low cut shirt, bra slightly showing.
On one hand I wanted to give her the marketing job to increase employee morale, but then my professional side told me that was stupid to wear that to an interview and she lacked judgment.
I wound up not giving her a job for obvious reasons.
Any Humorous Additions?
Does anyone have any good additions to this list of four HUGE interview blunders?
Sometimes people learn from their mistakes the best, so I am glad to be part of the above four peoples learning experience. I am sure they went on to become great interviewers!
I'm MLR. After graduating from college debt free, I decided to write a blog encouraging people to adapt responsible and sensible personal finance rules.
July 7th, 2009 at 10:29 am |
Sitting in an Herman Miller Aeron chair (pic) during an interview is BAD, because they are sooooooo comfortable (we have two at home for our office) . . .
sekishin´s last blog ..haiku #7
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MyLifeROI Reply:
July 8th, 2009 at 6:03 am |
@sekishin,
Haha! I love that you know what kind of chairs those are :)
I didn’t even notice. Nor do I know what kind of chairs they are. Where could I find one to try out? Staples? Office Depot? Or are they too nice for those stores?
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Mark Fitzgerald Reply:
February 5th, 2010 at 10:55 pm |
@MyLifeROI,
I would not ever recommend those chairs, especially if you have an air conditioned office. A former employer of mine bought each employee in his office the Aeron chair simply because he thought they looked cool. Well, when I sat in that chair the first day I received mine, my ass literaly froze due to the cool office air conditioning traveling through the mesh seat. It was like sitting on one of those 1960’s style lawn chairs. You’re better off with the Zito Chair from Haworth.
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July 7th, 2009 at 10:35 am |
Haha I can’t believe someone would actually EAT during an interview!! I was on the hiring committee a few hires back one of the questions I asked was “what are your greatest accomplishments” and she started to tell us about her children, very proud of her son who was 3rd year university and she spent about 10mins talking about them! I get that being a mother is a hard task and raising kids is not easy but spending 10 mins of our interview time how great your kids are……………
Ray´s last blog ..Dealing with Collection Agencies- Tips on Handling Collection Agencies
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MyLifeROI Reply:
July 8th, 2009 at 6:06 am |
@Ray,
Yeah, I couldn’t believe it either. At least he got a good lunch in before his class!
And oh man, that would have been a good story for my post. I agree… being a mother is a hard task and raising kids isn’t easy… but you need to tailor your answer to the jobs responsibilities! (I take it she wasn’t applying to be a nanny)
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sekishin Reply:
July 8th, 2009 at 6:53 am |
@MyLifeROI,
They generally run $700-900 for new, though some can be found “refurbished” for less. You might try http://www.hermanmiller.com/Where-To-Buy to find a location to try one out. We have had one of ours for almost 12 years and just had some warranty work to fix our older chair. Although very expensive, I feel they are a great value.
sekishin
sekishin´s last blog ..haiku #7
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July 7th, 2009 at 8:15 pm |
It’s pretty much a wonder that I haven’t embarrassed myself so far in an interview (knock on wood!), especially considering the fact that a) I’ve been on many in the past few months, and b) that I often seem to cause awkward moments for myself (just ask MLR). Of course, awkward moments are usually fun to laugh at, but not when they occur at an interview for a job you really want!
I did have one odd interview experience though, when I was a sophomore in college. I wanted to get a summer job at this marketing company, but the woman interviewing me had an incredibly sore throat, to the point where she was whispering all of the questions. It was such a quiet atmosphere that found myself whispering back once or twice without meaning to! Very strange interview to say the least.
HerLifeROI´s last blog ..Top Interview Blunders
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MyLifeROI Reply:
July 8th, 2009 at 6:18 am |
@HerLifeROI,
I could see you doing that. If only all of the readers had the pleasure of knowing you it would make this comment that much funnier! :)
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July 7th, 2009 at 9:05 pm |
When I was finishing up high school I had a very important job interview. One big problem. The weekend before the interview I was involved with a fight (long story) which ended up with me receiving a black eye. I almost canceled the job interview but my parents ended up persuading me to go.
Skip forward to the interview: I get asked about the black eye which I claimed was from being on the school wrestling team (which I was in grade 11). The best part was that I ended up getting the job with the black eye!
Studenomics´s last blog ..How To Prevent Getting Scammed By All-You-Can-Eat Buffet’s
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MyLifeROI Reply:
July 8th, 2009 at 6:20 am |
@Studenomics,
Who said a little white lie couldn’t help? :)
That IS funny. I don’t know what I would do. Makeup to try and hide it? But they would still probably see it and wonder why I am hiding it. Explain it? Tough one. Ignore it? Yeah, right.
You handled it well :)
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July 8th, 2009 at 12:05 pm |
Nice one ;)
AG´s last blog ..Facebook + Starbucks + Friend => A Free Icecream Pint
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July 10th, 2009 at 12:05 am |
the interview can make or break an applicant’s chance of being hired.
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July 10th, 2009 at 12:41 pm |
I think the asking how much pay happens pretty often, but yes it is rather off-putting when they’re obsessed with it.
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July 23rd, 2009 at 8:00 am |
Ha! We actually interviewed one older gentleman who did pretty well during the interview. When he was finished, he stood up and KISSED the woman who was interviewing him. It was only on the cheek but she was so shocked she almost fell over. Now my number 1 interview tip is No Kissing on the first interview.
CindyS´s last blog ..Top 10 Things I’d Like To Teach My Children About Money
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October 2nd, 2009 at 12:56 pm |
It reminds me of a situation years ago when my manager interviewed someone who was clearly VERY nervious.
My manager was able to put the candidate at ease and found out that in order to be on time for the interview the candidate arrived early but couldn’t find any legal parking, after driving around for an hour she finally park too close to an intersection and she was nervous about getting a parking ticket. My manager said don’t worry about it – go back out, find a legal parking spot and then come back in when you are ready.
Long story short – she was hired and turned out to be a fantastic addition to the team. So, sometimes you, as an interviewer, really have to do some extra work with candidates.
Remember, just as not everyone does well in school with test-taking but are still smart people; Not everyone does well with resume writing, job interviewing, and other non-job-related skills but they still make great additions to the team.
That being said it really is a tough call to make as to whether this person just doesn’t interview well or really does not and will not have good (or even half-way decent) communication skills.
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MyLifeROI Reply:
October 3rd, 2009 at 9:58 am |
@UH,
That was definitely a good call on your manager’s part. Every situation is definitely different and the manager should work hard to get a pulse on the situation. Every now and then they may feel it out incorrectly, but they should try and not write people off immediately. As you said, their are people who are great at interviews and people who aren’t… and it’s been established that the interview rarely translates to job performance!
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January 23rd, 2010 at 3:06 pm |
Great post and comments! Hard to believe that with the plethora of interview advice, interviewees can make such blunders.
How about the candidate who stated that he was not “a morning person” when asked “Tell me about yourself?”
Michal Orenstein-Orpaz
Career Counselor, Consultant and Coach
Best Fit Careers
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February 3rd, 2010 at 10:08 pm |
I have two stories for you…
During a recent interview, we just finished telling the interviewee that the system test team consisted of just over 20 people of which she would join if she was the successful applicant. One of my questions was “do you prefer to work as part of a team or individually.” To my amazement (and the other interviewers as well), she said “definitely individually.” She went on to say that sometimes she doesn’t work well as part of a team. We were shocked. We wrapped up that interview extremely quickly after that doozie.
The second story was during another interview for the same position (oh yes, we had our share of “are you kidding me” candidates during this stretch). This was a phone interview as the interviewee lived in a different city. As usual, I would start the interview off with a fairly general question to get the candidate talking. What happened next, none of us could believe. He started answering the question and then just kept talking and talking and talking. He definitely knew his stuff about testing. We tried to interrupt him about 3 times before finally muting the phone, looking at each other and asking if this was some kind of prank that someone pulled on us. We eventually cut in after 20 minutes of his rambling but his fate was sealed. We asked two more quick questions, cutting him off after he gave the answer (or the interview may still be going on). He did not get the job, for obvious reasons.
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MyLifeROI Reply:
February 8th, 2010 at 1:21 pm |
@Brian Wawryk,
I guess she also answered the question “Do you know the difference between hearing and listening?” She heard your question, but she didn’t listen… that’s for sure!
And man oh man at the second story. I’ve always told people that silence is OK when they are interviewing. You don’t need to constantly be speaking. Say what you want in a concise manner and if there is a moment of silence — that’s fine. It shows you are confident in your own skin!
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February 7th, 2010 at 5:18 pm |
A few years ago, I was in charge of interviewing candidates for several IT positions for a non-profit foundation in L.A..
A candidate asked me for my cell phone number right after the interview and I immediately gave him my business card so he can call should he have any questions. SOP. In his interestingly unique nervous demeanor, he asked me if he can buy me a drink that Friday night. What made matters worse was when he said, “They have $5 happy hour specials on mixed cocktails. I usually never buy a woman a drink unless she’s hot. I’ll buy you as many as 6 if you want.” I don’t remember if my heels where thick enough to smack him in the head without punching a hole in his brain. I couldn’t even kill a poor mosquito.
I think barf bags should be installed under conference room tables and HR interview rooms.
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MyLifeROI Reply:
February 8th, 2010 at 1:22 pm |
@GeekLady,
Hey, I’ll buy you 7. :p
Not only is that completely unprofessional, but a terrible pick up line. Guess he didn’t get the job :)
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