| Definite Interview Don'ts
You would think that any normal person would know better, but apparently
not. Here are some examples of hilariously bad behavior interviewers
report as actually happening during interviews with potential job
candidates:
- Applicant claimed to be so well qualified that if he didn't get
the job, it would prove the company's management was incompetent.
- Applicant stretched out on the floor to fill out the job application.
- Applicant brought her large dog to the interview.
- Applicant chewed bubble gum and constantly blew bubbles.
- Applicant kept giggling through serious interview.
- Applicant wore a Walkman, claiming she could listen to the interviewer
and the music at the same time.
- Balding applicant abruptly excused himself and returned to the
office a few minutes later, wearing a hairpiece.
- Applicant challenged the interviewer to arm wrestle.
- Applicant asked to see the interviewer's resume to see if the
personnel executive was qualified to interview him.
- Applicant announced she hadn't had lunch and proceeded to eat
a hamburger and french fries during the interview.
- Without saying a word, applicant stood up and walked out during
the middle of the interview.
- Applicant wore a jogging suite to interview for the position of
financial vice-president.
- Applicant said if he were hired, he would demonstrate his loyalty
by having the corporate logo tattooed on his forearm.
- Applicant interrupted to phone his therapist for advice on answering
specific interview questions.
- Applicant refused to get out of his chair until interviewer agreed
to hire him. Interviewer had to call the police to have him removed.
- When asked about his hobbies, applicant stood up and started tap
dancing around the interviewer's office.
- Applicant had a miniature pinball game and challenged the interviewer
to play with him.
- Applicant bounced up and down on the office carpet and told interviewer
she must be highly thought of by the company to get such a thick
carpet.
- Applicant removed a hairbrush from the interviewer's purse, brushed
his hair, and left.
- Applicant pulled out a Polaroid camera and snapped a flash picture
of the interviewer. He claimed to collect photos of everyone who
interviewed him.
- Applicant asked interviewer if he would put on a suit jacket to
ensure the offer was formal.
- Applicant said he wasn't interested because the job paid too much.
- While the interviewer was in the middle of a long-distance call,
the applicant took out a copy of a popular men's magazine and looked
at the photos only, stopping longest at the centerfold.
- During the interview, an alarm clock went off in the applicant's
briefcase. He took it out, shut it off, apologized, and said he
had to leave for another interview.
- A telephone call came in for the job applicant. His side of the
conversation went as follows: "Which company? When do I start?
What's the salary?" When the interviewer said he assumed the
applicant was not interested in completing the interview, he promptly
responded "I am, as long as you'll pay me more." The interviewer
did not hire him, and later found out there was no other job offer--it
was a scam to get a better offer.
- Applicant arrived wearing only one shoe, and explained the other
was stolen off her foot on the bus.
- Applicant's attaché case opened when he picked it up and
the contents spilled, revealing women's undergarments and assorted
makeup and perfume.
- Applicant came to the interview with a moped and left it in the
reception area. He didn't want it to get stolen, and stated he would
require indoor parking for the moped if he were hired. He wasn't.
- Applicant removed his right shoe and sock, removed a medicated
foot powder, and dusted it on the sole of his foot and in the shoe.
While he was putting the shoe and sock back on, he mentioned he
had to use the powder four times a day, and this was the time.
- Applicant said he didn't really want to get a job, but the unemployment
office needed proof he was looking for one.
- Applicant whistled while the interviewer was talking.
- Applicant asked who the "lovely babe" in the picture
was. When the interviewer said it was his wife, applicant asked
if she was home now and wanted the interviewer's phone number. The
interviewer called security.
- Applicant threw up on the interviewer's desk and immediately started
asking questions about the job, like nothing had happened.
- Pointing to a black case he'd carried into the interviewer's office,
applicant stated if he were not hired, the bomb would go off. Disbelieving,
the interviewer began to state why applicant would never be hired
and that he was going to call the police. The applicant then reached
down to the case, flipped a switch, and ran. No one was injured,
but the interviewer did have to get a new desk.
- Applicant sits down in interviewer's office, leans back, puts
his feet on her desk, and proceeds to tell her why he should have
her job.
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