13 dumb job-interview moves

OK. What about interviews with companies who don’t know how to conduct an interview? Here is a sample of what I have experienced: company reschedules interview FOUR times only hours before hand, ‘professional’ org is wearing ratty jeans at the interview, offering $7.50 an hour for a “Director” position, requiring a college degree for a job that pays $7.50 an hour and a masters degree for a job that pays $12 an hour, expecting a salaried employee to work 50-60 hours a week (slave labor), keeping the applicant waiting an HOUR for the interview, and, my personal favorite, the bait and switch: I apply for one job and end up getting offered a totally different job for much less pay.

a sr. director for a high-tech company interviewed a sr. engineer while she was breast-feeding. i knew it after 8 months of being my boss. uggghhhh . . .

I actually had a friend that was running late for a job interview. He got cut off by another car so he gave them the finger and said few things to them. When they got to interview the person was running late also due to an irate driver on way to work. Guess who! He still could nto figure out why he didn’t get the job. he honestly felt he had showed how bad he wanted it.

When i told a job seeker engineer after his interview that he got selected …he hugged me and kissed my hand!!!!!!!!

I hadn’t updated my resume i had posted in an online HR, a friend had recommended me a few years back. I have a job but i figured out i have to move on and find another, so i had kept myself busy updating my online resume and sending it with job applications to companies listed as looking for someone in my profession. i finally got a call for an interview. i was so exited that i told my friend to come also since they told me they are looking for other positions too. The interview was going to be conducted inside a college campus. when it came for my turn, the interviewer kept me speaking for about 30 minutes regarding my family background, what i just did before i came in, and other questions that i really hate. i was surprised when after the interview they gave me an exam which similar to a quiz given by a college speech class. it was ok for me but my friend was interviewed for about 10 minutes only, and was not given the exam. i got a text message an hour later telling me to come for a second interview. later my friend told me that a friend of his inside the campus had told him that the company who just interviewed us is a call center looking for call center agents and representatives. I’m a CPA looking for a job related to my field!

i found out later that i had not sent them my resume. I don’t know how they got it. Needless to say, i did not go back for a second interview. About the online HR, well, i never accessed their website again.

I was interviewing a woman at a restaurant when right before I offered her the job the waiter spilled an entire drink in her lap. The white dress became see-through and she was so embarrassed she ran out. I felt horrible and tried the next day to contact her with the offer, but no answer. I’ve never interviewed in a restaurant since.

After my second four hour interview with the same company, I asked the manager what the next step in the interviewing process would be. Up until this point, I had given them almost 8 hours of my time for absolutely FREE. The manager said to me… “You wouldn’t buy the first used car you saw, would you?”.

They offered me the job 2 weeks later, I turned them down.

Just a tip for companies… Don’t refer to your applicants as “used cars”.

I was on a panel that was interviewing people for an office position. At the conclusion of the interview with the first candidate, we asked if she had any questions. She said no questions but she told us she hosted naughty lingerie parties and proceeded to pass out her business cards.

She didn’t get the position.

Just interviewed for two positions at the FED.

The first panel interview (I really hate these) was conducted by people who had severe social anxiety and fear of public speaking (they said so at the beginning of the ‘interview’ and all of them read straight from a sheet of paper. I was very concise and ended up trying to put everyone else at ease as they were having panic attacks.

The second panel interview was worse: 12 women and all ex HR managers forced laterally into management positions. They were nasty, resentful and the interview ended up being a therapy session amongst themselves. One mocked my writing sample (I’ve published, won writing awards and am considered an excellent writer). When I asked what kind of writing the position would entail, she sniffed at me. The last time I was ’sniffed at’ was by our Golden Retriever. Additionally, these lovely women were recording the interview and the digital recorder kept pinging loudly as it interfered with other digital devices such as the lead interviewers’ blackberry. The recorder was very loud and very distracting. I had to stop talking several times and wait for the damned thing to stop pinging.

The entire experience was just really sad.

I was at an interview for a marketing position at a platic surgeon’s office. He did the interview while he was operating on some women. Terrible judgment.

I was a recruiter for 12 years. There are dumb employers too - yet you never hear about those. One of my favorites is the CEO of a Fortune 1,000 company who would bring his pet beagle to the office. While interviewing a highly qualified candidate for a vice president position, the CEO’s beagle lifted his leg and peed on the candidate’s pants. Rather than apologize, the CEO said: “Well if Max doesn’t like you, then I won’t hire you.”

In interviewing prospective Animal Control Officers I’ve seen them show up in shorts, flip flops, head bandannas, etc. but the worst was a woman who came to the interview dressed in a string bikini with a lace coverup stating she was headed to the beach afterwards… I said please don’t let me keep you!

When I worked as a recruiter I always tried to make the applicant comfortable. However one young lady surprised the heck out of me when she put her feet up on my desk a short while into the session.

Had a candidate interviiewing for a Sr. IT position in a New York company and did great until the last question. The interviewer asked “Where do you see yourself in 2 or 3 years”. The candidate promptly answered “Back in Japan, I really don’t like it here”.

I am a recruiter for one of the Top 3 Wireless Carrier’s in the country. I scheduled a candidate for a face to face interview and she brought her 3 children with her to the interview. She said she figure it was okay because on our website we are listed as the top employer for working mothers. i was okay until she starting breaestfeeding the smallest child.

I work for a delivery service. Several driver applicants have gotten lost on the way to the office, which is on a major road along a major river. Others brought their young children along.

I once had an interview at a major temp agency. I showed up 10 minutes early. They made me wait 1-1/2 hours. I told them I had to leave for another interview. They rushed me through a typing test and said they would call me. I never heard from them again.

I once applied for a Web Developer position at a college. The interview was rescheduled twice because the interviewer had 2 deaths in the family. When I finally interviewed, he started by asking me why I wanted to be a camp counselor. He was interviewing me for the wrong position. The Web Developer position had been filled.

I used to be a manager for a movie theater and interviewed this 17 year old kid for his “first” job. I was going over how to fill out his work permit when he said he already knew what to do from when he worked at Kroger.
His first reason for not listing it on his application or answering my question truthfully on previous work experience? He didn’t know the store’s address! He finally admitted to being fired for playing with the grocery carts like Johnny Knoxville and his friends.

I was sitting in during an interview when the applicant was having a bit of a “gas leak.” The room got so bad that the interviewer and myself had to leave the room and stated that we needed to “discuss” our opinions. We waited about ten minutes before reentering the methane filled office.

I was interviewing for a staff accountant job and tried to sell the interviewer a prepaid ATM card.

The worst thing that ever happened to me on an interview was I put a pen in my pocket without the top and had a big blue stain on my white shirt. The interviewer insisted I remove my jacket to relax and didn’t realize it had happened. I don’t think he heard a word I said after that.

I told my interviewer that he was intimidating. I thought this was the dumbest thing I ever said.
3 months later he called me and wanted me to work for him, and I said no as I had already taken another job.

Ah! Once I applied to a very pricey and famous resort for a mangement position. Got hired. At the “property 101″ lectures with other new employees we got a speech from the security manager. The person said in various ways to all that they didn’t like thieves, that they will keep an eye on us 24/7, that they can go thru our pockets even if required if they suspected theft, etc.etc…..I was hired as top management, obviously I knew the “do-don’t do basic rules of any job”, yet after that “angry lecture” I really felt this man thought we all were thieves and he was out to get us! I declined the position the next day. Not because I am a thieve but because a company that thinks their employees (total employee distrust without valid reason) are didn’t fit with my views of ideal work environment.

Remember one position in the hospitality field I was applying to in the newest celebrity filled hotel in a major city in the USA….Showed up and saw at least 400pp waiting for interviews…I decided “forget it” and was about to walk away when a gentleman comes to me and asks to see my CV, interviews me on the spot, hires me on the spot on a better position then the one I was applying to. When asked later why that happened, the GM said “liked the attitude you brought in, the confidence to leave interview that implied “I don’t need this” and the trendy name brand attire I was wearing….Sounds superficial but that is thas hotel co. mentality, employees with attitude yet diplomacy that get things done. It doesn’t work for all companies of course, it did for this one and in 5yrs there got 6 promotions.

Also! Depending on the company philosophy you apply to you might be or not the right person for…..I am always direct and to the point with my employees, no endless pleasantries to get the job done properly, and the results of your area being better than expected is the only thing that proves you were the right choice when hired… After all, a CV can say a lot of great things but that doesn’t mean you can do a particular job better, only hands on work and time will confirm to your boss if you were the right choice hired.

It has always worked for me when wanting a job to “attack” in every way…First personalized email asking re position avail and attached CV, then the same in an envelope delivered to the actual office on the interviewer, then a call-short voice mail touching base if the person received the information sent and sometimes I actually get interviewed on the spot if the person is avail and free. And face it, sometimes regardless of what a CV says it’s also about personal chemistry with the interviewer and basic social diplomacy that can move that CV to a job offered……

We were interviewing for a white collar, management analyst position that was 100% indoors. A truck driver got through the vetting process. OK, no problem, but he showed up in his trucker clothes (jeans and flannel shirt). He did not make a good first impression with my old-school boss.
When in doubt, call first or dress up.

Sometimes I am completely incoherant when speaking and at others times I sound lyrical.

Unfortunately, in my experience I never know which it is going to be; though it does seems me incoherance follows that of the interviewers.

Mike, San Clemente: Ask what you should wear. Shows respect for their company culture. When in doubt, suit and tie. If you are overdressed, laugh it off and say you always wear a tie to an interview out of respect.

Once in a job fair I asked a candidate about his family background and if he had any siblings, she said “I don’t have siblings but I have one mother one father” (what a conincident so do the rest us of us) to the second questions she said “I don’t have siblings but I have one elder brother and one younger sister” –

Few days back I and my colleagues had a job candidate coming into the office to make a presentation on research methodology for the final interview. He made the presentation on his laptop and as he ended the presentation his screen saver with all these nude models in various poses came up and cost him his job

There was large interview session with many in attendance being interviewed. At end of meeting interviewees went up to their interviewers to shake their hands. Reached into right pants pocket & hand got full of ink. I shaked the
interviewer’s right hand w/my left hand. In some circles this is not
right for the left hand is using for
wiping oneself after toliet use. But,
I didn’t want the guy to get ink on his shirt & tie. No matter.

Interviewed a fresh grad once and he gave the ‘best’ answers I ever heard. Asked him what were his worst subjects in university and why? He replied accounting because, “I can never balance the books and dont understand what’s behind the numbers”. To my horror, I replied, and you are applying for a position in an audit firm? He uttered “Oh crap” and that was the end of the interview.

My cousin told me this story. She was being interviewed for a banking position, when the interviewer said: “So, you studied in St. Scholastica’s?” My cousin said she didn’t. The interviewer insisted and said, “It says in your resume, ‘Scholastic Record.’”

I’ve had several job interviews which lasted only 5 minutes and the last question being, “How much are you getting right now?” What’s with that? In the most recent one (I was probably feeling bitchy that day or I just didn’t like the interviewer), I bloated my previous salary by five times. Her eyes literally became saucers and I never heard from the company again.

Let’s see, where do I start?

There was the time I was having a candid conversation with a senior-level practioner about his business press relations. It turns out he completely lied about knowing a very well known and respected tech columnist (no, not David Kirkpatrick but David knows him well) who’d never even heard of the candidate. It’s a small world people, did you not think I would check?

Then there was the time a mid-level candidate with a few year’s of experience came wearing boots with a zipper held up by a paper clip. It was like the opening scene straight out of “Pretty Woman” but without the charm.

There’s the “youngin’s” coming out of schools these days who have poor writing skills, and are too lazy to bother sending individual email cover letters to their prospective employers. I have received probably six or more of these blanket emails in the past three years where the recent grad solicits at least 10 firms in the same email saying how much they admire their firm and would “love” an interview. Unfortunately, they don’t even bother to spellcheck. When I once responded to the clueless offender, who had recently graduated from a respected journalism/PR school, her response was that she took that approach because it was “so much easier for her.” Gosh, I’m so glad it was easier for her.

Annie here — Jane, I couldn’t agree more! I hear from so many job seekers who are just left hanging (at a time when, if they are unemployed, they don’t need any added stress… Even taking 30 seconds to send an e-mail would be so much better than nothing. How about it, job interviewers?

I work for a very large company. They encourage employees to recommend people when they are hiring as opposed to paying recruiting fees for hired candidates. Twice I have recommended people who interviewed with HR and department managers in earnest, but did not get the job. More importantly, the candidates never got any responses to their follow up thank you notes, or communication inquiring about their standings for the position.

Even a standard or automatic “Dear John” letter, would have been better than no response at all. Needless to say, my company’s lack of common courtesy was embarassing to me. You can be sure I won’t be recommending my friends to work here without giving them fair warning.

Prior to an interview, I had petted a cat which induced such a severe allergic reaction, that my nose became swollen. And I mean- big, red and obviously not the nose that goes with my face. Regardless, I made the best of it and had a few laughs with the interviewee. And guess what? I got the job..

what about when someone has a strong cough drop smell and says they’e ill so can’t shake hands? keep on coughing and getting up,out of the room allegedly because of it? stay home.

I once interviewed a candidate who listed on his resume “Transportation Director at Target.” When I asked him to elaborate, it came out that he was the guy who pushed the carts back into the store. Still makes me giggle!

During an interview I once had, the interviwer arrived wearing some wrinkled and poorly fitted clothes. Her leg kept moving up and down and she talked so fast, you would think she needed to go bathroom or something.

I recently interviewed a person for a position in my agency. During the interview, not once, but twice, he commented about the size of my breast. (not hired!)

I blew one of the best job opportunities of my career by being indecisive. I was the finalist for the head of two different departments,when asked which one I preferred, I told them I would do well at either one. Unfortunately, they were looking for a leader, not a follower.

When I was ingerviewing parents for children’s nursery admissions, a couple came along, saw that it was I, a woman interviewing, excused himself and went home- came back after hal an hour, sans his wife (saying she had suddenly fallen ill),changed into a se-through shirt, doused himself in perfume, and instead of answering my questions, kept giving me romantic looks !
The child must have taken after h ois sensible mother, for he did get into our Nursery School, and despite a creepy papa became one of the school’s super kids !

One guy rearranged my entire office while we interviewed. Lots of nervous energy I guess. In another interview I asked the person why he wanted to work here. He replied, “because I just can’t find anything else.” He’s probably still looking for work.

I was interviewing applicants for a position which required the applicant to be able to accept complaint calls from customers. Friendliness and cheerfulness was very important.
One of my interviewees had a two word vocabulary (Yup and Nope) throughout the entire interview. Even open ended questions, such as “Can you expand on that?” got a “Nope”

Going to a job interview over dinner. They are flying me from coast to coast. I wonder if I should wear a suit and tie or go business casual. The climate at the interview is hot this time of year. Any suggestions?

At the end of a typical interview with someone that was well qualified, the interviewee said “Any red flags as to why I’m seeking a job?” and so we said “Sure, why?” he replied “I was let go due to poor performance!”

Interviewed during college for an asst. mgr. job at a mall retailer, up against an existing employee. I got the job because on his application he answered the question “Do you use drugs?” with, are you ready for this… “Yes. But only when I have the money.”

An online resume website once asked for your ‘ideal job’… I put down that “Ideally, I would be sitting on a beach, laptop in hand, case of cold beer to my side, and selling the $ short vs. the Euro.” I received several job interviews generated by that online resume / remark. I was offered positions but after sorting the insurance, banking and other job offers for a month, I packed my bags and headed to Mexico. I really miss being young.

I was being interviewed by two managers for a technical position.
One of the gentlemen did all the talking.
The other just sat there picking his nose throughout the entire interview.
They offered me the job. I didn’t take it.

This candidate shows 30 minutes late for interview (GPS error, he said).

Apologizes and starts the interview. After a min, requests for rest room break. He was never came back.

I had a full day interview at a company which included lunch. During lunch, I order a meal which included rice. Some how a rice grain got stuck in my throat and caused my to caugh continuously and my eyes became red and teary. I caughed so much I did not enjoy the meal and never got the job. Lesson learned, next time order something simple.

I had an interview for a job as an ATM engineer. The job was with a large Telecom operator. I thought ATM was the machine where you get money. It was actually Asyncronous Transfer Mode, a wire line technology. The interviewer discovered that I had no idea so he educated me. I did not get the job but took some classes on the subject and later developed expertise on that technology.

I’m Italian and in my city (St. Louis) there is a mostly Italian neighborhood called “The Hill”. During an interview at AG Edwards, the hiring manager asked me if I was from “Dago Hill”. Real smooth! What a moron.

My first real job out of high school involved some chemistry and environmental conservation work. I showed up for the interview in a suit and tie and was graciously complemented on the fact that I was the only intern to show up in a suit and tie. I thought to myself, “Wow, this should be a shoe in for this summer job!”

As the interview progressed, unknowingly to the company’s representatives, I was leaving in 3 months to finish working on a chemistry and chemical engineering degree in another city. To their surprise I wrote this in my cover letter and made a note of this fact in my resume.

To my surprise I got the job and when I moved back home after the end of the following semester and the decision to change universities I still had the job 16 weeks later. From my point of view, be honest and candid with the company you are interested in working with and they will reward you.

My college roommate, on a interview for a summer internship, when asked by his female interviewer what his dislikes were, answered….Women’s Basketball!!!

I had to hire 50 people for a NFL football summer training camp. The job would last for 2 1/2 months and required serving food, working concession stands etc. I had interviews scheduled every 15 minutes for over 4 hours. Needless to say, most everyone was hired. I was about 20 in, when I sat down with one applicant. I reviewed his application, no issues,I looked at him, without me saying a word, he said, ” I can bring you my criminal record if you want.” I said, why don’t you do that, and get back to me.

I was interviewing for a couple positions at the time and told one of the companies straight up that they were not my first choice…needless to say I never heard from them again.

I got moved to management recently and one of the first things I had to do was hire some people to do my old job. One of the first candidates was a guy I worked with 7 years prior who at the time was notable for smelling like smoke, not doing his job, and quitting with no notice in the middle of a big job.

So he shows up at the interview, takes one look at me and said “I remember you.” and the wind went out of his sails. Thankfully he was going to get a fair shake even with what I knew about him, and one of my co-managers was also sitting in on the interview.

Anyway, he spent the ENTIRE interview trashing every job he’d ever had and everyone he’d ever worked with. It was astonishing. We just let him talk and talk.

He even slipped up at one point and started trashing me before he realized who he was talking about was sitting right there.

He did not get the job of course.

When I was fresh out of college I continued on in night school for a masters. However, my company sent me to inverview on my campus for more engineers so I actually ended up interviewing my actual and former classmates — so I had inside knowledge on which ones would fit in to the company. Needless to say I never reccomended any of clowns for a job. However, two things happened:

1) A guy I rejected for a job ended up as my boss about 6 years later.

2) I interviewed on campus two years in a row and a classmate who I rejected for a job (and was actually tutoring the subject matter in a very remedial way because he just did not get it) actually had the nerve to inverview with me both years!!

Once I tried interviewing for a job as a price checker at a Dollar Store. They subsequently asked me to leave.

Had a person apply for a facilities engineer position, when he picked up the application he was intoxicated, slurring words and was virtually incoherent.

Later, he retruned and dropped off is application, wherein He had put on his app the reason for applying was to keep his parole officer off his back about getting a job, and listed under hobbies - smoking pot and getting drunk while playing his guitar by the lake.

Thinking that was the last we would see or hear from him, weeks later he came into the office with a 12 pack of beer in hand, and obviously drunk (again) demanding to speak with the hiring manager, because he was incensed that he had not received a call for an interview!

During an interview I had a candidate reply to the question “Name a time in which you jumped to a decision before thinking it out fully?” He replied…”I asked my girlfriend to move in within after a month and found out she was not what I was looking for so I kicked her to the curb!”

A boss in a small company once interviewed a canidate for a technical position, but never asked any technical questions. The person was hired, however, there was major confusion because this person had interviewed for the wrong job posting. This made for a sticky situation. The answer: Don’t outsource your HR and make sure the person doing the interviewing is not an idiot.

Let’s concentrate on the companies advertising jobs and those doing the interviewing.

Those which don’t respond unless you are granted an interview. The interviewers who refuse to shake hands because it may show favoritism. The interviewers who state that they are only interviewing you because they had an opening in their schedule, not an opening in the company. Those companies and interviewers who, had the positions been changed, would be more polite, communicative, agreeable and certainly less arrogant.

Our only hope is that interviewers be fired quickly and then see what it is like when looking for a job.

I wonder who all the hotshots and interviewers at Bear Sterns are doing, and how they like having to answer the question, “So, tell me about yourself.”

Some comments here are hilarious. However there are some comments that are just dumb and arrogant–some moves could be misunderstandings.

I was interviewing candidates for a programming position. During the interview, his cell phone rang! He had not turned his phone off! Then, he answered it!! Then, he did not tell the caller that he was busy, he began a conversation. Even if he could have answered my technical questions, (he could not), I would have discredited his qualifications.

At a school I was working at, the superintendent stepped out of his office and told me to look in the window at a candidate for a high school Band position. The interviewee was sitting in almost a fetal position literally sucking his thumb. My superintendent said, “If I make him do that, imagine what 50 high schoolers will make him do. Needless to say he did not get the job. The superintendent told me he had to step out of the office or laugh at the position the interviewee had curled up into.

The college candidate I was interviewing didn’t seem to be listening. I asked if he was following me. He responded that he didn’t need to know what I was talking about unless he got the job.

I wasn’t giving an interview but was performing technical employment testing. The applicant went hypoglycemic during the 50 minute exam, laid down on the floor and passed out. I gave him orange juice, took him to Medical and rescheduled the exam. He passed with flying colors and was hired as a senior tech analyst a month later.

I interviewed someone for an entry level position, and the interview wasn’t going well, so the interviewee started to cry…needless to say the job wasn’t offered.

typically, in the job history, they ask your reason for leaving a job. ok, this one applicant had listed “better job and higher wages”. not bad, except his next job was unemployement.

A friend of mine was interviewing with a financial firm during a recruiter’s “job fair” type of activity and when he returned to the table I asked him if he had checked his zipper before the interview. He said yes, looked down and saw that his shirt tail was sticking straight out through the zipper opening.

It was a broiling summer day in Manhattan, and I was heading to an interview with an ad sales firm I got by making a few cold calls to the firm. When I showed up wearing khakis and a button-down shirt (no tie) the first thing the manager said was “No suit, huh? Most people wear a suit to a job interview.” I laughed it off and said, “Have you been outside? It’s 97 f-in degrees out there, I’d be crazy to wear a suit today. My clients can’t see me over the phone, right?”

He appreciated my no BS attitude and hired me on the spot.

My very first interview for a programming position would have to turn out to be with a boss who was a Mensa (if you don’t know what a Mensa is…you aren’t one!). Not wanting to be disagreeable, when he offered me a cup of coffee I accepted it with a grateful and nonchalant attitude (although I’d never drank a cup in my life). Asking me how I liked it, I replied strongly,forcefully, “BLACK!” I was so fearful that he’d think I was a whimp if I asked for it any other way.

So we sat down for the one-on-one interview, him drilling me with brilliant questions, and me shaking like I had Parkinson’s.

Apparently he liked me enough to invite me out to lunch after the interview, at which time he offered me the job.

He told me that the tab would be on him so I made sure to order on the cheap; I ordered a soup and a salad.

A year later, when his company was going bankrupt, he and I got into a personal conversation about various things — one of them being my alternative lifestyle. He floored me with his ascerbic observation when he told me that he “knew that I was gay” during that first lunch…because if I’d been hetero, I would have ordered “a burger with fries and doused the whole thing with a lot of ketsup”. A big brain equates not with a tactful mouth.

Word of advice: if your boss-to-be is a Mensa…try looking for another job opportunity elsewhere!

I once had an interview with a bank. During the entire interview, the bank officer interviewing me chewed his fingernails.

My candidate didn’t shatter the glass. They walked into the glass wall prior to the interview, had a nose bleed and continued to try to interview with Kleenex stuffed up their nose and head back. I offered to reschedule but they declined. Points for effect, unfortunaley they were not the best candidate.

I was interviewing a candidate one time for a position that would be reporting directly to me. As part of the normal flow of questioning I routinely asked him why he had left his previous job. After hemming and hawing for several seconds, he finally replied, “Well, in hindsight it was probably a bad idea for me to hit my old boss.” Ding!!! See ya’ later…

I once had a candidate bring lunch for themselves and myself. They then proceeded to eat throughout the interview, spilling items in their lap.
SHORT INTERVIEW.

A female colleague and I once interviewed a Muslim man dressed in conservatively in robes and turban. He refused to shake my colleague’s hand, saying he could not touch a woman due to his religion. We respect religious beliefs, but it made the interview very awkward. He did not get the job.

Once, we were interviewing canidates from other departments and as one left my boss asked me “Was that a hickey?” and I replied “Yes.” He responed “Gosh, it’s been so long since I’ve seen one that I kinda forgot what they looked like.”

I had a high school student come to our store for an interview, we are a fortue 500 retail company, with his headphones blaring. When he walked into my office he said, “Wait a minute, cuz this song is almost over.” I was not sure what is priority was, his music or getting a job to pay for his music.

I got an interview for a friend at a company I worked at. Things worked out so well the hiring manager asked me if it was a practical joke. Amongst the ‘highlights’, he wore a wool suit during the summer and sweated profusely during the interview, asked for cigarette, stated “betcha didn’t know that about capacitors”, towards the end of the interview he sighed heavily and bent forward in his chair so far the manager had to stand up and ask if he was ok. Needless to say, he wasn’t hired and that was the last time I recommended anyone for a job wherever I worked.

A candidate was interviewing for a team lead position in my organization, and by all account was doing exceedingly well until… he actually asked if he had to work with other people because he wasn’t a “people person”.

At a 7:30 A.M. interview for a truck driving position, the candidate, while reeking of alcohol, stated he didn’t drink while he was driving. We passed on him.

In my first job, I wrote in my resume - “Can be lazy if not interested” - my friends ridiculed me and adviced that I change the resume immediately before the interview. I realized that it was too lat e to change the resume because it was already in the interviewer’s hands. The interview went very well and the main interviewer read out loud this line in my resume. Then he said - “this is very frank and honest - I like that”. That was my first job I wouldn’t do this now, not sure why I wrote it in my resume then - youth?

I was interviewing a guy some years before… He was fresh out of school.. The interview was on electricals…. I just asked him…
” How does a DC motor start???”

The Answer was…

“dddddrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr……”

That was the last question i asked him…..

See the intelligent folks!!!!

A friend was telling me a headhunter (HH) was giving him some important tips. “Always use the highest quality, heavy bond paper for your resume. Never use something like this.” HH held up a resume on thin, onion skin paper. He crumpled it and threw it into a waste basket. “A company won’t even look at something like that. Now, this is something I can’t stand!” He held up a resume on heavy enough paper, but bright blue. It too was crumpled. “That won’t even get you in the front door.”

I was being interviewed for a high tech job and while the interviewer was introducing himself he mentioned he previously worked at Pillsbury. It struck my funny bone as the Pillsbury dough boy doing high tech so I busted out laughing. He didn’t like it. I still laugh when I think of it.

Just before starting a job interview with a well known CEO I casually accepted a cup of coffee which was placed on the guy’s desk where I was going to sit. As part of the opening introductions I leant forward to shake his hand and my new yellow tie disappeared into the cup. Things went down from there as I alternately tried to wring coffee from my tie and make it seem that it was part of my “getting your attention” act. He never batted an eyelid but I never got the job.
I thought I’d send this in before he did.

A prospective pilot could not get an interview with an airline so he had himself mailed same day service to the HR office. He got the interview but I don’t know if he got the job.

I recently went on a job interview for a promotion within my company. I had done some stuff with the person who was interviewing me previously. When i went to introduce myself and tell him it was nice to finally meet him, I got a stone face and a “well be meeting in the room over to the right”. I knew right then and there i did not want to work for that a person who could act like that.

Ooh, it’s that time of year again! I LOVE the interview blooper columns. I’ve sent stuff to past Ask Annies on the topic, but I just wanna add one more thing: As much as interviewers complain that applicants don’t have it together, probably a third of the people who’ve interviewed me didn’t have it together themselves. I can understand being a big important person, being very busy, and having a lot of resumes to go through. But being poorly groomed, answering phones during the interview, being totally disorganized, and forgetting my name when my resume’s right in front of you — these things tell applicants just as much about the workplace as they would tell you about an applicant…