Each year, HR professionals are asked to share the most over the top stories about interviews they have conducted. Some of these mistakes make the decision not to hire a fairly easy one. Careerbuilder.com recently released the results of its annual survey of over 3,500 hiring managers and HR professionals nationwide. Here are this year’s Top 10 Interview Blunders:
- Candidate answered cell phone and asked the interviewer to leave her own office because it was a “private” conversation.
- 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.”
- Candidate asked the interviewer for a ride home after the interview.
- Candidate smelled his armpits on the way to the interview room.
- Candidate said she could not provide a writing sample because all of her writing had been for the CIA and it was “classified.”
- Candidate told the interviewer he was fired for beating up his last boss.
- When applicant was offered food before the interview he declined, saying that he didn’t want to line his stomach with grease before going out drinking.
- A candidate for an accounting position said she was a “people person”, not a “numbers person.”
- Candidate flushed the toilet while talking to the interviewer during a phone interview.
- Candidate took out a hairbrush and brushed her hair mid-interview.
Employers were also asked about the most common and detrimental mistakes candidates make during an interview. The top 5 mistakes listed were:
- Dressing inappropriately
- Speaking negatively about a current or former employer
- Appearing disinterested
- Not asking good questions
- Not providing specific answers