With competition hot for open positions, the pressure is on for job seekers to have flawless interview skills. Sometimes that pressure can cause candidates to make unusual, and sometimes unfavorable, interview mistakes.
A new CareerBuilder survey of more than 2,700 hiring managers reveals the outrageous and common mistakes some candidates make during job interviews.
When asked for the most unusual blunders they’d encountered while interviewing candidates, hiring managers reported candidates who did the following:
- Wore a business suit with flip-flops
- Asked if the interviewer wanted to meet for a drink later
- Said he was “bad at managing money”—during an interview for an accounting job
- Ate lunch in the employee break room after the interview
- Recited poetry
- Mentioned “I don’t really like working with people” in an interview for a customer-service position
- Abruptly ended the interview so he could retrieve his dog, which had gotten loose in the parking lot
- Looked at the ceiling during the entire interview
- Used his experience playing “Dungeons and Dragons” as an example of teamwork
- Filed her fingernails.
Asked to share the most common interviewing mistakes they see in candidates, the hiring managers cited:
- Dressing inappropriately (57%)
- Appearing uninterested (55%)
- Speaking negatively about a current or previous employer (52%)
- Appearing arrogant (51%)
- Answering a cell phone or texting during the interview (46%)
- Failing to provide specific answers (34%)
- Not asking good questions (34%).
Think you can top those gaffes? Share your story about interviews gone awry on the HR Specialist Forum. We’ll be tabulating the best of the worst interview mishaps as part of our celebration of HR Professionals Week.
