14 Responses to “8 bad interviewer habits candidates hate”

1. S.L. Says:
   October 10th, 2008 at 8:19 am

   Stopping to read a resignation letter out loud that was slid underneath the door during the interview.

2. C.L. Says:
   October 10th, 2008 at 11:58 am

   Answering the phone (cell or land line) or texting messages during the interview.

3. M.P Says:
   October 16th, 2008 at 5:27 pm

   Falling asleep. Person i was interviewing to replace felt asleep. when i asked her why is she leaving she said there is so much work there is not enough hours in a day. Go Figure. maybe is she staied awake

4. brookdayton Says:
   October 16th, 2008 at 5:56 pm

   The last company that I interviewed with had to be one of the most unprofessional companies that I have ever dealt with. After stringing me along for well over two months and 3 interviews and telling me that I was their top candidate for the position, they told me that I didn’t have a jewelry background and therefore they couldn’t hire me. But here’s the catch. During three interviews, not one person ever bothered to ask if I had any jewelry experience. Had the first H.R. flunkee asked me about jewelry experience, my candidacy for the position could have been eliminated very quickly. My second interview via a video cam was much more in depth with yet another H.R. flunkee, but again the topic of jewelry experience never came up.

   I should have known something wasn’t quite right with this company the day they called at 3:30 p.m. to see if I could fly across country the following morning for the third interview. Not even 24 hours notice! And here’s the best part, they wanted me to take a 6:00 a.m. flight followed by the interview and fly back home the same day. I would have had to get up at 3:00 a.m. to make a flight that early! This company is apparently too tight to put job candidates up in hotel and/or pay for meals. Guess that saves them money when they fail to screen the candidates properly.

   During the third interview I met with the same H.R. flunkee from the video interview and a senior manager. While we were talking, other candidates for the position kept knocking on the door for their interviews. Apparently this company scheduled back to back interviews every 30 minutes. The interview was rushed, the manager had very little interview experience and it was clear to me at that point that I didn’t want to work for them. I was relieved when they called and said that I had not been the successful candidate. I politely thanked them and couldn’t have gotten off the phone fast enough.

5. Angel Montenegro Says:
   October 17th, 2008 at 11:17 am

   I interviewed for a HR manager position in a hotel, now I know space is limited in a hotel but when they conduct interviews in a 6 x6 offcie with 3 other employees there, I knew that was not the environment I wanted to work in. The ad for the position was up for at least 6 months.

6. KP Says:
   October 17th, 2008 at 12:54 pm

   I interviewed with a VP of HR who was checking her cell phone and e-mails during the interview. She was also looking me up and down, checking out my shoes, hands, nails, etc. I wanted to get up and walk out. I interviewed at another company with a VP of HR and I think the woman was crazy – she started telling me all these personal stories about how she and her husband were fighting about packing for a trip. She also asked inappropriate questions about how many siblings I had, where I fell in the birth order, what sorority I was in at college, who was my personal hero, etc. What freaks!

7. Janie Caldwell Says:
   October 17th, 2008 at 1:06 pm

   I learned many years ago that the interviewer who talks about him/herself in great detail, telling you things that are too personal, has no intention of hiring you, and this was decided before you walked in the room or shortly thereafter. This interviewer is simply spending time with you as a cover. If it ever happens to me again, I will know to expect “the letter” (at best) instead of “the call” because (after telling all) the interviewer never wants to see you again.

8. Shimaksy Xavier Says:
   October 20th, 2008 at 1:35 pm

   I was interviewed by this newbie, or thats how she looked, completely inexperienced, for every answer I gave she made it into a question. She asked me what my weaknesses were and when I said am a bit impulsive yet I try to fast and efficient and choose the best of options I have, which is mandatory for the field I am in, she repeated “are you sure that’s your weakness…I said yes, and its not completely negative in this field and again she asked the same question. irritable.

   She was 30 mins late for the interview and and she interviewed me for 2 hrs, (though i had kept them informed i cannot spare more than 4 mins to 1 hr in their office)… and kept insisting that she wanted to see my work, I had told her I could do something new for her…but cant come up with the work I have done for another company yet she never stopped.

9. brookedayton Says:
   October 20th, 2008 at 2:19 pm

   Back when I was young and green, I used to get calls from companies that wanted to set up appointments either at the airport (pre-9/11) or in the lobbies of hotels. Companies too cheap to pay for a conference room so they would fly the hiring person into a city, have them take a cab to a nearby hotel and tell them to just sit in the lobby and conduct job interviews.

   I went on a few of these. It was a horrible experience. If you weren’t totally distracted by the foot traffic all around you, then it was the constant awareness that some creep was listening in on your interview. Oftentimes, I wondered if it was the person whose interview followed mine. What a nightmare! It didn’t take long for me to figure out that those were not companies that I wished to work for.

10. R. B. Says:
    October 20th, 2008 at 2:34 pm

    I was interviewed once for an HR Manager position in the meeting room of a ritzy hotel. Unfortunately, the environment didn’t “rub off” on the people interviewing me (the Corporate VP of HR, the Division Production Manager and the Division Safety Manager). They used the “f” word so many times I lost count, talked about how they all liked to party / get drunk after work and shared countless inside jokes that were tasteless during the interview. I was glad to get out of there after a couple of hours of this, only to be dismayed when they offered me the job! Needless to say, I nicely and professionally turned it down.

11. R.E. Jones Says:
    October 21st, 2008 at 11:49 am

    I went for an interview recently at a popular South Wales university, and upon my entrance into the interview room, my suspicions on their disorganised standing was confirmed – suspicions founded in the fact that I did not even receive a job description, neither was there one available via their website; but luckily I knew more or less what the post entailed.

    Firstly, one of the interviewers starred continuously, then another kept on glancing out through the window, completely disinterested, who also, upon my entrance, looked at me as though I was dirt, and shook my hand ever so softly and apathetically. Then All through the interview I as asked multiple questions in one – can you tell me this, and this, and this – please – and I was like “wow! Hang on, one question at time please…”

    Then they asked questions that I obviously knew the answers to – i mean it was obvious from my CV – yet they still asked, which showed their lack of understanding for the post compared to my CV, and as a result of asking such questions, did not encourage me to “shine”, as they say… The interview was 20 minutes in duration – and I suspect that it was a complete waste of time?

    What I dislike about such interviews is that through their own incompetence, it forces the interviewee to perform badly – Yes, I suppose I could laid myself down and declare myself – but the invitation did not exist, and I didn’t want to embarrass myself through showing more incentive than what was expected…Oh well – they’re loss!?

12. Peter Says:
    November 1st, 2008 at 10:33 am

    was it cardiff university by any chance! like any university, you are bound to find people who don’t know what they are doing…

13. melody monroe Says:
    April 29th, 2009 at 3:36 pm

    RB: I had that with filthy pigs in countless area offices. All of you need to hear my radio show ‘Day Jobs’ on blog Talk Radio.. come on and tell your story! I am sticking up for the interviewee! So many rarely do. Just had an interview a week or so ago where employees wandered in to ask questions of the boss, who was interviewing me, and the ‘boss’ rudely took phone calls during the interview, on countless interviews. What a showing of lack of respect! And this is them on their best behavior?! It takes 2 minutes to tell your clerk you are interviewing today, hold all calls .

    We have received ALL of the above treatment in interview after interview and somehow it is bring accepted by people. WE needput an end to inappropriate and wrong behavior by these companies and ‘interviewers’. Did you tell the companies of their unprofessionalism? BTW: I don’t have time to waste, so the person saying that mr wants-a-counselor (this happened to me many times, the guy or woman giving all their complaints about the company, their personal life details, DURING an interview!!!) we are not your therapist, we don’t want to hear it. God, how do they get away with this stuff? I have had MANY interviewers ask me my age and marital status during an interview, and sometimes still didn’t get the job! Insult to injury.

14. Prakash K Says:
    June 12th, 2009 at 7:37 pm

    I recently interviewed for a position that seemed like a good one based on the job description. The first phone interview seemed rushed, with the hiring manager saying that he wanted to do a screen first. He kept telling me how busy he was and that he only had 10 minutes (made me wonder why he didn’t reschedule the interview) … anyway, after a week, the HR lady scheduled a 1 hour followup.

    The manager first set up some BS scenario he wanted me to respond to … after 10 minutes I realized that he was on an ego trip and just wanted to show off how much of a business savvy manager he was. Anytime I answered a question, he would try to trap me by asking why I hadn’t said it in a different way. After 20 minutes of this nonsense, I politely told him that this was pointless and I no longer was interested in the position. He sounded genuinely surprised – talk about being clueless!

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