Candidate leaves interview — right through a glass door
July 7, 2008 by Sam NarisiPosted in: In This Week's E-Newsletter, Interviewing, Latest News & Views
All HR pros have seen job candidates do dumb things. But these interview bloopers are just unbelievable.
Staffing firm OfficeTeam recently asked recruiters and hiring managers about the strangest things they’ve seen interviewees do.
Our personal favorite was the guy who performed well in the interview — but on his way out, he walked right through a glass door, shattering it.
Some of the other highlights:
- One candidate took a personal approach and repeatedly addressed the interviewer by first name — too bad it was the wrong one.
- Another realized halfway through the interview he was applying for the wrong position. He unsuccessfully tried to convince the company he was right for that job, too.
- One particularly dedicated candidate was told he didn’t get the job — and then showed up to work the next day.
What strange behavior have you encountered? Let us know by leaving a comment below.
July 11th, 2008 at 11:12 am
I once interviewed a candidate who evidently felt so at ease in the interview that he leaned back in his chair, took out his nail clippers and began to cut and clean his nails right in front of me! Needless to say, he didn’t get the job!
July 11th, 2008 at 11:38 am
I had a person call wanting to know about the drivers position we had advertised. He saw the TV commerical for Volkswagen which has in it “Driver’s Wanted”.
I also had a person apply for an auto sales position. He wanted to convince us that he could sell even though he had no background in sales. He stated in the interview he would be good in sales because he was doing well selling drugs.
Another sales candidate told us he would be perfect for auto sales and knew all about cars. He certainly had knowledge of cars for he noted on his application that he had a conviction for auto theft.
July 11th, 2008 at 11:52 am
I was interviewing for a receptionist position. The first words out of the person’s mouth were “I need the first week of June off.” I let her have it off, since I didn’t hire her.
July 11th, 2008 at 12:09 pm
Candidate filled out application and when asked who to contact in case of an emergency his reply was “call the ambulance”.
July 11th, 2008 at 12:12 pm
Stupid Interview:
We had a candidate show up for an interview with his mother. I had her sit in our reception area during the interview, but when I started to discuss our benefit package, the candidate had to go get “mamma” to listen in on the company benefit structure.
July 11th, 2008 at 12:40 pm
I had a candidate once who heard my assistant sneeze while he was waiting to see if he could get in for an unscheduled interview. He jumped up, ran out of the office without saying a word and suddenly returned about 5 minutes later wearing a surgical mask. He threw his resume at my assistant (from a distance) and said we could call him if we were interested, then fled again. I let the recruiting firm know about his behavior. They evidently told him what I said, because he called back and threatened to kill us both. Needless to say, we didn’t hire him.
July 11th, 2008 at 1:17 pm
I had an applicant once who insisted I review “every open position” with him (regardless of what he was qualified to do) and when I declined and told him I would discuss only what positions his application referenced or what he was qualified to do, he became verbally combative. I then offered to show him the way out, and he refused to leave my office until I “offered him a job that he agreed with”. When I indicated that I would not be offering him a job at all, he firmly planted himself in a chair and refused to leave. Ultimately, I had to have him removed by police officers. Just another day in HR.
July 11th, 2008 at 1:24 pm
I used to work for a staffing agency and we came across all types of interivew bloopers. One that sticks out in my mind is when I asked a potential job candidate how many days she missed from work in the last year. The candidate answered truthfully, maybe too truthfully, by saying she simply did not feel like going to work!! Needless to say she did not get the position, but in her defense she was simply telling the truth.
July 11th, 2008 at 2:04 pm
Dealing with high stress situations was a large portion of one job I was interviewing for. When I asked the candidate what it would do in a high stress situation where somebody repeatedly asked for information, it responded that it would throw them up against the wall and demand their silence. It would then explain in a low monotone voice that it would contact them when it had the information, and not to bother it again.
July 11th, 2008 at 2:05 pm
I was interviewing a young lady applicant for the position of Casino coctail waitress. I asked her to tell me about her Sales position at a local club. She hopped on my desk and proceeded to take her top off. I soon discovered that her “sales” position was as a stripper.
July 14th, 2008 at 9:00 am
I was interviewing a young man and thought I had found my candidate. I asked him if he was authorized to work in the US, he looked at my hand, seeing no ring, asked me if I would consider marrying him because he did not have proper Id and would need to work under someone else’s name. He even got on one knee and that is when I called security. After that I never forgot my ring again!
July 14th, 2008 at 9:43 am
We had a gentleman come in for an interview for an administrative position. When we asked him what his future goals and plans were, he informed us that he would be very happy being a “house husband” in the future.
July 15th, 2008 at 5:39 pm
I escorted a candidate into the interview room and before we could sit down he blurted out that he would need several personal days in order to donate sperm for his Honey.
August 1st, 2008 at 11:55 am
I struggled through a 30 min interview with a very unusual candidate for Accounts Payable. She left her last job because the boss was always mad at her. When I asked why she stated he was upset because she told the entire office his account was low on funds and they needed to rush to cash thier paychecks. She could not understand how this was confidential. That’s not so bad but as we are riding in the elevator to exit I discussed how I was planning to get some exercise over lunch. She told me that she did not need to work out since her ex boyfriend was back and she found that having sex all the time made her sore enough! She did not get the job and was very lost as to why.
October 23rd, 2008 at 1:44 pm
I had a candidate burp AND fart during an interview; he was hired, though. Engineers get away with everything.