Regardless of the role nerves play in interviews, some statements just make you wonder how candidates made it this far.

Here are 15 of the most memorable interview responses from real people, compiled by CareerBuilder.com:

1. Q: Why did you leave your last job?
A: “I have a problem with authority.”

2. Q: What are your hobbies and interests?
A: [He said] ‘Well, as you can see, I’m a young, virile man and I’m single — if you ladies know what I’m saying.’ Then he looked at one of the fair-haired board members and said, ‘I particularly like blondes.’”

3&4. Q: Do you have any questions?
A: “Can we wrap this up fairly quickly? I have someplace I have to go.”
A: “If I get an offer, how long do I have before I have to take the drug test?”

5.  Q: Why should we hire you?
A: “I would be a great asset to the events team because I party all the time.”

6. Q: Why are you leaving your current job?
A: “Because I (expletive) my pants every time I enter the building.”

7. Q: Why are you looking for a job?
A: “Cigarettes are getting more expensive, so I need another job.”

8. Q: Why do you want to work for us?
A: “Just for the benefits.”

9. Q: What are your assets? (as in strengths)
A: “Well, I do own a bike.”

10. Q: What are your weaknesses?
A: “I get angry easily and I went to jail for domestic violence. But I won’t get mad at you.”

11. Q: When have you demonstrated leadership skills?
A: “Well my best example would be in the world of online video gaming. I pretty much run the show; it takes a lot to do that.”

12. Q: Use three adjectives to describe yourself
A: “I hate questions like this.”

13. Q: Tell of a time you made a mistake and how you dealt with it
A: “I stole some equipment from my old job, and I had to pay for its replacement.”

14. Q: Have you submitted your two weeks’ notice to your current employer?
A: “What is two weeks’ notice? I’ve never quit a job before, I’ve always been fired.”

15. Q: Random responses
A: “May I have a cup of coffee? I think I may still be a little drunk from last night.“

In one recent case, a female candidate sued after she didn’t get a job offer. She claimed the company’s interview process was biased.

Each applicant was asked the same questions by the same four-member panel. The interviewers scored each response. The scores were totaled, and the top candidates were offered jobs.

The woman’s complaints: All the interviewers were male, and the questions, in her opinion, weren’t job-related. The company decided “soft” skills were more important than technical experience, so focused most of the interview on those.

The applicant sued, claiming she was most qualified but rejected because of her gender.

The judge threw her case out. Why?

It wasn’t up to the applicants to decide how they were going to be evaluated. That’s the employer’s job.

What mattered most was that all the candidates were treated the same. There was no evidence that the male panel treated female candidates any differently than men.

Cite: Turner v. Public Service Co. of Colorado

Though most candidates give honest interviews, there are always a few who invent or exaggerate achievements, skills, previous jobs, etc. Here’s how you and your managers can tell when someone’s lying.

There are several non-verbal signals people typically display when they’re telling a lie. These are some of the most common ones you and your managers should watch for during interviews, according to Wayne D. Ford, author of How to Spot a Liar in a Job Interview:

1. Touching the face — for example, scratching the nose or covering the lips or chin
2. Avoiding eye contact, (or, in some cases, looking the listener directly into the eyes for a long time because they’re trying to control eye movement, knowing it’s a giveaway)
3. Sitting farther away from the interviewer than the interviewer intended
4. Using a tone of voice that’s inconsistent with body language
5. Putting a briefcase or other object in the lap
6. Playing with objects (e.g., a pen or coffee mug) or placing them between themselves and the interviewer
7. Using the exact words of the question when formulating an answer
8. Looking down before or while answering a question
9. Using only the mouth when making facial expressions — for example, a natural smile will utilize muscles in the entire face, whereas a liar will only make select movements.

Of course, spotting a liar isn’t an exact science. A perfectly honest person could display any of those signs for a number of reasons — for example, the interviewee may just be nervous.

But they could give you or a manager an indication that more probing questions need to be asked, or tell you what you’ll want to ask about when you check references.

For example, say you get two candidates with similar qualifications — but one is coming from a successful, respected local employer, while the other’s currently with a company that’s gotten bad press. Do those facts impact the hiring decision?

They usually do, but that doesn’t mean they should, says HR expert Kris Dunn. A candidate’s previous employer is only part of the story. Bad people work for good companies all the time, and vice versa.

What you want to find out is what impact the candidate as an individual had on the company’s success. The only way to find that out is to ask for specific examples during the interview — and probe enough to figure out what was really an individual contribution.

New hires at SuccessFactors, a software firm based in San Mateo, CA, are required to sign off on a list of 15 corporate principles.

Number 15: “I will not be an a–hole.”

CEO Lars Dalgaard implemented that policy after years of corporate experience taught him that jerks (as we’ll call them) “stifle performance,” he told the San Francisco Chronicle.

As for the harsh language, he said the rule would be easier to ignore without it.

What also makes the rule tough to ignore is that Dalgaard isn’t afraid to enforce it. One time, he took a group of job candidates out to lunch at a local restaurant. Those who weren’t friendly to the waitstaff weren’t brought back to continue the interview process.

Ever worked at a company that needed a policy on jerks? Do you think a rule like Dalgaard’s is good for a company or just an impractical gimmick? Let us know your opinion in the comments section.

Frank Bruno, a 55-year-old with 25 years of experience in HR, applied for an HR director position at Unitek U.S.A., a communications firm in Blue Bell, PA.

He almost got the job, until he reached one final interview with a top company official.

One of the questions posed: “How old are you, 78?”

Bruno tried not answer, but after he was pressed, he told the exec his age.

He didn’t get the job — a 36-year-old woman with 11 years of experience was hired instead. Bruno filed a complaint with the EEOC, which is now suing the company for age discrimination.

The case is still pending. But given the explicit age-related questioning, it looks like Unitek will have a tough time winning this one.

Read the facts and decide: Who won this real-life case?

The facts:

Two candidates born in Egypt applied for several managerial jobs with a company but weren’t offered any of the positions. The company used a consistent interview process and gave each interviewee a score based on how they answered a predetermined list of questions. The two Egyptian candidates scored at or near the bottom.

The positions were all filled by Caucasian applicants. When they weren’t hired, the Egyptian candidates sued for national origin discrimination.

The candidates said:

The questions asked in the interview weren’t related to potential job performance. For example, the company placed most of the focus on leadership skills rather than technical experience. If “better” questions were asked, they said, they would have gotten higher scores.

The company said:

Candidates don’t get to decide what questions they’re asked in an interview — that’s the company’s job. Questions asked were directly related to managerial skills, because that’s what it felt was most important.

Applicants were evaluated on the same criteria, and the best candidates were chosen.

Who won the case?

Answer: The employer.

Why: Summing up the case, the judge noted, “We do not second-guess an employer’s hiring standards.” The rejected candidates didn’t offer any evidence of bias — they just gave their opinions on the company’s interviewing process.

Fortunately, the company kept records of the interviews to prove the hired candidates were the top scorers — even if the rejected applicants disagreed with the criteria the scores were based on.

Cite: Pathare v. Klein

Read the facts of this real-life case and decide: Who won?

The facts:

An employee applied for a promotion to a managerial position. He met the minimum qualifications, so he was asked to interview, along with several other employees.

As you might guess, he didn’t get the job.

During his interview, he claimed the hiring manager yawned while he delivered his answers. To him, the supervisor’s yawning indicated the decision not to promote him had already been made, and the company only granted him an interview to cover up illegal bias.

He felt he was turned down because of his age. He was in his late 40s at the time, and the employee selected was 10 years younger. He sued.

The employer said:

He wasn’t promoted because the other applicants performed better in the interviews. They were all asked the same questions and their responses were scored. The candidate who was picked was the one who had the highest score.

Who won the case?

Answer: The employer.

Why: The court failed to see the yawn as evidence of discrimination. It might not have been the best thing to do during an interview, the judge said, but it would be unreasonable for a court or jury to believe the man’s theory.

Also, the employee couldn’t prove he should’ve gotten the job. He claimed to be the most qualified candidate, but the company felt otherwise. There was no reason to believe the company was wrong.

The bottom line: Courts don’t decide whether employers make the right hiring decisions. If they hire the best applicants and document how the decisions are made, they’ll be able to fight bias claims.

Cite: Arroyo-Audifred v. Verizon Wireless, Inc.

In one recent case, a woman came to interview for a job that required some heavy lifting. The hiring manager told her the position was a “man’s job” because of the physical labor involved.

She was turned down in favor of a male applicant. The woman sued for sex discrimination.

The company tried to get the case thrown out, arguing that she wasn’t hired because she didn’t meet the job’s education requirements — however, it had previously hired several people without the “required” education for similar positions.

Therefore, the court decided the interviewer’s comments were enough evidence of gender bias. The company lost the case.

Cite: Sims v. Coosa County Board of Education

Whether you’re hiring from outside or promoting from within, companies have a lot riding on putting the right people in supervisory positions. How can HR help identify the best leaders for the organization?

When interviewing managerial candidates, it’s important to make sure they have these key qualities:

• Adaptability — It’s a fact of the workplace: No two employees are exactly alike. Managers need to be able to adjust their approaches and figure out how to get the most out of different types of workers.
• Problem-solving skills — Managers deal with countless issues over the course of their careers. Often, the best managers don’t come in with a wealth of technical experience but know how to learn on the fly and come up with solutions to new problems.
  
• Comfort during conflict — One thing’s sure about being a supervisor — there’s never a shortage of unpleasant situations. If it sounds like a candidate has always run away from conflict rather than dealing with it head-on, that’s a bad sign.
• Confidence — Managing also frequently involves making risky choices. Good supervisors are comfortable with that and have confidence in themselves and their decisions.
• People skills — Communication is essential. Of course, managers need to give useful feedback, but they should also be able to get input from employees and listen and respond to criticism.

Promoting from within

When you’re promoting a current employee, there’s one rule to keep in mind: The best employees don’t always make the best supervisors.

So how do you know who should be put into a leadership position? Here are two important skills to look for and how you can verify that employees have them:

• Ability to take on extra work — Sure, employees may be successful with their current workloads, but the extra responsibilities required of a manager are a whole different ballgame. When your organization is considering promoting employees, give them some more to do and see how they handle it.
• Training skills — Another good test is to let the potential manager train new employees. That will speak volumes about how he or she would perform in a leadership role.