Top interview blunders

Experts share their humorous war stories on the hiring front lines

 

 Hint: Don’t eat one of these on an interview. In fact, don't eat anything on an interview.

 

CAREERS & WEALTH. Tips on how to do well at a job interview are a dime a dozen. And yet, for some reason, people still don’t pay attention to the available advice, says Peter Nolfo, owner of Express Employment Profession­als, an international human resources and staffing company.

Among the humorous and outlandish interview blunders he recounts is the tale of a man who unwrapped a ham sandwich, potato chips and a soda in front of him while the interview was in progress. On an interview, it might be best to eat lunch before you get there, he says. Seems obvious, doesn’t it?

Dressing appropriately for interviews is another area where people can falter big time. Sharp, neat and professional are par for the course. Sexy? Not so much. One woman Nolfo encountered recently was wearing the shortest skirt he had ever seen. Bad enough, perhaps, until it became obvious she wasn’t wearing any underwear. Probably not the best idea unless you’re interviewing at a strip club. 

Another good way to stand out for all the wrong reasons is by insulting your prior boss — particularly if it displays an offensive prejudice on your part. “This guy trashed his boss. I can’t even repeat what the guy said,” says Nolfo. Suffice it to say the job candidate managed to work in epithets against the disabled and homosexuals. Thanks for coming by!

Steinar Skipsness, who recently conducted a humorous and revealing interview experiment he recounts on his Web site, HowToNailAnInterview.com, says that bad-mouthing the boss is the most frequent issue in interview scenarios. “Saying things like, ‘Unfortunately the owner is an idiot who doesn’t know how to run a business,’ is not gonna win you any points,” he says. “Who wants to hire someone who’s going to go around bad-mouthing you after they leave the company? On top of that, it makes an interviewer think maybe the problem wasn’t with the boss, but with you.”

Nolfo brushes those faux pas off as “the funny stuff.” But worse are people who negotiate salary before even knowing what the job is. “That kills any interview in the world.”

What are these people thinking? “They’re not,” Nolfo says.