On Tuesday, Reddit user u/TheHendryxasked people, "HR and recruiters, what is an instant 'Well, this person isn't getting the job' thing a candidate can do during a job interview for you?"
This led to job interviewers sharing red flags from some pretty ~interesting~ applicants and also some generalized rules to avoid when interviewing. Here's what they shared:
"I have a few: First is showing up ridiculously late. You should never be late for an interview, but a few minutes may be forgiven. An hour will not be. Second is smelling like weed, regardless of the position. Third is being rude to anyone in the office before the interview. Fourth is interrupting the interviewer by using your phone. Fifth is sticking your finger in the interviewer's face."
"Had a guy who was a little rough, but was looking quite promising for a design role. He blew it with me by saying, 'I’ll turn this company around in six weeks' and a few more comments along those lines with a theme of 'You are currently messing it up.'"
"This guy was an absolute rock star applicant, applying to be a teacher. He was super nice, young, dynamic, and had won awards. He also had great references. Then, when asked 'Any questions?' he replied 'Could you tell me if you'd have a problem with a teacher dating a student?'"
"When I worked in a bank as a manager, one internal candidate I interviewed put her finger in front of my face while I was talking and said, 'I’m gonna stop you right there.' I went with the other person who didn’t put their finger to my face."
"She was a great post-college applicant. But I asked, 'How do you handle multiple deadlines in a short time period, like if you have two to three exams close to each other or an exam and a big class project?' She said, 'Well, I try to do my best, but if I realize I cannot meet both deadlines, I just call in sick.'"
"I've been doing a bunch of interviews lately for an intermediate network engineer. I had a guy start off an interview with 'I don't really know anything about networking.'"
"Interviewee dropped multiple F-bombs. Job interviews are one of the most formal things a person will go through. Now, I’m not shy for swearing language, but they didn’t know that. It just showed I couldn’t trust her in any formal situation or important business meeting."
"Had an applicant telling me he obviously knew more than me, and that's why I need to hire him for a position that I am the direct supervisor for, in the most condescending tone I've ever heard."
"The applicant started giving the receptionist grief because the interviewer was running late. It clearly wasn't her fault, and it was entirely unacceptable. The interviewers didn't even bother, just invited him to leave."
Have you ever interviewed an applicant who you knew wasn't getting the job? Or have you ever been the applicant? Let me know what happened in the comments below.
