Interviewing

Answer the phone? Sniff armpits? Top 10 interview gaffes

They may sound like jokes but these are two of the top 10 gaffes to feature in an annual survey of the most outrageous interview mistakes by candidates compiled by online job site CareerBuilder.com. The list, based on a survey of 3,061 U.S. hiring managers and human resources professionals by research company Harris Interactive, found the top 10 most outrageous mistakes were: “ - Candidate answered cell phone and asked the interviewer to leave her own office because it was a "private" conversation. - Candidate told the interviewer he wouldn't be able to stay with the job long because he thought he might get an inheritance if his uncle died -- and his uncle wasn't "looking too good." - Candidate asked the interviewer for a ride home after the interview. - Candidate smelled his armpits on the way to the interview room. - Candidate said she could not provide a writing sample because all of her writing had been for the CIA and it was "classified." - Candidate told the interviewer he was fired for beating up his last boss. - When an applicant was offered food before the interview, he declined saying he didn't want to line his stomach with grease before going out drinking. - A candidate for an accounting position said she was a "people person" not a "numbers person." - Candidate flushed the toilet while talking to interviewer during phone interview. - Candidate took out a hair brush and brushed her hair. I was interviewing out of my Buffalo, NY  hotel room, and the applicant was a very attractive, long legged, mini-skirted young lady.  She took her seat very much in the fashion of Sharon Stone's famous recline.  Alarm bells sounding, I excused myself, went out to the hall and paid a room maid $10 to stand by my opened room door for the duration of the interview - which did not last very long. I mean, you gotta wonder.