Job Interview Booboos!

[Val (Zebedee)]

In CareerBuilder's annual study on the most common and most outlandish job interview mistakes to avoid, hiring managers provided real-life examples of the most peculiar behaviours they witnessed in job interviews:

• Being asked about the reasons why he quit his last position in a bank, a candidate said it was because he was always tempted to steal.
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• Another jobseeker denied that he had a cell phone with him even though it could be heard ringing in the briefcase beside him.
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• The next candidate emptied the employer's candy dish into her pocket.
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• This applicant was quite honest about his weaknesses. He said he didn't like getting up early and didn't like to read.
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• Trying to hide away from the taxman? The candidate asked to be paid "under the table."
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• He must have meant it as a friendly gesture. The candidate reached over and placed a hand on the interviewer's knee.
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• The candidate commented that he would do whatever it takes to get the job done, legal or not.
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• This candidate's interview must have gone really well. He hugged the president of the company.
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• The next jobseeker must have been very hungry. He called his wife to see what they were having for dinner.
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• Another candidate asked to postpone the start date so she could still get holiday gifts from vendors at her current job.
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• This job applicant called in sick to her current employer during the interview, faking an illness.
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• The candidate said he didn't want the job if he had to work a lot.
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• The next jobseeker wouldn't answer a question because he thought they would steal his idea and not hire him.

[Dunc]

[Andy]

Having had to Interview people for jobs as a manager.

I can relate to that.

 

One guy applying for a job with us said that if he got the job he might have to take some time off soon,

when asked why. . .

"Because I'm going in for triple heart bypass surgery. "

 

He didn't get the job.

[a7xAda]

We had a guy interview for the lab manager position where I work. When he showed up for the interview (mind you weraing, jeans, a flannel shirt and a ballcap) asked what the job he was interviewing for was.

[MollynDiesel]

Oh dear

[Povodny]

My son is well qualified, he's open intelligent and honest. He works damned hard at finding work and when he has been working, worked diligently.. In reference to Andy's applicant who would have needed time off because of an operation. Not quite the same but still relevant, my son has to put on his application forms he has Crohn's disease. He's never taken a day off sick, he has never taken a day off to attend hospital appointments. He would rather book a holiday than take a morning off. Yet anyone seeing on his application he has Crohn's, is most likely going to immediately dismiss him as a candidate because of his disease.

He's 26, its ruled his life for the last 6 yrs. it's taken 5 yrs to get it into remission. His cocktail of drugs leaves him with a compromised immune system. He's at higher risk of death from a bad cold. The drugs he takes put him at far greater risk of skin cancer. He's more likely to develop bowel cancer in his mid 40's because he developed the disease at 20 and if its not in remission more likely to develop bowel cancer anyway. He is also looking at quite possibly having to have parts of his bowel removed at some stage in the future not to mention the lymphoma he could develop from just taking all the drugs he needs to keep him where he's at! Non of this has ever stopped him getting to work, but people will just look at the label and make assumptions. It's very sad

[a7xAda]

My son is well qualified, he's open intelligent and honest. He works damned hard at finding work and when he has been working, worked diligently.. In reference to Andy's applicant who would have needed time off because of an operation. Not quite the same but still relevant, my son has to put on his application forms he has Crohn's disease. He's never taken a day off sick, he has never taken a day off to attend hospital appointments. He would rather book a holiday than take a morning off. Yet anyone seeing on his application he has Crohn's, is most likely going to immediately dismiss him as a candidate because of his disease.

He's 26, its ruled his life for the last 6 yrs. it's taken 5 yrs to get it into remission. His cocktail of drugs leaves him with a compromised immune system. He's at higher risk of death from a bad cold. The drugs he takes put him at far greater risk of skin cancer. He's more likely to develop bowel cancer in his mid 40's because he developed the disease at 20 and if its not in remission more likely to develop bowel cancer anyway. He is also looking at quite possibly having to have parts of his bowel removed at some stage in the future not to mention the lymphoma he could develop from just taking all the drugs he needs to keep him where he's at! Non of this has ever stopped him getting to work, but people will just look at the label and make assumptions. It's very sad

I'm sorry for the trouble that your son has gone through. It must be very tough.

 

I have never worked fro an organization that discriminates based on medical needs. A girl that is currently on my staff has an 8 yr old child with a terminal illness. We accomodate the hospital visits as she is a single mom trying to take care of her two kids. There are programs in effect that protect her from the liabilities of excessive callouts due to her son's hospitilizations.

 

I'm sorry your son gets labeled. I worked with a woman who had Chrohns and she was a wonderful person and a great supervisor. Its not a limiting disease so its horrible he gets labeled.