Top 3 blunders by job seekers
October 10, 2008 by Fred HosierPosted in: Fun stuff on the Web, In this week's e-newsletter, Latest News & Views
In a tight economy, job seekers are becoming more creative in their attempts to get hired — and in some cases, maybe too creative.
Forget about the boring advice to print your resume on off-white instead of white paper. Applicants are, apparently, way beyond that, according to a Careerbuilder.com survey in which 12% of hiring managers say they’re seeing more job seekers try unusual tactics to capture their attention.
Some go to great lengths, such as the person who advertised on a billboard.
Food is another favorite. One candidate showed up with breakfast for the employer every day until hired. Another sent a giant cookie with “Hire Skip” written in frosting.
But among those listed by Careerbuilder.com, the following are our three top job-seeking blunders:
- The candidate who brought a broom to the interview to “clean up the waste and corruption in the office.”
- The person who approached the hiring manager in the restroom.
- The applicant who promised to give the employer a foot massage if hired.
What are some of the biggest blunders you’ve witnessed from applicants? Let us know in the Comments Box below.
Tags: hired, job seekers, tight economy
October 13th, 2008 at 10:24 am
I had an candidate give a very unusual responce when asked: ” What has been your biggest challenge in business?” Her response was ” Because I am so beautiful!” I responded “I beg your pardon?” She said ” I am so beautiful that it’s hard for me to get people to take me seriously.” Needless to say she was not the candidate we hired.
October 17th, 2008 at 10:31 am
I had a candidate I was interviewing tell me that I looked too young to be a Vice President and that my dad must own the company for me to be in my position.
October 17th, 2008 at 10:43 am
I interviewed an electrician once, and asked about his experience with dealing with local government licensing and permitting. He answered, “Yeah, they tried to take my license once, but I fought ‘em off and won!” Needless to say, he was not extended a job offer.
Another applicant was asked what motivated her. She looked at us very seriously and answered, “coffee.” Again, no offer.
October 17th, 2008 at 10:56 am
I had one interview where the fellow brought a woman along with him. He didn’t introduce her or explain who she was, and I didn’t ask - I was waiting for them to let me know. The interview went well enough, but she didn’t say a word. They left together and I never did find out who she was.
October 17th, 2008 at 11:16 am
I once interviewed a woman for a cashier/receptionist position. The interview was going great, I asked her all of the generalized questions….but, when I asked her to tell me about a work experience that was difficult for her and how she overcame that difficulty….her answer was:
” At my last job, I figured out that I don’t like dealing with the public and I HATE talking on the phone “. I had to ask her to tell me that again (thinking I must not have heard her correctly), when she repeated her previous comment, word for word…I asked her if she knew that she was interviewing for a cashier/receptionist position and that 100% of the duties deal with the public and answering phones? Her final comment and the end of the interview was her stating that ” Yeah, but I was hoping you would see I have other skills that your company would need more “. I politely thanked her for coming in and that I had another interview to go to. Needless to say, her resume was filed away and destroyed after the required retention period.
October 17th, 2008 at 11:32 am
One applicant told me I was too short to be interviewing construction workers.
Another candidate told me the most challenging thing is dealing with ****Mexicans, they can’t do the job well, not a good thing in a diverse construction company.
October 17th, 2008 at 11:42 am
I once was interviewing scientists for a very high-tech company. The candidate came into the room, shook my hand and then proceeded to look out the window while answering my questions. Not once did he ever look me in the eye or even in my general direction during the entire interview..and no, he was not offered the position. Even scientists need to have some people skills!
October 17th, 2008 at 1:47 pm
I first saw my scheduled interview at the front desk as she was asking our receptionist to download and print her updated resume from the web because “she forgot to bring it.”
When she then came in and sat down, she plopped a can of Red Bull on my desk and –remember the fast talking guy from the old Fed Ex commercials– proceeded to talk faster than anyone I’ve EVER heard. She went on for at least five minutes and all I could do was to stare in fascination, my jaw just about hitting the desk. She barely took a breath. I finally held up my hand and actually asked, “do you know how fast you’re talking???’ (She didn’t) She also had never looked at our website and had no idea what our company does (”I meant to look”). After that, it was a very short interview.
October 20th, 2008 at 11:55 am
I once interviewed an engineer for a high tech start up. While I continued to ask questions about his resume, he continued with answers about growing up in Germany. At one point he told me that his family didn’t have much money when he was a child, so he and his friends would go across the wall so they could eat cheaply. Then he proceeded to tell me that him going to the other side of the wall in Germany to eat was the same concept as “you going down to Mexico to buy your marijuana.”
I interviewed another engineer at the same place and he went into great detail about how much he hated his previous supervisor and then told me how he wished he would have had the opportunity to dunk his supervisor into a vat of boiling oil in one of those dunking booths they have at carnivals.
In interviewing a receptionist, I asked what this candidate was looking for from a prospective employer. Her answer was she was looking for an employer that wouldn’t require her to wear pantyhose.
YIKES!!
November 19th, 2008 at 4:20 pm
I onced was interviewing a lot loader for a retailer. I asked him to “tell me about himself”? He asked me to hold on….he pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and he called his mom for the answer!! He was 21 years old!
November 21st, 2008 at 2:51 pm
My best was actually from the interviewee’s side of the desk. I’m retired military, joined shortly after high school, (gotta love the draft lottery) and after serving 24 years finally decided to “retire”. I was looking for my first civilian job and had been on a couple of interviews, but everything was entry level. Imagine my surprise when I got an interview for a supervisors level postion. About 5 minutes into the interview, after eanswering the standard questions detailing my qualifications, and why I would fit into the company, etc. the interviewer interrupted and said” I’ve been looking over your resume and have a question. Have you ever had a real job?” After asking him to repeat the question, I told him that the military was a 7/24/365 job, didn’t have a union, or set office hours, or even a set location all the time, so I guess my answer was no. His answer was “huh”, and he went back to reading my resume. I thanked him for his time, and started to leave. He looked at me in shock, and said” I’m not finished yet.” I politely told him that if he was to be my manager, and didn’t think the military was a real job, then I wasn’t sure I would fit his corporate needs, and left. I got a call from HIS boss a couple of days later, apologizing, but since I had found another position by then, I just thanked him for the call and never lokoed back.