Interview Disasters Continued

Last month, I wrote a little piece called Interview Disasters & Tips, which took a look at a few examples of real life interview scenarios gone wrong. I feel these stories can give real-life examples to assist in seeing what to and not to do during an interview. As the saying goes, you should “learn from your mistakes,” but in this case, you can learn from the mistakes of others.

Here are a few examples:

While he was supposed to be on company business in a different part of town, a man went for an interview while driving his company car. During the interview process, his company car was hit in the parking lot by a large truck, crushing its ability to be driven. The man had a seriously hard time explaining why he was not where he was supposed to be, and that put his current job in jeopardy. TIP: Do the right thing, take off the time and do your interview on your own time, in your own car; it is the professional and right thing to do.

Watch your posture during the interview. One lady went to an interview and sitting upright and professionally, she sat with her legs crossed during the entire interview. At the end of the interview she arose to shakes hands and leave, and all of a sudden found she was unable to stand, and fell to the floor. It turns out she had sat so long with her legs crossed, that they fell asleep and she lost the control needed to properly stand. TIP: It is not a negative thing to adjust your position throughout an interview, as long as it is not overly distracting.

One interviewer related the following story: “I was presented a portfolio by a candidate, and within the portfolio I found some pieces of my work I had actually created some time back. When I pointed it out to the interviewing candidate, they replied that the portfolio actually just represented work they were capable of doing if they got the job.” TIP: Never pass off the work of others as if it were your own. If you find examples of work that you are capable of doing - then do it. Recreate it but make it your own. Stealing the creative property of other is a big no-no.

Halfway through an interview, the candidate realized they had forgotten to toss out their gum before starting, and proceeded to remove it from their mouth and, apologizing to the interviewer, asked them if they could take and hold the gum until the end of the interview. TIP: Don’t forget to spit out your gum before entering the interview.

An interviewee did an online map search for the location of the job interview, and left with enough time to reach it. Once arriving at the destination, it turned out the map was incorrect, and there was nothing there. Having no phone number on hand for the place, they called home to have a family member look it up for them, only to find that no one was at home. As they decided to drive around a few blocks hoping to find the location, it began to downpour, but eventually they did find the location. They arrived 15 minutes late and were pretty soaked. TIP: Know where you are going, and if possible, physically drive there prior to the interview time to be sure you know. At the least, leave with a good amount of extra time available just in case something goes wrong, you’ll have adequate time to resolve any issue.

Hopefully these give you some additional ideas on things to do to avoid becoming a “horror story” for some hiring agent out there. If you have had a horror story interview event of your own, please share it below and let others learn from your mistakes too.