Taboos At A Job Interview: Ordering Pizza, Snoring …
The prospective employee walked into the interviewer’s office, took a seat and began to answer questions. Suddenly, there was a knock at the door.
Pizza delivery!
The guy being interviewed “had arranged for a pizza to be delivered to my office,” recalled the human resources executive, still baffled by the incident. “I had to ask him not to eat it until later.”
Strange but true - and far from an isolated incident, according to a study of executives responsible for hiring at 200 of the nation’s largest companies.
The participating executives had little trouble recalling some of the mind-bending mistakes by prospective employees.
Here are their responses to this question:
“What is the most unusual or humorous incident you recall during an interview for an entry-level position?”
The envelopes, please.
“The reason the candidate was taking so long to respond to a question became apparent when he began to snore.”
“Why did he go to college? His ill-conceived answer: ‘To party and socialize.”’
“Said she had graduated cum laude, but had no idea what cum laude meant. However, she said she was proud of her grade point average. It was 2.1”
“She actually showed up for an interview during the summer wearing a bathing suit. Said she didn’t think I’d mind.”
“I had asked the candidate to bring a resume and a couple of references. He arrived with the resume - and two people.”
Commemorative Brands commissioned the New York research firm Schulman, Ronca & Bucuvalas to conduct the survey.
In addition to these must-to-avoid tips, the survey uncovered some do’s for the aspiring employee: Schedule your interview before 10 a.m. Try to get in on a Tuesday; Friday is the day to avoid. Don’t save your best for last; most interviewers make up their minds within 15 minutes. Most important, pay attention. Listen to the questions and give complete answers. And never, never follow the example of this hapless candidate:
“Without asking, he casually lit a cigar and then tossed a match onto my carpet - and couldn’t understand why I was upset,” one executive related.