As a Human Resources professional, you probably have seen your share of blunders during interviews. An interview is usually a pretty good place to get to know a candidate.  There certainly are candidates who set themselves apart from the pack…and we don’t mean that in a good way. Besides the obvious blooper of learning how to pronounce the name of the person you’re interviewing with (as we saw in the A&W Dumass commercial…where the applicant pronounces the potential boss’ name as “dumbass”) or remembering the name of the company, there are many more interview blunders that have occurred.

To add some levity to your day, we scoured the internet to find the worst job mishaps. Here are some of the blunders that top the list.  These mishaps were found on CNNsi.com, USA Today Magazine (Society for the Advancement of Education), The Chronicle of Higher Education, Careerbulider.com, OfficeTeam, the Wall Street Journal: Career Journal, and Career World

• Someone interviewed for a position and was not given the job. But he showed up anyway, saying, “Here I am!””
• George O’Leary interviewed for the Notre Dame Head football coach position and claimed to have a master’s degree in education and to have played college football for three years. Checks into his background showed it wasn’t true…he didn’t have any of those qualifications.
• Someone tried to bribe the interviewer during the interview.  She really wanted the job and asked how much she could pay for it.
• An applicant came in with his recruiter and had the recruiter answer the questions.
• A job seeker didn’t hang up the phone after calling about a job. The interviewer overheard everything he said, and it wasn’t good.
• One gentleman submitted a résumé that contained misspelled words and an orange juice stain.
• A female graduate interviewed with a jawbreaker in her mouth during the entire interview.
• When asked what he had been doing while unemployed, the applicant said, “Staying home and watching TV.”
• One woman immediately described her faults to the interviewer and mentioned days she would need to take off.
• An applicant showed up in a torn shirt, blue jeans, and flip flops.
• During an interview, when asked what his greatest faults were, an applicant gave too many answers.  He kept going and going and going...
• Several candidates revealed more personal information than was appropriate in their cover letters, including one who announced that he had decided to start looking for jobs outside of academe because he could not afford to buy a condo on an adjunct’s wages.
• A candidate sent weekly e-mail messages written entirely in capital letters.
• Several applicants wrote their cover letters in the third person (“Mr. Brown has five years of experience in strategic marketing” and “Relocation is not an issue for Mr. Brown.”), which is downright creepy.
• Several applicants called repeatedly to ask whether their e-mailed applications had been received.  One or two tried to persuade the recruiter to interview them right then and there since they already had the recruiter on the phone.
• An applicant sent a CV when an employer requests a résumé. Another referred to their résumé as a CV.
• A cover letter addressed way too much about the applicant’s frustration with the job market.
• After answering the first few questions, the candidate picked up his cell phone and called his parents to let them know the interview was going well.
• At the end of the interview, the candidate expressed her interest in getting the position, but only if her boyfriend liked the company and the hiring manager. She then said, “He’s waiting outside. Can I bring him in to say hello?”
• The person got up to leave just a few minutes after the interview had begun, saying he left his dog in the car and needed to check on him.
• The candidate entered the lobby and identified herself to the receptionist. She then pulled two pairs of shoes from her bag and said, “Before the interviewer comes out, tell me which pair you think I should wear with this suit.”
• When asked why he wanted to work for the company, the applicant responded, “That's a good question. I really haven’t given it much thought.”
• When asked how the candidate would improve sales if hired for the position, he replied, “I’ll have to think about that and get back to you.” He then stood up, walked out, and never came back.
• When told she would meet with another interviewer, the candidate said, “Wait just a minute.” She then took out a large bag from her briefcase and proceeded to reapply her makeup and hairspray, all in the first interviewer’s office.
• When asked by the hiring manager why she was leaving her current job, the applicant said, “My manager is a jerk. All managers are jerks.”
• When asked what the candidate was currently earning, she replied, “I really don’t see how that is any of your business.”
• The candidate disparaged his former boss during the interview, not realizing the boss and the interviewer had the same last name and were related.
• When asked what he liked least in his current job, the applicant replied, “staff management.” He was interviewing for a management position.
• After being complimented on his choice of college and the GPA he achieved, the candidate replied, “I’m glad that got your attention, I didn’t really go there.”
• The candidate asked for an early morning interview. He showed up with a box of doughnuts and ate them during the meeting, saying this was the only time he’d have to eat breakfast before going to work.
• When asked by the hiring manager if there were any questions, the candidate replied by telling a knock-knock joke.
• The company sent an employee to meet a prospective candidate at the airport. The applicant got off the plane, said it was far too cold to live and work in this city, and said he was taking a flight home. He never met the hiring manager.
• When asked by the manager about his goals, the job seeker said, “To work in this position for the least amount of time possible until I can get your job.”
• When a young woman got to the interview, she briefly answered the interviewer’s questions. She didn’t volunteer any information about herself or ask any questions about the store. There were lots of long, uncomfortable moments of silence. In fact, the interviewer mistakenly thought the applicant was shy, something she shouldn’t be if she was going to work as a salesperson in the children’s department.
• An applicant heard that a large auto insurance company was looking for people to train to become adjusters. With his interest in cars and his current job as a mechanic, he thought he was a shoo-in for the job. He was so confident, that when he went in for the interview he wore his mechanic’s uniform instead of changing into a jacket and tie. He was never called back.
• A candidate for a salesperson’s job was really nervous and running a few minutes late to meet with the head of the paper company. When he arrived, a polite young woman greeted him with a nice smile and handshake. The candidate barely shook her hand and snapped, “I’m Jack, here to see Sam Johnson at 11 a.m.” The receptionist was a bit surprised at his abruptness, but she invited Jack to have a seat while she got Mr. Johnson. When she returned to tell Jack that Mr. Johnson was on the phone and would be a few minutes, Jack made a face and said, “And I thought I was running late!”
• Nick’s father had a friend, Blake Stern, who was an editor for a large publishing company. Nick had met Mr. Stern at a family picnic, and they hit it off. When Mr. Stern heard that Nick was interested in the publishing business, he suggested Nick apply for an entry-level job at his firm. At the interview, Nick assumed they would just continue joking and talking as they had at the picnic. When Mr. Stern was more businesslike than he had been before, Nick was thrown for a loop. After answering some standard interview questions, Nick decided to take matters into his own hands and get the scoop on the job. “So, Blake, how much money can I make here?” Nick asked. Mr. Stern told him that a salary hadn't yet been decided for the job, but Nick persisted. “Well, I mean, how much do they pay the other newcomers?” he asked.
• Megan had worked for a year as a receptionist at an animal clinic and decided she wanted to become a veterinary assistant. Things went really well at the interview until the veterinarian asked Megan to talk about her experiences at her current job. She rattled on about everything from funny dog stories to her “grumpy” boss. She thought her prospective employer would think her stories were funny, but he didn’t.
• A candidate showed up for a job interview on the wrong day.
• When the interviewer asked the candidate to describe himself, he started off by saying “I know I’m overqualified, but…”
• An interviewee showed up draped in flashy jewelry, wearing a shirt with a loud print and doused in heavy cologne.

So what is a professional recruiter supposed to do in these situations?  Most of these situations are pretty ripe for denying the candidate the position, but if the offense is not as egregious, then accepting the candidate could be a possibility if the candidate makes amends.  For instance, if the candidate contacts you and understands their mistakes or mentions something they forgot in the interview, they may be deserving of a second chance. An example of why to give a second chance can be shown by the Wall Street Journal’’s profile of David R. Lumley, president and chief executive officer (CEO) of Experimental & Applied Sciences (EAS), who did poorly in an interview but responded well after that negative interview.  In brief, you don’t want to give up on a candidate just because they may not have had the best first impression, for at first you thought enough to bring the candidate in for an interview.  The Chronicle of Higher Education

Regardless of how the candidate acts in an interview or in the pre-interview process, Business.gov suggests that the candidate be interviewed by more than one interviewer, to use background checks, and check up on references, in order to obtain the most complete picture of the candidate.

“There’s never a boring day in Human Resources, especially in recruiting.  I remember many an interview, but not necessarily because of the quality of the candidate,” shares Astron’s National Director, Jennifer Loftus.  “From the candidate who cried, to the one who told me in explicit detail about his / her impending court dates, I initially thought ‘this isn’t something they teach you in school!’.  However, maintaining composure and focusing on the whole picture is what’s important.  We’re all human, we all have idiosyncrasies.  That’s what makes life fun and exciting.  And who among us has been perfect in every interview?  If the mishap doesn’t tarnish the whole package, it’s worth continuing to consider the candidate for the position.”