Poll Results: Which of These Behaviors Have You Witnessed from an Interviewer?

Here’s what you had to say.

There’s plenty of online information on what interviewees shouldn’t do. Don’t talk about your personal life, don’t dress badly, don’t be late, etc.

But there’s not much out there on behaviors interviewers shouldn’t indulge in. That’s why we asked our Job Journey readers for bad behaviors they’ve seen from interviewers.

“Showing up late” and “lack of preparation” led the pack with 17% and 16% of the vote, respectively. “Answering a phone call” and “Oversharing” followed next, with 14% and 10% of the vote.

Other results were as follows:

  • Asking discriminatory questions: 8%
  • Inappropriate clothing: 8%
  • Texting: 7%
  • Inappropriate language: 6%
  • Eating or chewing gum: 6%
  • Walking out of the interview early: 4%
  • Asking to end the interview: 3%
  • Flirting: 2%

We also asked for your most shocking interviewer behavior stories. Here are a few that stood out:

“My interviewer spent most of their time picking food out of their teeth. He also told me that if I were hired, I would probably be fired within six months because that is what they do to everyone.”

“I had an interview at 3:00, and the interviewer kept mentioning how tired she was. I had the application typed and printed, but she asked me to fill out another one because she couldn’t read the print without her glasses (glasses she never wore for the entire interview).”

“I had an interviewer that took a personal call and asked me to leave right in the middle of the interview. I could tell it wasn’t an emergency call because he was laughing.”

Do you have any interview stories to share? Let us know in the comments section below!

Comments

  1. Jo-Nyla Hockaday

    My interview story when I arrived for the interview appointment 15-minutes early. I wasn’t familiar with the area; therefore, I wanted to allow for heavy traffic and the ability to locate the building before the scheduled appointment. Once I identified myself, the interviewer made the statement, “WOW, you are 15-minutes early as the interview was scheduled at 1:00PM.” I was shocked; however, I responded with “My apologies but I wasn’t familiar with the area and I wanted to make sure I could locate the building to ensure I was on time for the scheduled interview appointment.

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