Hiring Managers Share Some Strange and Wacky Things Said and Done During Interviews

Image courtesy of Stuart Miles
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Throughout the years as I’ve conducted mock interviews with clients, I’ve found that every once in a while, one of my clients says something that they should not be saying. Because of this, in my latest survey of hiring managers, I was interested in finding out some of the wacky things said (or done) as other people have interviewed candidates.

Here are some of the responses I received from my question, “Have you ever had a candidate say (or do) something wacky or bazaar during an interview? If so, please share.”

• I’m pretty sure I have conducted a phone interview with someone who was in the bathroom.
• I don’t remember the exact question, but the answer was, “I won’t ever hit anyone at work again.”
• I had a male in his 50s tell me how he still lives at home and gets to kiss his mom every day before he leaves for his day.
• I had one who looked like they were working in a garden and went, “Oh, yeah, my interview is now” and then just jumped in the vehicle to come to the interview. Dirty clothes, dirty finger nails, and messed up hair.
• Yes! One candidate went on forever about their weaknesses. I had to stop them from going on …
• While hiring for a customer service position, an applicant noted that they weren’t really a people person.
• (During phone interviews) I’ve had candidates flush the toilet, do the dishes, answer the door for a delivery, etc.
• Telling about their drug use, use of profane language, or oversharing unrequested information about personal life.
• They answered their cell phone during the interview. I ended it right then.
• I had one woman pull out a hairbrush in the middle of an interview and start brushing her hair.
• The person smiled and asked if we offered dental insurance, but they didn’t have much left for teeth :)
• Yes – a woman asked if she could live in hotel (where she would be working). She also asked if she would be allowed to sit in pool area in a swimming suit top on her breaks.
• I had a candidate ask if he could put some chewing tobacco in during our meeting.
• The candidate was slightly intoxicated. Tended to ramble on and on for simple questions.
• “Hope you don’t mind if I don’t take off my hat. I didn’t have time to bathe or comb my hair before coming.”
• I’ve received a dozen roses. Another begged for a job and cried.
• No, but I heard a friend of mine say that she interviewed a candidate who would not stop checking their phone and was texting during the interview!
• Every time a question was asked, she would take an unusual amount of time to answer and then would comment, she was wondering why we were asking the question.

 Have you ever interviewed anyone who said or did some strange things? If so, please share.