Interviewing Mistake
I was recently speaking with a CEO client who shared this interviewing faux pa. I think candidates often believe we either make this stuff up or “I would never do that.” That maybe true, but are you making some other mistake and like this candidate never finding out about it.
My client was meeting a candidate in New York. The candidate arrives a few minutes late. “No big deal,” says the client. The candidate was a little frustrated for being late. He apologizes and explains there was a major accident and traffic was shut down. He shakes my clients hand and immediately says, “You might want to wash your hands, I could have Swine flu.”
End of interview.
By the way, this was a professional sales person at the manager level with at least 10 years of experience.
This is just one of many examples we have encountered in our collective 50 years as recruiters.
So here is my question for you, “What should this candidate have done?” It seems obvious to me, but apparently it isn’t to all candidates.
Would like your thoughts and comments.
For more information on interviewing tips and mistakes check out our free resources. We offer audio files from our talk radio show, articles and our most downloaded item “Winning the Phone Interview.”
Tags: Interviewing Mistakes
Interviewing | bradremillard June 21, 2009
About the Author
Brad Remillard is a founding Partner of IMPACT Hiring Solutions, co-author of "You're NOT the Person I Hired", and "This is NOT the Position I Accepted". Brad is an award-winning international speaker, retained executive recruiter, and expert on hiring and retaining top talent, and executive job search.
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By Thomas, December 2, 2009 @ 2:12 pm
If I was in an interview situation like that, I would not have mentioned the swine flu, because I would not have been interviewing if I had it!