Interviewing Idiots
I have had plenty of experience of interviewing idiots.
There are many interview rejection reasons.
The following was posted by Wobbit in response to our article “Ten Ways to fail an Interview”.
“You would surely have to be an idiot to do any of these things at contract interview. What a waste of time.”
Idiot Parade
Not so, the following are from my own experience and are not urban myths:
Beer and Fags
A chap turned up two hours early for an interview at 12 instead of 2 pm. We could not see him immediately and he ‘went for lunch’ – returning smelling of beer and fags. He also had a massive black eye and explained it was the result of the airbag going off in his car.
Blaming the Boss.
After finishing an overview of his most recent job, one candidate was asked why he left. “Because my boss was useless. He didn’t have a clue.”
I thought this ill advised but admired his candour. Then we talked about the job before that and asked the same question. “My boss was an idiot. Couldn’t take it any more.”
Porsche Driver
A senior manager received a phone call 5 minutes before an interview was due to start to ask if there was a car park nearby. The candidate was driving a new Porsche and could not find anywhere to park on the street.
We listened in amusement at the gruff Geordie reply: “No. You’ll have to find somewhere yourself” (The manager hangs up the phone and pauses). “That w****r’s not getting a job.”
Lack of Knowledge
A DB2 DBA job interview that started with an easy question: “What’s the difference between HDAM and HIDAM”. His answer to Q1 was: “No idea”. My colleague told me there was no need for Q2; the interview was terminated in record-breaking time.
Meeting Minutes
A guy who brought in his laptop and took electronic minutes of the ‘meeting’.
Professional Weaknesses
A friend of a friend was asked about any professional weaknesses during an interview for a technical support person: “I’m a bit careless and tend to mess things up.” Admittedly this chap insists he did not want the job and intentionally blew the interview.
You would have to be an idiot to do a lot of things during interviews, doesn’t stop some folk though.
Funny enough, I cannot recall any howlers from the female community.
