To help new graduates on their way in the world of work, a New York research firm asked personnel executivesat 200 leading companies to describe the worst blunders
they had witnessed in the interview room ‘He had arranged for a pizza
to Be delivered to my office during a lunch-hour interview. I asked him
not to eat it until later.’ ‘I received a résumé and a note that said
the recent high-school graduate wanted to earn $25 an hour and “not a
nickel less” ’.
‘On the phone I had asked the candidate to boring his résumé and a
couple of reference. He arrived with the résumé and two people.’ ‘When
I asked the candidate to give a good example of the organizational
skills she was boasting about,
she said she was proud of her ability to pack her suitcase “real neat”
for her vacation.’‘She actually showed up for an interview during the
summer wearing a bathing suit. Said she didn’t think I’d mind.’ ‘The
interview had gone well, until he told me that he and his friends wore
my company’s clothing whenever they could. At which point, I had to
tell him that we manufactured office products, not sportswear.’ Applied
for a customer-service position although, as he confided, he really wasn’t a people person.’ He couldn’t answer any of my questions because he had just had major dental work.’
Tom Kuntz, New York Times
Executive/noun/:
manager, person or group of persons having administrative
authority within an organization
Blunder/noun/:
gross error, stupid mistake
Boasting/noun/:
act of speaking of oneself in superlatives; self praise
Confide/verb/:
trust in; entrust
