Fri, 4 Oct 2013
We’ve all got stories of bad interviews or too-long-for-comfort pauses after a difficult question – but now comes a list of some toe-curling interview horrors from newly-launched job site Foosle.com, which is headed by an ex-senior director at Hays.

Foosle’s poll of 500 employers found the top four things selected by employers as most likely to create a good impression are punctuality (68%), dressing smartly or appropriately (52%), making good eye contact with the interviewer (51%) and appearing tidy and well groomed (33%).

The power of the traditional firm handshake is more questionable, with only 11% of employers thinking this was important.

But it is the list of the worst things employers have seen a candidate do in interviews that really catches the eye:

• “Answered a personal mobile call, not just apologising for leaving the phone on, but actually taking the call and speaking for a few minutes."
• “Brought a glass of beer into an interview, which was held in a hotel.”
• “Asked if they can come in an hour later as they were getting their nails done.”
• “Winked at the interviewer.”
• “Burst into tears - for no apparent reason other than the pressure they've put on themselves.”
• “Sat down and put his feet on my desk.”
• “Turned up late and addressed me as ‘love’."
• “A candidate trainee who bragged about how many men she had slept with.”
• “A male candidate who, when greeted by his female interviewer, looked over her shoulder and said ‘I’m here to see the boss man’.”
• “A candidate who made their interviewer feel uncomfortable by pulling out a top hat and magic wand and asking them to choose one thing they would wish for their organisation in the future.”
  

If you can top this from your experience of interviewing candidates, recruiter.co.uk would like to hear from you. And if you yourself have topped this, well, then, erm, we’re not quite sure what to suggest…