Stupid Candidate Tricks

I was talking with a friend of mine that does some hiring for his organization. We started talking about what I like to call “Stupid Candidate Tricks”. This is when an interviewee does something so completely out of left field that it leaves you almost speechless.

I say almost speechless because you can still usually manage to say, “I’m sorry, I don’t think this is going to work.”

Past Stupid Candidate Tricks Include:

• Opening a meeting with the HR Director by giving her a BIG HUG! (lucky it wasn’t the Evil HR Lady!)


• Dropping numerous “F-bombs” during the interview & plant tour


• Wearing a large gold medallion (think Flava Flav and his big clock) and a light spring jacket throughout the interview


• Having false teeth fall out during the first 20 minutes of an all day interview

But I’m pretty sure this recent one takes the cake… I like to call it "A Fish Called Freakshow"

A candidate was coming to Grand Rapids for an interview. It was about an hour long drive, and the interview was scheduled to take up most of the day was to be followed by dinner. This was apparently much too long for the candidate to leave her beloved pet alone, so she arrived at the interview carrying a small glass bowl containing her goldfish. The entire department was relieved when they were able to convince the candidate that the fish would be safe in the office while the group went to dinner. (I hope they didn't go for sushi!)