Here's our latest sampling of strange and bizarre candidate behavior, contributed by members of the Monster community.
I was interviewing a candidate for a mortgage sales position. She was dressed very professionally and had about 1½ years' worth of experience. The interview was going very well for about 20 minutes when her cell phone started ringing. Instead of shutting it off, she answered it and began to talk (to her boyfriend) for approximately one minute. I was astonished and told her that the interview was over. She didn't know why I canceled the interview. All the better!
I asked a candidate why she was leaving her current job. She proceeded to rake her boss over the coals for the next 10 minutes. Then she told me his name! I have been playing golf with this guy at my golf course for the last 12 years. I only know him from golf, and he seems like a very nice guy who treats everyone with respect. When I told her that I knew him, the blood drained from her face. It is a very small world. I did not hire her.
We are a small sporting-goods distributor, and we recently received an application from a gentleman trying to impress us with his dedication to the "field." His stated goal? "To ski 365 days a year." Wonder when he was planning to work?
While interviewing a candidate, I noticed he had checked "yes" when asked if he'd ever been convicted of a felony, but no details were listed. When I asked my candidate, he said, "Well, it is really old." I asked how old, and he said, "Thirty-three years ago, but I haven't been in any trouble since." I said, "Oh, that is old." I then asked what the conviction was for; his response was "murder one." I asked if he had served any time, and he said yes, 33 years. Apparently he was just released two weeks prior, which may explain why he hasn't been in trouble since.
As a recruiter, I occasionally encounter previous employees interested in returning to the company. A young man called me one day to explain that he had been a fantastic employee two years prior, and that he had been fired by accident: "I didn't mean to hit the other guy over the head with a mop! Really, it just slipped and hit him twice!" Rehire? I think not.
I had a funny incident once with a temporary staff person who was hoping to be hired on a permanent basis. I was gearing up to send out an important project, and she asked with a concerned look on her face what day I was planning to release it. When I replied that I expected it would go out the following Wednesday, she said, "Oh no, you can't. Mercury is going retrograde, and Saturn is in [some particular] orbit. Whenever that happens, chaos breaks loose. I urge you to wait until the end of the week." Let's just say she didn't get the permanent job, but I sure got a great laugh out of it.
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