JobsFair.ie

People say the strangest things in job interviews, writes Ed Power.

You are being interviewed for your dream job. To the best of your judgement, things are going well. Then the interviewer asks why you left your previous position. Deciding honesty is the best policy you explain you were fired for beating up your boss. Stunned silence ensues.

This may sound like a scene from The Simpsons but it is only one of the many eye-popping gaffes to feature in a survey of interview blunders by US employment agency CareerBuilder.com.

Other fumbles include the case of a man who paused to sniff his armpits while taking his seat in the interview room, a woman who asked the interviewer to leave his office mid-interview so that she could take a ‘personal’ mobile phone call and the candidate who explained he didn’t think he would stay in the job very long as he expected to inherit his rich uncle’s fortune (he elaborated that said uncle wasn’t "looking too good").

What makes people cram both feet into their mouths in an interview ? Are they are buckling under pressure? Could it be they simply aren’t taking the process as seriously as they should? Or is it the case that some of us can’t resist parading our shocking lack of guile before the world?

Before you write these cases off as stereotypical examples of American nuttiness, it’s worth noting that Irish interviewees are no slouches when it comes to dropping a mid-interview clanger. If the business people we’ve canvassed offer any clue, we might just give the Americans a run for their dollar in the stupidity stakes.

"I remember interviewing a fella for an entry level position and under hobbies he had put down ‘enjoys film’," says one senior figure at a large Irish institution. "So I asked him what was the last film he saw. He gazed into space and after about 30 seconds he said he couldn’t think of one. Another time, an individual had put down that he enjoyed reading. I asked him if he’d read anything good lately. He looked at me as if I was speaking Swahili. I actually don’t think he had opened a book since school."

Then there is the case of an interviewee who had mistakenly submitted part of a generic sample CV with his job application. "It said that his hobbies were gardening, which seemed a bit unlikely because he was a guy in his early 20s - not really the gardening type," recalls the woman who conducted the interview. "I asked him if he found gardening relaxing. He said he didn’t quite understand the question. I asked him again and he said he didn’t know anything about gardening. We let it pass. It was only afterwards that we realised the second page of his CV had been the generic sample provided by Microsoft Word."

Arguably the biggest interview mistake of all is failing to see things from the perspective of the person sitting across the desk from you. Typically, the interviewer has a check list of skills and competencies required for the position, says career advice expert Christine O’Mahony. Your goal, she explains, should be to convey that you possess the talents they are looking for. It helps to be charming, she says, but if you fail to demonstrate that you tick all the necessary boxes then you’re unlikely to succeed no matter how smooth your patter.

"You’ve got half an hour to prove you have got the skills and temperament they’re looking for. If you can communicate that, then you’ve aced the interview. You may not get the job, but you’ve certainly given yourself your best possible chance." However, all the preparation in the world won’t get you far if you turn up looking as if you’ve just tumbled out of nightclub.

According to CareerBuilder, the most common blunder identified by employers was inappropriate dress. More than 51pc said this was the biggest mistake a candidate could make in an interview. Bad mouthing a current or former employer came in second, while appearing uninterested was third on the list.

On the other hand, it is possible to try too hard. Consider the case of the woman who, fearing she appeared a little bedraggled, produced a brush mid-interview and started to frantically comb her hair. She looked a peach but, to nobody’s surprise but her own, didn’t land the job.

- Candidate answered mobile phone and requested the interviewer to leave the office because it was a "private" conversation.

- Candidate wondered if there was a possibility of a lift home after the interview.

- Candidate refused to provide a writing sample - all of her writing had been for the CIA and was "classified".

- Candidate paused to sniff his armpits.

- Candidate revealed he was fired for attacking his last boss.

- When an applicant was asked if he would like some food before the interview, he declined, explaining he didn’t want to line his stomach before hitting the bar.

- A candidate for an accountancy job position explained she was a "people person" not a "numbers person".

- Candidate flushed the loo during a phone interview.

- Candidate produced hair brush and combed her hair.

- Candidate said they expected to give up work as soon as their rich uncle passed away.

Ed Power