Biggest interview faux pas revealed

These 'deal-breakers' might prompt a hiring manager to call it quits ASAP

BY Rachel Ranosa 14 Feb 2020

Admit it: nothing beats meeting a candidate face to face when testing rapport during hiring.

Employers and applicants can tell whether there’s an instant connection, or ‘culture fit’, thanks to the age-old “Tell me about yourself” type of questions that get thrown around during job interviews.

Sitting across a candidate, hiring managers will begin to look at one or more signals of ‘compatibility’ and competence – from the way one talks to the way they dress.

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And, more often than not, negative traits and habits that surface during this getting-to-know-each-other phase can become a major turn-off.

In fact, some attributes and behaviours are so bad that, in a recent survey, employers said they would even reject a candidate outright because of them.

Resume-writing service TopResume polled more than 300 employers on the biggest interview blunders they’ve encountered when it comes to searching for ‘the one’ – that is, the best applicant.

Respondents weighed the biggest mistakes on a scale of 1 to 5. From the most offensive to the least, here are the top “interview deal-breakers” that might prompt a hiring manager to call it quits during the interview:

Lying (experience, education, skills, achievements) (4.6)
Appearing disinterested in the opportunity (4.4)
Being unprepared (4.3)
Arriving late (without a valid excuse) (4.2)
Showing poor hygiene and/or grooming (4.2)
Dressing inappropriately (4.0)
Displaying negative body language or low energy (4.0)
Asking inappropriate questions (4.0)
Badmouthing a current or former employer (3.9)
Coming across as arrogant or overconfident (3.9)
Bringing one’s children or parents to the interview (3.8)
Sharing overly personal or too much information (3.5)
Declining the opportunity to ask any questions (3.4)
Appearing desperate or overly eager (3.3)
Failing to follow up after the interview (2.9)
Forgetting to bring a resume (2.9)
Arriving too early (30 minutes or more) (2.3)

“While an impressive resume will help you secure the interview, it’s your interview performance that ultimately determines whether you’ll land the job,” said Amanda Augustine, a career expert for TopResume. “Job seekers are sabotaging their own candidacy through rookie, deal-breaking interview mistakes, all of which can be easily avoided through thoughtful preparation.”