Having placed job candidates in the tri-state area for more than 40 years, Tony Beshara, owner and president of Texas-based Babich, Inc., and author of “Acing the Interview,” has seen it all. He recalls everything from the time a candidate talked about his third stint in rehab to the time a German shepherd accompanied a prospective employee to an interview — and says interviews in this shaky job market must be pristine. “Employers are looking at the glass as half empty,” he cautions. “They’re looking for reasons not to hire you. Don’t give them those reasons.”
Thomas P. Farley, an etiquette expert who conducts professionalism workshops and is known as “Mister Manners,” also emphasizes the importance of demonstrating an impeccable package, from your résumé to your polished look down to your professional behavior. “Much like when you meet a person for the first time, you need to gauge your situation and your surroundings before getting too comfortable,” he says. “Think of this as a blind date — albeit one in which the other person holds all of the cards.”
Not every interview is going to be stellar, though, and it’s normal to occasionally miss the mark — but there’s a stark difference between your typical flub and a major fail. Read on to hear some of the wackiest stories from recruiters and hiring managers.
“Borrowing” someone’s urine?
Just say no.
In 2009, a candidate dazzled consulting firm Global i365, his prospective employer, for a three-year consulting contract in Brooklyn — that is, until he failed the drug test in a rather unorthodox fashion.
Emad Rahim oversaw and negotiated projects for the firm at the time as a senior consultant. Now the company’s chief learning officer, he recalls: “When he came out of the bathroom [at the lab], it appeared he had spilled half of his urine on himself while inside! Not on his pants as you would expect — but on his right shoulder. It came out later that he tried to use his younger brother’s urine, and while trying to get it out of a bottle, it burst and spilled on him.
“What was even worse was that his younger brother’s urine failed the drug test!”
Even more surprising? The candidate was very professional and possessed impressive credentials.
“He was very polished, which is why the incident was so surprising,” says Rahim. “He already had the job in our book. All of his references checked out.”
Because the bizarre behavior didn’t add up to his stellar record, Rahim says they considered letting him do the drug test again, this time with his own sample. (At that stage in the hiring process, the interviewers were aware the candidate exited the lab lavatory with a wet shirt, although they didn’t yet know his brother’s spilled urine was the culprit.)
After addressing it with the candidate, who fessed up, it was time to cut their losses. “He told the lab worker that the sink was broken and had spread water while he was washing his hands,” adds Rahim. “I told him there was no way we could hire him after he confessed, which he had anticipated.”
Skype goes south
If only a marketing prospect for an e-commerce account manager position in Secaucus, NJ, prepared a winning interview strategy in July 2012. The candidate said he was unable to travel to the tri-state area for the interview, due to a death in the family, and asked to do it via Skype in Baltimore, Md.
Billy Bauer, marketing director at Royce Leather Gifts, reveals, “I have done a lot of interviewing from both perspectives and I have never encountered something like this! In the middle of his interview, you see a woman — possibly his girlfriend — walking in the background in just a bra and underwear.”
But that’s not why the candidate didn’t get the job. Bauer noticed the Skype interview occurred in the Conrad Hotel in Battery Park City — certainly not in Baltimore. Coincidentally, Bauer’s sister’s wedding was held at the Conrad, so he recognized the room decor and spotted a glimpse of the Manhattan skyline towering through the window.
At that point, it was game over. “I would have excused the fact that he had a semi-naked woman in the background, as he was well-spoken, an NYU Stern graduate, highly accomplished and was overall the ‘full package,’ ” Bauer says. “But he clearly was lying about having a death in the family. We certainly encourage our employees to have successful, vibrant social lives outside the office — we just do not accept those with a lack of integrity.”
Amanda Augustine, job search expert at TheLadders, the job-matching Web site, mentions candidates often neglect treating a virtual interview with the same mindfulness as a face-to-face one.
“If you’re planning to do this at home, make sure your friends and family members — and scantily-clad girlfriends — are aware of your interview,” she says. “You might want to put a note on the door as a reminder. Don’t send the wrong message!”
The simple “Bear Necessities”
When a senior financial manager bounced into his interview in Midtown in the middle of the recession, he channeled his best Disney by breaking into song and dance in the elevator lobby.
Jessica Hammond, a partner in human relations at the time, recalls the first interview in 2009. “Upon meeting him, we simply asked how he was. He explained he had been working with his son for a performance of Disney’s ‘The Jungle Book.’ ” After she and her team mentioned how nice that was, he broke into “The Bear Necessities.”
“We were cracking up,” she recalls. “His performance was so positive and full of energy that he gave off a great vibe. It was a great way to start the interview.”
Although he wasn’t hired, Hammond says it wasn’t due to the performance. “He brought great energy, but the fit wasn’t right for either party. I would bet my last banana he went on to great success.”
And considering his enthusiasm sparkled, Farley says the song-and-dance card wasn’t necessarily a misstep. “If you’re a good judge of character and sense that genuine ‘interview chemistry’ is happening, injecting humor or whimsy into the interview can help make you more memorable (in a good way, that is).”
Just be mindful of the corporate culture, he cautions. “Singing ‘The Jungle Book’ could well be a winning strategy if you’re going for a position as an aide at a day care center — an executive position at a Big Four accounting firm? Not so much.”