Reader Feedback: Wackiest Interviews

Hello,

    Just finished reading the April 2 'Wackiest Interview Blunders' edited by Jeremy Cohen and wish to add one more...

    My husband's company interviewed someone a couple months back who requested financial statements from the owners because he had had to sue his former employer and found out in court the employer (a small business owner) didn't have many assets.  The prospective job candidate said he didn't want to end up somewhere he couldn't get a good settlement if he needed to sue.

    Thanks for listening.

-- Cora Bird
Maritime Communications, Inc.
Marina del Rey, CA

Editor's Note: What's your wackiest interview anecdote? Share your story with us by clicking the comment link below!

Comments

[Mike McCue]

Indeed, Cora, there is such a thing as too much information, and too much honesty! The funny thing is, these blunders aren't always committed by the interviewees. I have had some truly horrific interviews, one of which I detailed in a past editorial. The president of one company I interviewed with decided to air his firm's dirty laundry as he interviewed me. He told me that at least one sales rep was about to be fired, that the marketing department (which I would have been in charge of) was full of "fruits," and that the company would be a lot different one day, when "his old man" stepped down and let him run the company the way he saw fit. In place of a follow-up interview, they asked me to give them a full strategic plan on how I would re-org their marketing department if I got the job.
I politely declined, told them I was no longer interested in the position, and counted my lucky stars that I found out about that loony bin before I joined the company!