Be careful what you say about others!

by Victoria E.
(Michigan)

I interviewed a candidate for a retail sales position in the wireless industry.

I asked her what I thought to be a very simple behavioral question:

I asked her to "Tell me about a time when you were too busy at work to take a break, and how did you cope?"

Instead of telling me about a time when she was too busy to take a break, this candidate went down a completely different path.

She went on a tangent about how she believes that smokers take too many smoke breaks. She complained about how unfair it is that employees who smoke tend to take more breaks than others, and nothing is ever done about it, and even went as far as saying that smokers should be banned from leaving their work area to have a cigarette.

I was so surprised that the candidate chose this route in a job interview that I had to laugh. I shared this story with my fellow recruiters and we all had a chuckle!

Complaining about people is not appropriate in an interview. Making negative comments about others is a deal breaker in my interview!

Needless to say, I did not consider this candidate for the job. My ideal candidate displays a positive, professional attitude at all times.