From the WSJ: eight bone-headed moves job hunters commonly make. …
1. Entitlement syndrome.
One company received an unsolicited résumé full of grammatical and spelling errors with a note asking to have someone on the company’s staff correct them. “I’m sure you have people there that could fix them before they put it into your online database on my behalf,” the applicant wrote.
2. Behaving rudely.
A candidate for an administrative position showed up to an interview with a preschooler in tow.
A candidate for an entry-level outsourcing job at Accenture Ltd. unwrapped a sandwich during an interview and asked the hiring manager if he could eat it since it was lunchtime.
Job hunters have also acted rudely by showing up more than an hour early for interviews, interrupting interviewers in mid-sentence and refusing to fill out a job application, referring hiring managers to their résumés instead, say hiring managers and recruiters.
3. Acting arrogantly.
In the middle of the meeting, the interviewer suddenly heard Madonna singing — it was the ring tone for the candidate’s cell phone … and the person took the call.
Other candidates show arrogance by demanding to bypass human resources, inquiring about salary and job benefits at the start of an interview and insulting former employers.
4. Lies, lies, lies.
Job hunters also commonly lie by taking credit for work they didn’t do, inflating their salaries and saying they don’t smoke when seeking positions at companies with no-smoking policies.
5. Dressing down.
“She was wearing a t-shirt three sizes too small with bright red letters across her chest … I couldn’t help but pay more attention to her breasts than her résumé.”
While it might be acceptable to skip a suit and tie in some office environments, it’s never appropriate to wear jeans, cleavage-revealing tops, flip-flops or skin-tight pants.
“You should also take out all your funky piercings and hide your tattoos.”
6. Oversharing.
After learning that a position involved a great deal of travel, a candidate for a senior sales job at a midsize manufacturer told the interviewer he was worried about how his saltwater fish would get fed while he was away.
Other things employers say that job hunters reveal — but shouldn’t — include comments about their health problems, details about their love lives and tales of their financial hardships.
7. Saying thanks with gifts.
A finalist sent a pricey fruit bowl from Tiffany & Co. to a hiring manager following a third interview. The candidate was instantly knocked out of the running. “That was a real big faux pas … It’s trying to buy yourself a job..”
A thank-you note is really the only appropriate way to show appreciation. But even so, hiring managers say they’ve received everything from pricey tickets to sporting events to bottles of alcohol —a ll big no-no’s.
8. Sporting a mom-and-dad complex.
One recruiter reports has receiving emails from parents of applicants asking why the company hasn’t extended their adult children job interviews.
“There’s a significant lack of judgment when you have your parents intercede with a potential employer … We expect individuals to be able to represent themselves and sell themselves.”
Hiring managers say they’ve also seen moms and dads accompany their offspring to job interviews and try to intervene in salary negotiations.
WSJ, Big Blunders Job Hunters Make,JUNE 25, 2010
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703615104575328641186507512.html?mod=WSJ_hps_MIDDLESixthNews
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