I'm sure you probably already packed up your Halloween costume for the year. And the drug stores have most definitely relocated the giant black and orange bags of candy to the clearance rack, but I'd like to keep the holiday spirit alive just a little longer with a few more recruiting horror stories.
Let these stories serve as a warning and reminder to all of you that your decorum during an interview should be nothing but professional.
One of the creepiest recruiting tales I have heard involved the woman who, during her interview, asked the hiring manager interviewing her out on a date! Appropriately, the hiring manager responded by professionally ending the interview and turning down the candidate for the job. But the candidate was not to be deterred.
The next day, using the security badge she had used during her interview (Note to security: turn these badges off at the end of the appointment!), the candidate returned to the campus, set herself up beneath the hiring manager's window with a portable karaoke machine, and began to serenade her with the Carpenters' "Don't You Remember You Said You Loved Me Baby." The candidate was eventually escorted off the campus, but not before she had finished the song and thoroughly embarrassed the interviewer.
Candidate behavior is not always the most frightening aspect of the story, though. Sometimes, the scary part lies in the hiring company's own practices and procedures. I once came across a consulting services company who was hiring away from their competitors. Candidates would interview with any practice leader, not necessarily the person or department they'd be working for.In fact, the company wouldn't even tell the candidate who they'd be working for until after the offer had been accepted!
This company also didn't tell new hires that they were being brought into the company on a probationary basis. Candidates would first have to spend four to six weeks in training and pass a video presentation review in order to keep the job. If they didn't pass, they were released from the program. Again, many of the candidates only discovered these conditions after they had begun the program. As you can imagine, the turnover rate at this organization wasn't the best.
So what's you're most bone-chilling recruiting or interviewing experience?
