I was interviewing a soon to be recent grad at Michigan State a few years ago who was by far the most stunning candidate on paper - student council, leader in numerous organizations on campus, volunteer work, 2 internships with top companies, 4.0 GPA.... when she walked in to the interview room she was poised and professional and spent the first half of the interview wow'ing me. Then, I asked her what here proudest accomplishment was (her resume was full of them) and in one of the most uncomfortably seductive way she uncrossed and recrossed her legs, licked her lips, tossed her hair back - then leaned in and (looking me right in the eye) stated "I am the only virgin left in my sorority" in a voice loud enough for everyone else in the room to turn and look. I was only 24 at the time and people weren't really sure which of us had just said that. I was shocked to say the least!

The interviewee was a recent college graduate. He was interviewing for an entry level sales position. The candidate wasn’t sure of himself at all and was very tentative in his answers. I finally stopped the interview and told the young man flat out that I expected a candidate for a sales position to sell me on his candidacy. He said he understood and proceeded to answer the next question with, “Well, I guess I could definitely do that.” I ended the interview and suggested he look for a different type of position.

I interviewed a candidate for a Director-level position on an unusually cold day in January. I met him in our lobby and offered to hang-up his top coat in the closet. As he's removing his top coat he says, "(explative) It's as cold as a witch's ___!" He read my "blank face" and quickly added, "Hey, lighten-up, all I said was (expletive)! Don't tell me you've never heard THAT word before." Dropping f-bombs and using crude expressions to describe the weather aren't the best ways to begin an interview. BTW, his top coat didn't spend much time in our lobby closet. TJNTIY.

1. In a group interview setting where each person had a series of questions designed to elicit different characteristics of the role, the candidate aced the first 2 sections. When he came to me, my questions were far more abstract and asked for some application of his experience. He wasn't able to cope, and what seemed to have been leaning his way suddenly eliminated him from consideration.