Times: What Not To Do at an Interview

In the United Kingdom, a CV is a resume, and “to scupper” means to sink. Though the words are different, The Times of London has an on-target article about the things candidates do to Not Get a Job. Here’s a sample:

What not to do at an interview
Sarah Campbell asks employers for their stories of job interviews that went wrong — and what the candidates should have said

The absolute disaster. “This story relates to an interview for a junior sales post,” says Mark Rhodes, the head of marketing at reed.co.uk. “The candidate’s first mistake was to turn up in a white suit.” Wanting to find out whether his credentials were better than his fashion sense, the interviewer asked a few simple questions about his CV. “The candidate started to mumble and said he couldn’t answer the questions,” Rhodes says. “When asked why this was, he said that his girlfriend had written his CV for him.” The kindly interviewer tried to put the candidate at ease by talking about the company and asking general questions. “He continued to give mumbled responses. When asked whether he was nervous, he replied that he’d only just got out of bed and hadn’t had any breakfast.” The interviewer terminated the session — after just three minutes. Unsurprisingly, this on-the-ball individual was not given the role. Rhodes points out the importance of first impressions and of knowing not only about the company that you are applying for a position with but also your own CV — and wearing a decent suit.

See the whole article for the great anecdotes.