My major concern when creating a list such as this is that the managers will take it too literally, which isn’t how it’s meant. So, when you’re interviewing, watch for things that are similar underneath, but may look/sound different on the surface.

Rather than ten flags, I’ve listed ten categories with specific examples of each. Once you understand the categories you’ll have little trouble using them to recognize other manifestations.

One last note. As you read these, you might think, “Well, of course…” or “Everybody knows that” and wonder why I bothered mentioning it. The answer is that the sheer frequency can make such mindsets seem normal and, even, acceptable. Much worse, is managers’ willingness to rationalize them away in direct proportion to the need for the candidate’s skills.

• Attitude
• Bad attitude, including, but not limited to:
• Cranky
• Chip on shoulder
• Depressed
• Poor me/victim
• Angry
• Arrogant
• Inflexible
• The world owes me
• Flippant, glib
• Me-centric, including, but not limited to:
• Looking around the room when talking to someone
• Reality check
• Unrealistic expectations
• Wasting time (the manager’s, HR’s, the recruiter’s, their own) when there is no real interest in the job
• Relying on experts and ignoring their own good sense
• Taking it all too seriously
• Dress/appearance
• Unprofessional/unappealing appearance
• Dirty/ragged cuticles, uncared-for nails, hands
• Grubby, sloppy (as opposed to business casual) clothes
• Too much skin including strappy sandals, navels, midriffs, décolletage
• Scruffy leather products
• Preparation
• Producing a hiring-manager-unfriendly résumé
• Long
• Boring
• Skills, but no accomplishments
• Thinking “What I do/want” instead of “What I can do for you”
• Not researching the company, technology, market, industry trends, etc.
• Fudging/fibbing/prevaricating/lying/any & all euphemisms
• Taking credit for something one didn’t do
• Taking sole credit for something one didn’t do alone
• “Adjusting”
• Position
• Longevity
• Graduation date, degree, major
• Inventing anything
• Enhancing anything
• First impression
• Arriving/calling/emailing late
• Last minute cancellations
• Not showing enthusiasm from the start
• Interviewing
• Not turning off cell/Blackberry/etc.
• Not bringing additional copies of the résumé
• Not being willing to address negatives to show their positive side (AKA rolling over and giving up)
• Answering information-seeking questions “yes” or “no”
• Asking no questions or only closed-ended questions (as opposed to information-gathering ones)
• Disparaging former employers/companies
• Not preparing short war-stories relevant to a particular job
• Not offering insights on a situation uncovered in research for fear of being “used.”
• Compensation
• Asking for a specific salary
• Asking about salary/benefits in the first interview
• Making compensation your number one criteria
• Follow-up
• Not following up personally by phone as appropriate
• Relying on/hiding behind email

If you have any questions, feel free to give me a call at 866.265.7267

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This entry was posted on Thursday, October 19th, 2006 at 2:48 pm and is filed under Business info, Hiring, Retention. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
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