Wednesday, April 2, 2025

How to Ruin an Interview Before it Starts

It was my first “real” job after grad school, so I was still very young. The company was holding an open house for interviews after hours, and they asked me to participate.

I was one of the interviewers.

I walked to our lobby to greet my next candidate, a gentleman who was probably mid-40s, dressed reasonably but not particularly impressively. It was easy to tell instantly that he thought he was Very Important, and that the formality of an interview was a nuisance.

I escorted him to an office and asked if he’d brought a resume. He handed one to me, and before either of us had sat down he asked, “So are you a decision maker or a decision influencer?”

“I’m sorry?”

“I asked if you’re a decision maker or a decision influencer.” He clearly wasn’t interested in wasting his time with someone who wasn’t authorized to hire him on the spot.

“Oh. I see. Please come with me, sir.”

I took a different path through the office, but one that led back to the lobby. He seemed a bit baffled, probably having expected to meet with the CEO. “I don’t….”

“Well, you see, sir, I don’t have the authority to hire you, but I do have the authority to thank you for your time, wish you well, and send you on your way. Have a good night.”


I've since done hundreds of interviews. A few candidates were a bit cocky, and one or two of them backed it up with impressive talent, but I've never met a candidate who was as outright dismissive and disrespectful as this one.


One piece of advice I always share whenever I hold a practice interview is that your mission as a candidate is to make the interviewer want to work with you.

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