How Not To Get Hired

CareerBuilder.com has issued its annual survey of the worst job interview mistakes.

I can probably list a few that didn't make it because they happened to us, but it was a few years ago:

• Applicant for a news reporting jobs said she was shy and required a private office.

• Candidate asked about mileage reimbursement for her commute to work.

And those losers we did hire:

• Ad sales rep took her kids with her on sales calls and her reports were like a verbatuim taped replay of her (long) day.

• Secretary spent time on the phone trying to find a date for her husband so she could continue her affair.

Here are 10 real-life examples from CareerBuilder.com's survey:

• Candidate answered cell phone and asked the interviewer to leave her own office because it was a "private" conversation.

• Applicant told the interviewer he wouldn't be able to stay with the job long because he thought he might get an inheritance if his uncle died and his uncle wasn't "looking too good."

• The job seeker asked the interviewer for a ride home after the interview.

• The applicant smelled his armpits on the way to the interview room.

• Candidate said she could not provide a writing sample because all of her writing had been for the CIA and it was "classified."

• Candidate told the interviewer he was fired for beating up his last boss.

• When the applicant was offered food before the interview, he declined saying he didn't want to line his stomach with grease before going out drinking.

• An applicant said she was a "people person" not a "numbers person" – in her interview for an accounting position.

• During a phone interview the candidate flushed the toilet while talking to hiring manager.

• The applicant took out a hair brush and brushed her hair.

Believe it or not, these people probably did find work somewhere (making more than you or I do)!