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Top 10 Scary Questions Job Candidates Ask

Dec 08, 2009 / Job Seeker / Trackback

#10 Would my office have a window?

#9   Do you restrict Inter­net access?

#8   What time would I have to work until?

#7   Do you do back­ground checks?

#6   Do you drug test?

#5   How many sick days do I get?

#4   Can I work from home?

#3   When can I apply for a promotion?

#2   When will I get a raise?

#1   How long will this inter­view take?

Job seek­ers, have you ever regret­ted some­thing you asked in an inter­view? Recruiters, Hir­ing Man­agers and other inter­view­ers, what are some of the most dam­ag­ing (or funny) things can­di­dates have asked you in interviews?


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  • http://karlaporter.com kar­la­porter

    Whoa Julia… I think you might have messed up your chances to hire the next Einstein…

  • http://twitter.com/JuliaRecruiter Julia Fritz

    Last week, I was asked “How long does it typ­i­cally take for mar­i­juana to pass thru a person’s sys­tem?” — Need­less to say that was a “We’ll be in touch” interview!

  • http://karlaporter.com kar­la­porter

    Whoa Julia… I think you might have messed up your chances to hire the next Einstein…

  • http://twitter.com/JuliaRecruiter Julia Fritz

    Last week, I was asked “How long does it typ­i­cally take for mar­i­juana to pass thru a person’s sys­tem?” — Need­less to say that was a “We’ll be in touch” interview!

  • shen­nee

    Holy Mac­a­roni!
    I can not believe this reminder is even nec­es­sary~ This list should be re-named. WHAT NEVER TO ASK! in an Inter­view. One would think any­one with an ounce of com­mon sense, wouldn’t even think of ask­ing these ques­tions. Whoa.

    • http://karlaporter.com kar­la­porter

      Whoa is right Shen­nee… how about this from my friend Joan. She com­mented via Face­book “Most of these ques­tions don’t sur­prise me. How about when they show up for the inter­view and think they have the job? You won­der are they screw­ing with you or did they really inter­pret your request for an inter­view as a job offer? Peo­ple never stop sur­pris­ing me.”

  • http://karlaporter.com kar­la­porter

    John — Love your new avatar.

    @Ask_The_Rctr — More oldies but good­ies! Thanks for shar­ing these, thanks for help­ing can­di­dates not make these mistakes..

  • @Ask_The_Rctr

    Ques­tions can­di­dates have asked me dur­ing their first interview.

    1. Can I have a cou­ple of days off dur­ing the week so I can do my vol­un­teer work?
    2. The hours are ok now but when can I request to change my shift hours?
    3. Will my super­vi­sor be a man or woman? I get along bet­ter with female super­vi­sors.
    4. Will you be con­tact­ing my last employer for ref­er­ences? I did not get along with my man­ager and some of my co-workers.

  • http://www.daweconsulting.com/ John Dawe, CFRE

    When­ever I inter­viewed peo­ple I used to throw them curve­balls by ask­ing thought-provoking ques­tions like, “What’s the last book you read?” — I remem­ber one per­son answered “Harry Pot­ter?” I asked them if they actu­ally read the book or if they really just went to the movie. They didn’t respond. They were not hired.

  • http://twitter.com/pawspagal Margo Rose

    Deep thoughts, Karla. I might add:

    1) How strict is your sex­ual har­rass­ment pol­icy?
    2) Do you expect your direct reports to com­plete their task on time?
    3) Is it ok if I show my col­leagues ALL my body pierc­ings?
    4) What’s your pol­icy on multi-colored mohawks?
    5) I have a prob­lem with gas, is that going to dis­turb my cubi­cle mates?

    I could think of more, but I’ll leave it there for now. #hrnighmares

    • http://karlaporter.com kar­la­porter

      Oh my Margo… I have heard #4 before but the oth­ers… what kind of weird place did you work that attracted char­ac­ters inter­est­ing enough to ask those questions???


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