What Bugs Interviewers
What Bugs Interviewers?
From Career Tips, 2026 Volume 5, May
(This was a follow-up to a series I did on what candidates consider red flags in interviews.)
In the survey I did last month, I asked about what interviewers would consider red flags. There were quite a few listed. For today, let’s focus on the most serious ones, which were in response to this question:
Is there a red flag that would cause you to almost certainly rule out that candidate?
1. Someone who is cocky - overbearing - that type of person would not make a good team player - and we are all part of a team when we work for a company.
This is the flip side of the coin from one I see frequently, a lack of confidence. As a hiring manager, I’m seeking to determine if you can do the job, and do it well; whether you can solve the challenges I face and produce the results critical to my operation. I should be the skeptic, judging everything you tell me to see if it rings true and demonstrates what I seek. If you lack confidence, then I will be that much more concerned about your candidacy.
But as this respondent suggests, one can take that too far, and be so over-the-top in their confidence (or how they present it) that it becomes a serious concern for their ability to fit into the team. This is also closely related to another issue I’ve written about.
2. If they had personal problems with every job. They didn’t like their colleagues or boss at each past role. Talked negatively about every boss.
It should go without saying that you shouldn’t criticize a past employer.
On a deeper level, as this respondent points out, it will count against you if you had issues in several places or situations. After all, you are the common denominator, so perhaps you are the problem after all. And even if you’re not, it can suggest that you don’t show the best judgment, if you continually end up in those situations.
3. Rudeness. An interview is a "best behavior" situation. If a candidate is rude to me, or to anyone, during the recruitment process, that's not somebody I want around the workplace.
One of the most memorable was a candidate who complained to me that another interviewer wasted his time. I was stunned. That interviewer was a manager - it was his job to impress her. And he wasn't using his brain. For all he knew, the other interviewer might have been my dear friend, my relative or even my lover, as well as a colleague.
Absolutely. If you can’t handle being polite and treating people well even for the length of time involved in an interview, how should I expect you to behave on the job, day in and day out? This is one reason savvy interviewers will check with people like the receptionist and HR generalist on a candidate’s behavior, or might include peers (or people below that level) in the interview schedule, or have them escort (and chat with) the candidate from one interviewer to another.
Next month I’ll share the more complete list of red flags.
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