What applicants shouldnt say in interviews

Paul in Cannon Beach

MSN.com had an article over the weekend discussing what applicants should and should not discuss during an interview.

They listed the following green light (go ahead) areas:

Goals, growth and professional development, career highlights, motivations

Yellow light issues (proceed with caution):
Vacations you have taken, allergies, pets, all your skills

And red light (don't GO THERE) issues:
Lifestyle choices, politics, religion, name dropping, health history, house or childcare problems, past bad bosses

I generally agree with the list. The "vacations" part was odd. Talking about a past vacation is not as bothersome to me as an applicant discussing "future vacation requests" in the interview. That seems presumptous and immature.

One major area they simply left off was discussing pay and benefits. There is a school of thought that applicants shouldnt bring up pay until they have recieved a job offer. Personally, I think its fine for an applicant to discuss this area towards the end of the interview when I usually ask them what questions they have. The only time questions about pay and benefits bother me is when they come early on in the process.

What do you think? Are there other areas they left off the list?

I definitely agree that its a bad idea for applicants to trash their past boss. I think being negative in general is a bad idea. I would prefer to hear someone say "working with my past director was challenging but I learned alot from the experience".

My list of interview no-nos also includes:

- being too friendly or too talkative.
- pressuring me (I really need this job!)
- applying for every job that comes open
- being listless or distracted

What's on your list?

HRQ

I rarely do interviews any more, but to add to your "no can do" list;

Lower level staff;
- bringing the kids, husband or boyfriend to hang out during the interview
- poor grooming. I don't care if they wear a suit, but if they are grubby, I'm not interested
- failure to turn off the cell phone or at least apologize and turn it off once it does start ringing

Higher level staff;
- all of the above
- telling me how we should run our business (as opposed to asking more to learn about the job, and telling me how they might contribute to our success)
- having no idea whatsoever the type of job for which they've applied. At this level, they should have some experience or at least have done some homework.

This sounds more like a pet-peeve list than a serious answer, but they are all immediate turn-offs when it comes to an applicant.

Susan in La

My pet peeves are people who arrive late, and those who chew gum or roll candy around in their mouth during the interview.

HRQ

Reeking of cigarette smoke or lunch from Taco Bell are also big no-no's. Get some Listerine, for Pete's sake. Or for my sake. Whatever.