how to make sure you don't get hired

I'm still in the middle of filling the vacant position on my team. As I had previously mentioned, I had a ton of candidates apply and it took a while to go through all of those applications.

I've done many interviews, most of them over the phone (the last phase is a panel interview and only a handful of candidates get to this point). The phone interviews have been interesting...

Before I asked a question, one candidate asked me "How much does this job pay?" even though the salary range is in the job description. When I told her, she said, "Nuh-uh, that's not enough for me." Click.

Another candidate told me that he wanted to work with clients who weren't challenging. Ummm...we work with addicts at risk for HIV (although it is incredibly rewarding work, it is almost always challenging). Clearly people aren't reading the job description.

One candidate spent most of the phone interview trashing her current employer. Not only was that unprofessional, but unfortunately for her, it is an agency we work with all the time.

When I asked another candidate what her greatest strength was, she replied, "Well, as you can see on my resume, I don't like to be at a job for more than a year because I get bored and I think that gives me lots of variety." At that point, I understood why she hadn't dated her work experience on her 4 page resume.

Don't think that the candidates who made it to the panel interview were all angels though.

One of the candidates didn't even show up for his interview. Eh. It happens. I get that people are looking for jobs out there and will take the first one offered. However, before burning a bridge, wouldn't it have been mature of him to just call and let us know?

This one totally took the cake though. Another candidate, on being asked about her experiences working with the Latino community, said "there's friction between Latin Americans and Central Americans and everyone knows that Latin Americans are better."

Ummm...my parents are from Mexico. It's best to avoid insulting the interviewer who could be your future boss. (By the way, much more was said about this topic that was more insulting than the above statement.)

I can't wait to fill this position. And for the sake of sanity, I do hope it's sooner rather than later.