I’m in HR – this is what makes me instantly reject a candidate during a job interview

Professionals who work in the human resources departments of top companies have revealed the details that cause them to immediately reject a candidate – and it goes deeper than typos on resumes.

Several recruiters converged on Reddit to list the bizarre interview experiences they’ve had, including job seekers actively using artificial intelligence like ChaatGPT to answer the questions.

Others cited poor hygiene, having a distinct body odor and bragging about drinking on a night out as undesirable qualities.

Recruiters also rejected candidates who included their parents in job interviews as this showed a lack of independence.

It was also previously found that a third of recruiters rejected candidates after looking at their social media profiles, despite the act being frowned upon.

One shared a ‘wild’ experience with someone using AI.

“I did a video interview with a lady who, after a few questions, made it painfully clear that she was just entering the questions into ChatGPT and reading out the answers,” he said.

“Her answers were extended essays that defined a key word in the question rather than answering it. I asked her about her proudest achievement and she said: ‘sSome things that people often feel a sense of satisfaction about include….”

‘This told me that she either didn’t know anything about the position, or was so unconfident in her skills that she had to be constantly kept in the shadows rather than eventually being able to work independently. Both immediately say ‘no’.”

In addition to not using AI to answer questions, good etiquette during Zoom interviews is also important.

“My boss once had someone show up to a Zoom interview shirtless. How the hell do you survive if you’re the type of person who goes to a job interview shirtless?’ a man asked.

Others shared that strong odors – both positive and negative – also influenced their hiring decisions.

“If you smell bad on the other side of the table, it’s an immediate ‘no’ for me,” one person said.

‘One woman had an extremely strong rose perfume. It hit you like a ton of bricks when you were within five feet of her. I couldn’t concentrate on the interview,” said another.

While a boss revealed an incident that led her to reject an intern.

“The young intern came in and didn’t realize there was a desk behind a wall where one of us heard how much partying, drugs and drinking he had been doing all weekend and pretended to be sick to get out of work,” she said .

Another said that during the job interview a candidate took a bottle out of his briefcase and took a long drink.

“Any level of parental involvement in the job interview, especially if someone brings his or her parents to a job interview, is a no,” said one recruiter. ‘Parent calling to schedule or reschedule the meeting? Passage. Bring a parent to the meeting? Immediate pass.’

Several others shared relatively standard reasons for rejecting candidates, such as empty resumes, not meeting minimum requirements, not having the right to work or needing visa sponsorship.