Everyone always asks about the embarrassing questions candidates ask during interviews, but hiring managers can do some really embarrassing things too. And they have less of an excuse; this is a big part of their job. But the following top four super-annoying behaviors are something we see all too often.

1. Unprepared for the interview.

This could probably be summed up as: READ THE RESUME BEFOREHAND. It’s amazing how often we go into interviews and the hiring manager starts reading the resume aloud and it’s clear that this is their first encounter with it. What a complete waste of time! Just putting 10 minutes of effort in would make the interview 100x more productive.

2. Doing other work during the interview.

This means no texting, no responding to emails. What’s in front of you is the most important thing.

3. Inability to discuss the job particulars.

Just as research should be done on the candidate, you have to do more than just read the job description and answer only very general questions about its requirements.

4. Enough about me. What do you think about me?

Some hiring managers like to take the opportunity of an interview to discuss themselves and all the challenges they face. Yes, interviewees will be polite and seem interested, but is this really what you should be doing?

So if you’re a hiring manager and you recognize something in the above four that could be attributed to you, it’s time to change your ways. You’re not going to assemble a great team by phoning it in or having the right priorities.

About NextGen

NextGen is the brainchild of longtime telecom professionals with nearly 50 years of experience and millions of dollars in Telecom Recruiting Services. We focus on establishing long term relationships with our clients and candidates so we can recruit the best and the brightest in the telecom industry. This ‘quality over quantity’ approach is at the heart of everything we do and has resulted in successful job placements at Fortune 1000 firms worldwide.