British businesses turn off prospective employees

According to new research, it would appear that it is British businesses, rather than potential employees, who need to brush up during interviews.

The T-Mobile survey of 2000 people found that 6% of those people who came away from a job interview with a bad impression of the company, blamed it on the interviewer, citing rudeness, lateness, sexism and even drunkenness amongst other reasons.

43% of those who had a bad interview went as far as to turn down their subsequent job offer.

Reasons cited for a bad interview experience ranged from the professional to the personal. 40% of people were asked questions that were completely unrelated to the job, over a third (35%) said that the interviewer was unprepared and nearly one in five stated that they didn’t like the company culture and values. Worryingly, 18% of interviewers were late, 16% were sexist, 7% were racist, 7% had bad personal hygiene and nearly 2% were drunk.

Despite their bad experiences, respondents were clear about what they do expect when they attend an interview - 78% want to see a pleasant working environment, 50% want a clear plan of career progression outlined, over half (55%) want to be asked intelligent questions relating to the job and over a third (34%) want to fit with the company’s culture and values.

Interviewees also looked for qualities in the company that they think will give them workplace happiness - for example, 43% want to work with like-minded people.