Good posture, confidence, eye contact, a firm but not BoJo-greets-Jacinda-Ardern-level handshake: all important boxes to tick when attending a job interview. And as it turns out, manners do actually matter - especially when it comes to the receptionist sitting behind that front desk.
Taking to Reddit, a recruiter shared how one jobseeker flunked his interview in the first five minutes by failing a simple test she had concocted to quickly weed out unworthy candidates.
The hiring manager explained that she roleplayed as the receptionist to gauge how the jobseeker might treat other employees at the company. Unfortunately for him, his attitude towards the staffer was an instant red-flag.
"Today, a candidate blew his interview in the first five minutes after he entered the building. He was dismissive to the receptionist," she wrote on the popular Life Pro Tips forum.
The recruiter went on to explain that she went the extra mile to engage in pleasantries with the candidate, who she claimed avoided eye contact and showed little to no interest in speaking to her.
When the recruiter revealed she was, in fact, the woman who would be deciding his fate with the company, she wasted no time in making it clear that the candidate's attitude was unacceptable - informing him that every team member should be treated with the same level of respect.
"Thank you for your time but the interview is over. Be nice to everyone in the building," she added.
The woman's approach has been applauded by fellow Redditors, with many agreeing that common courtesy still goes a long way in the workplace, despite etiquette perhaps not carrying the same weight in society as it once did.
"Bingo! After a candidate leaves one of the first things those involved in the interview will do is speak to the receptionist and ask them how the interviewee treated them," one weighed in, with a second adding: "I got hired once because I held the door for the janitor coming in with his cart. The receptionist said, 'that's so nice of you'. I said it was just decency, but apparently, she was in the hiring manager's ear later that day. The choice was between me, and someone more knowledgeable, but he was a p***k... so they went with me."
Others, however, noted that those who struggle with anxiety and other mood disorders may unintentionally come across as rude during social interactions, with one explaining: "I have horrible anxiety and struggle to focus on stuff other than the actual process so I'm sure I've blanked on responding to a receptionist. Not because I'm a rude person but purely because I just struggle to pay attention to everything because of the other stuff I'm thinking of."
The moral of the story? Manners do matter.
