The other day my husband and I were driving to dinner. I was feeling a bit frustrated because one of the job seekers I was working with didn't get the job she was applying for and the reason was something silly. This happens more often then I like to remember and so my husband suggested, "Honey, why don't you start a list of some of the silliest and simplest reasons people have not gotten hired and share it with your candidates before they go into their interviews." At first I thought that some of these reasons might be too simple to mention, but it is the little things that make the biggest difference in an interview. Over the next few months I will begin compiling a list of the top 101 reasons people didn't get the job. Here are the first 10:

1) A job seeker went in for an interview and was wearing too short of a skirt, needless to say the client passed.
2) A legal secretary misspelled the word "litigation" on a legal spelling test.
3) A male showed up to an interview and WAS NOT WEARING SOCKS on the interview-the client was so disgusted they immediately passed.
4) In the final stages of an interview, a candidate got the company name wrong
5) A job seeker went in for an interview and looked everywhere except at the interviewer (good eye contact is always critical!)
6) After looking for a job for over 2 years, a job seeker finally got an interview and showed up 15 minutes late
7) A candidate passed every test, however, on one test, she second-guessed herself and changed a few of her answers at the last minute which led to her failing one of the necessary tests and being passed on.
8) During a phone screen a job seeker was asked to describe her typical day and was unable to clearly communicate what she did on a day to day basis.
9) During a 3rd and final interview a candidate decided to wear perfume and the perfume was so overpowering that no one in the office thought they could work with her.
10) A candidate went through 5 interviews with everyone in the company and after the final interview received an offer, however she sent a thank you letter that looked something like this:

Hi ___!

I am really super excited to work for you! This is exactly what I have always wanted to do) Cannot wait to work with you!!!!

Job Seeker

Needless to say, the company rescinded the offer.

As you can see, there are many silly little things that can easily lose you the job. Stay tuned for more of my top 101 reasons why people didn't get the job offer...