How not to interview for a job

For a time, part of my job was to interview the occasional applicant at the small company where I worked. Many of them assured us verbally that they had loads of experience using our preferred software, but did all sorts of bizarre things when asked to perform a routine task with it.

The worst candidate I interviewed never made it as far as the software test. He sat down across the table from me and droned unenthusiastically about what should have been an interesting, engaging project. The real killer was when he got out a picture of the product. Ordinarily, I would welcome a look at somebody's portfolio, but this guy placed his briefcase on the table between us to get it out. I spent the rest of the interview craning to see around its open lid.

I recommended firmly against hiring him.