You might have heard an urban legend about a job seeker who goes on a lunch interview with his potential boss. When the meal arrives, the job seeker sprinkles salt on his food before tasting it. Immediately the employer knows she has no interest in hiring this man. The job seeker isn’t flexible, but he is presumptuous. No one wants to hire a rigid worker.

  After all, employers often spend less than a minute reading a résumé, and they’ll toss your application in the wastebasket if you have a typo or don’t include a cover letter. Even a handshake can ruin your chances of landing the job. True or not – and in the case of the sodium-loving job seeker, probably not true – the story is a reminder not to give employers a reason to pick someone else. Everything you do is being used to decide whether or not you’re a good fit for the position.

  Apparently not all job seekers know this. According to a recent Robert Half survey, job seekers keep making some interview errors that are so outstanding you want to believe they’re joking. Unfortunately, that’s not the case.