You could have fooled me. Every now and then, I catch snippets on the radio while driving or exercising in the gym, about surveys of hiring managers and their feedback in how to succeed on an interview. Because I am a career counselor, I always perk up and listen closely when I hear something about employment and job search. I’ve heard that employers like when job candidates pause before answering, because it shows critical thinking, that they look most closely at the interviewee’s shoes because polished shoes show attention to detail, and that the job candidate should end their “very-nice-to-meet-you” exit with a handshake and, in these exact words, “I want you to hire me!”

But the latest survey of hiring managers shocked me…

This survey reports that one candidate asked the interviewer out for a drink. Another came to the interview wearing flip-flops. And worst of all, another showed up and trimmed his fingernails!

I don’t believe it. Job search how-to is big business with employment recruiters and job search writers competing and perhaps conjuring up new ideas and preempting possibilities that someone somewhere in this world did just those things and coming up with new ways to say the same old thing: A jobseeker has to behave and dress appropriately. That’s a given. Perhaps writers of employment matters must come up with every possible scenario to prevent senseless, needless job interviewing bombs—fearing that if they don’t give warning—someone will commit a fatal faux pas that will cost him/her a potential job.

No one is that—on second thought—can I be so sure? After all, I don’t go in person on interviews with clients. Perhaps some of my pre-interview advice stays with them psychically but that’s literally another story!

I can’t believe some of the things I hear. Candidates who take cell phone calls during interviews or check their Blackberries. C’mon. Who are these reckless rogues?

I certainly hope they’re not talking about MY people! I work mostly with high level professionals, some of them, former six-figured salary earners. I’m sorry. How could that be? How could job candidates be so…foolish? I don’t mean to insult anyone’s intelligence but geez, I can’t fathom such stuff. I can’t imagine those behaviors on job interviews and I cannot believe that hiring managers really said that!

I can only wonder if these scenarios aren’t taken out of context and perhaps during a time when job openings weren’t as scarce as they are now or perhaps some candidates didn’t want the job for which they were interviewing. Interviews are so hard to come by and interviews that become job offers are even trickier to come by.

That’s why common sense would dictate certain behaviors by which one must conduct him/herself for a job interview. Just in case someone out there, some mysterious specimen of a jobseeker I haven’t run into yet, did one of those things, let me say this once: Tap into manners and common sense. Basic life skills and manners we learn—hopefully—early on from families and school. Things like being neatly groomed and dressed appropriately for business, having a pleasant attitude smiling, shaking hands and so on. But for God’s sakes, don’t chew gum, eat or drink either during an interview and turn that damn cell phone off! Basics…back to basics. I don’t want to have this conversation again.

-By The Job Enthusiast, who won’t rest until everyone has a job!

Read more from The Job Enthusiast here.