YouTube video: Weirdest job interviews ever?

If you were interviewing people for a job, what would you do if a young female candidate began openly flirting with you, or if another said the reason he liked his former job was the "lack of responsibility?" How about if one job seeker said she relocated to the area so her husband could pursue a career as a Sasquatch hunter? (See video below).

After seeing a YouTube video of people doing these things in job interviews I thought it was a put on. But after making some phone calls to the guy who operates Howtonailaninterview.com, and one of the people interviewed, I learned that I was wrong, or at least partially wrong.

Steiner Skipsness, the man who produced the videos, works in search-engine marketing. He says he has nothing to do with job placement or head hunting. He swears his clips are not a YouTube prank. He initially started filming job seekers--without their knowledge--to offer insight into good and bad interview techniques, he said.

It was only after he saw that some people were capable of bizarre behavior during interviews did he turn the clips into reality TV for the Web.

"This is what people want," said Skipsness, 27. "This is just like Borat," referring to the fictional character created by comedian Sacha Baron Cohen, who films unwitting people reacting to his character's outrageous behavior.

In the videos, did Skipsness ever stretch the truth?

The woman in the video who said her husband hunts Bigfoot is named Kelly Lusnia. In a phone interview, Lusnia confirmed her husband moved to Seattle to become a volunteer expedition leader for Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization, a group dedicated to studying "the Bigfoot phenomenon." A BFRO worker also confirmed Lusnia's husband worked there.

Lusnia said that she sensed during the phony job interview that something was amiss. The office was barren and the man who posed as the interviewer poured what she assumed was liquor from a metal flask into his coffee. When I asked Skipsness whether he attempted to spook candidates into doing something funny, he said just that once.

"The original idea was to give pure interview advice," Skipsness said. "We only thought later to add a hook, something funny. We did the flask thing to get the deer-in-the-headlights look from her. But we stopped when she told us about Bigfoot. That was 100 times funnier than what we could have come up with and we stopped."

(Credit: Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization)

But Skipsness also acknowledged editing some quotes out of context on at least one of the other interviews. Won't this send some of the people he covertly videotaped running to their lawyers? Skipsness said he obtained waivers from everybody taped.

Lusnia said the waiver she signed mentioned nothing about hidden cameras or being part of an Internet dos-and-don't video. What she was really upset about, however, was that her interview response was under the heading "Don't mention your spouse's job."

"How would that be a 'don't?'" asked Lusnia, 25, who is now in graduate school. "Everyone I talk to finds my husband's job interesting."

[lordmorgul]

People might have found her husband's job interesting, but the question of interest is did they hire her after finding out about her husband's interesting job? I would agree that is a good "don't" rule of thumb for her. Finding something interesting and finding it relevant to the interview are not the same.

[inachu1]

Over 15 years ago one of my selling points was that I got highest score on pacman and the even more funny part was yes I got the job.

[wyohman]

What was your score? I don't remember mine but I do remember hit 7 or 8 keys.

[ducttape36]

why would her husband's job prevent her from being hired? I mean its not like its a conflict of interest or anything.

[the Otter]

I agree with the previous posters. What?s wrong with cryptozoology? Seriously?.

[codynews]

Maybe, I don't know, some people wouldn't want to hire someone that was married to a nut. That might say something about who you're about to hire don't you think?

[Magallanes]

Is it legal to capture such videos without the consent of the person and later publish it and make a joke of this?

[Sam Papelbon]

i think the issue is whether or not they can expect her to stay in the area. she said she moved to the area to follow her husband. His job, while interesting, doesn't sound like one that would be very long-term. An interviewer would be thinking 'right, that things going to go bust in 2 weeks and then where will you move to?'. it wouldn't be worth the risk to hire someone who might end up moving again soon.

however, if my assumption is correct, i think the video could have done a much better job making that point, as it does come across as saying 'if your spouse has a funny job, you won't get hired'

[yetibelieve]

Jane Goodall believes in Sasquatch. Filming job candidates without their consent (and yes I believe her when she said her waiver said nothing about cameras) is douchy and hopefully illegal.

[djnv]

hi, my only problem with these "funny' hidden videos is...where is the funny? 'nuff said...

[Nickcast]

I was the guy that said the "lack of responsibility comment", first off this guy pulls out a flask with alcohol in it and mixes it with his coffee during the interview (I wouldn't take advice from him) and starts revealing a bunch of personal info about himself. He then edits the video of my response and his question, I'm pretty sure I didn't respond saying my favorite thing was lack of responsibility, he asked me about my strengths and weaknesses and I was referring to retail in general not "my lack of responsibility", but of my personal experience with retail. He is a conman more than anything else, he set people up on Craigslist for a job opportunity at a fake company only for his own personal gain, this is just another lesson in how Craigslist needs to do something to weed out fakes like this dude, other cons and killers before you me and everyone else gets screwed.