Hey - good advice! I interview fairly frequently - thought I'd share some of the no-no's we had.

I help do the interviews for a number of introductory positions with our state environmental agency. Most of the applicants are just graduating from the university with science degrees. Some of the 'highlights'

1. One applicant had his hands in his pockets and jiggled 'everything' constantly throughout the entire interview. It was very uncomfortable for both of us interviewers, because we couldn't even look at him with out our eyes being drawn to the action. If you have that kind of nervous twitch, for the love, bring something to keep your hands busy besides yourself!

2. Midway through an interview one lady stopped in the middle of her answer to dramatically inform us that the natural aura's were changing and that it would rain soon...too bad for her it didn't rain that day.

3. Showing up a little early is okay, but showing up an hour or more early, and demanding attention (water, clipboard, copies of her resume, coffee, etc.) is another. One gal showed up exactly one hour early, kept our admin busy with her needs the whole time, and basically made a very poor impression on the whole office before she even stepped into the interview room.

4. Reeking of desperation is also bad. One guy brought a picture of his two month old baby and showed it to us as 'his reason for needing this job' and basically had a pleading tone the entire time. Yeah, I felt sorry for him, but he didn't give us any other professional reason to hire him.