Joan Cannon, Senior Director of Scientific Affairs at Lundbeck Pharmaceuticals, answered this frequently asked question by saying, “During our hiring process, we look for extreme behaviors displayed on interviews. We look to see if candidates are going to drop their guard and break out of professional mode during the course of our conversations. We expect that candidates are going to be on their best behavior during an interview (and throughout their tenure with us) – so if we see that they can't control their behavior during the course of a half-day or full-day interview in conversations with several leaders in industry, we can only imagine what might happen six or twelve months down the road when they are in front of our clients and Key Thought Leaders in the field.”

Joan added that they try to pinpoint any red flags in a candidate’s behavior, attitude, background or personal presentation, but truly hope they will see otherwise. In particular, they pay close attention to how candidates answer the question, “Why do you want to leave your current employer”? Cannon said that “when candidates cannot resist the urge to speak negatively about their current boss or company, it is clearly a red flag.” According to a recent Simply Hired survey of over 850 Managers, an overwhelming 88% said that “bad mouthing a former boss” will affect the likelihood of a candidate getting hired and was