Some Interesting Interview Superstitions

by Ruaidhri Horan, Marketing Manager, Abrivia Recruitment

Many people have superstitions regarding interviews. Most of these superstitions are specific to the individual, such as wearing lucky interview socks or wearing something red in your interview as this will somehow bring good luck. The list is endless. Below are some interesting interview superstitions from around the globe.

Spill water behind the person
In Serbia it is considered good luck to spill some water behind the person who is going for interview, which will hopefully make their train of thought more “fluid” during the interview.

Tuesday the 13th
In Greece, it would be considered very unlucky if your interview is scheduled for Tuesday which happens to fall on the 13th day of the month. Everyone heard of Friday the 13th being unlucky but Tuesday the 13th is a more unusual one, which stems from Constantinople falling to the Crusaders on Tuesday. April 13, 1204.

Avoid shaking your legs
You should avoid shaking your legs in an interview in South Korea as your good luck will quickly disappear.

After leaving your home for an interview, don’t turn back!
In central Asia, even if you have left your favourite pen behind it is considered bad luck to return to collect it once you have left your house to commence your interview journey. However, you may have left your interview notes behind and it is imperative you revise them before you go in for you interview and you need to return home. The only way to negate this bad luck if you decide to return is to look at your reflection in the mirror before you set off again.

Always get out on the right side of the bed
We often hear the expression in the workplace that when a colleague is in bad humour, that they “got out of the wrong side of bed this morning”. This supposedly stems back to Ancient Egypt where the left side was considered to bring bad luck. Hence, on the morning of your interview, leave your bed on the right hard side, if you believe in superstitions.

Superstitions are widespread and vary from country to country. Many interview superstitions are specific to the individual whilst others form part of the national psyche.