What are the worst things to do at a tech job interview?

From a broken leg in reception to a literal Python on a Teams call, veteran City recruiter Natalie Bowers has seen every kind of IT interview disaster. Writing exclusively for Free-Work, she ranks the worst offenders — and explains why ridiculing the role or rubbishing the recruiter is the one no candidate recovers from.

Based on my 25 years as an independent recruiter supplying tech workers for high-paid tech roles, the worst things to do during an IT job interview are to:

• Dress inappropriately 

• Sit oddly or unconventionally, such as on the floor

• Badmouth the recruiter

• Talk down the job

• Let your pets ‘do the talking’ (in video phone or virtual interviews)

There are more IT job interview howlers which I cover below, exclusively for Free-Work, writes Natalie Bowers, founder and managing director of Bowers Partnership.

These howlers — big mistakes — at IT job interviews are based on my more than two decades of professional recruitment experience sourcing technologists for high-growth companies in the City of London.

Is it what you say — or what you do — that sinks an IT interview?

As a tech recruiter for London's Square Mile, I can reveal that it's generally what tech job candidates do — rather than what they say — that damages their chances of success.

That flies in the face of a common myth about funny or memorable 'no-nos' at tech job interviews. I was asked by a candidate only the other day, potentially nervous about their upcoming technical test, 'What's the worst thing to say during a job interview?'

What's the one-line IT contractors should never say in an interview?

To thwart your chances of success at a specialist IT job interview — especially as a contractor or other niche IT worker — simply declare, "I'm a jack of all trades but master of none!" A social media postfrom just this month (July 2026) is absolutely right about that.

However, more often than not, as the owner of a boutique staffing agency I founded back in 2013, it's what I've seen, rather than what I've heard, that goes into the box labelled 'Extraordinarily Bad' for a techie's prospects of being hired.

What are the other worst mistakes in an IT job interview? 

Let’s get to the jarring visuals, then, rather than the audio, that IT job candidates are responsible for! These are the seven things that are terrible to do at a tech job interview, and they include the five that I mentioned at this article’s introduction.

1.    Not giving the hirer advance notice of your accessibility requirements

Failing to flag your accessibility needs before the interview can derail things for everyone involved.

For example, at an in-person interview, one IT job candidate I tried to place turned up at the employer’s workplace with a broken leg in plaster and on crutches. 

The broken leg was not the problem. Accidents happen!

But quite incorrectly, this shortlisted IT job interviewee had NOT told me, the recruiter, beforehand about their injury. 

Even more incorrectly, the techie decided to reveal the broken leg to the employer in the workplace’s reception area on the morning of the actual interview!

Rather than being able to proceed with the interview, the employer suddenly had to think about access to the interview room and other practical arrangements to ensure the limping interviewee was looked after.

I was left wondering why the IT job applicant had not thought their broken leg was worth mentioning. 

The feedback from the applicant (who did make it through the interview) was that the hiring manager "lacked a bedside manner". The feedback from the employer, which didn’t hire the techie, is not publishable!

2.    Dressing inappropriately 

Your clothing creates a lasting first impression, and if it’s not appropriate for the role you’re eyeing, it can spoil your chances before you even speak.

In fact, another IT job candidate who we’d successfully qualified, albeit this time interviewing for an investment management company, did a video phone interview wearing only their vest and knickers.

It’s been very hot in the UK recently, so I was sympathetic to the candidate. 

However, underwear and nothing else isn’t recommended attire when interviewing for a professional tech role.

You do not necessarily need to wear a three-piece suit, but getting dressed properly is generally a good start when seeking to be hired!

3.    Sitting oddly or unconventionally, such as on the floor

Remote interviewing may be more relaxed, but it is still an interview, so sitting in a conventional position to speak to a hirer, rather than on the floor, is a must.

The IT job interviewee that we supported, but who wore a vest and knickers for an investment management role, began their Teams interview sitting on the floor.  

Checking the camera angle (so it’s at your eye level with an uncluttered, unremarkable background) is like arranging somewhere sensible to sit — it’s not an especially high hurdle when preparing for a video interview. But don’t jump it and you'll squander your chances from the outset.

4.    Requiring special conditions for interview attendance and then not attending 

Having a mobility issue isn’t a problem in 2026-27 in the modern tech workplace, but asking your interviewer to accommodate your mobility issue — and then not showing up — is.

For an asset management role which we’d arranged shortlisted candidates for, one technologist said they were a wheelchair user and needed adjustments to attend on-site. 

The employer took the disclosure seriously and reconfigured the building to make sure everything worked for wheelchair access to the interview room. But then the candidate simply didn’t turn up. 

The employer went to considerable effort, and the candidate simply disappeared. A quick phone call or email would have made all the difference, but it never emerged.

5.    The no-show 

Related, but distinct from that last case, not showing up for your job interview when there’s one scheduled — ghosting — is still a terrible activity tied to the interview process that is still too common in 2026-27.

There have been many, many deaths in the family of a few of the same IT job candidates (clearly with short memories), requiring a last-minute rescheduling of interviews. At times, it is almost as if applying for a tech job is a dangerous business! 

Of course, genuine bereavements and emergencies happen, and any decent recruiter/employer will be sympathetic.

But when the same candidate suffers repeated family tragedies, illnesses, transport disasters and household emergencies in the run-up to an interview, it does become difficult to believe. 

Usually, the problem is not the request to reschedule. It is the total lack of warning, the implausible excuse or the complete disappearance afterwards.

6.    Bringing your own Python to the Python job interview

There are clearly some massive animal lovers in the UK tech workforce, but even dog-lovers like me know that our four-legged friends have no place in an IT job interview.

In my time facilitating virtual job interviews for IT roles in the City, dogs, cats and parrots have all joined interviews. And yes there’s been the odd legless lizard in the background too, bringing a whole new meaning to a Python interview!

Let’s be realistic. A cat walking across the keyboard once is not going to end your prospects!

A dog barking in the background throughout the entire video call is less helpful, and a parrot shouting out the last words of every answer you give is bordering on the mickey-taking.  

One brief pet interruption during a tech job interview can be funny. A full supporting cast of your furry friends is not. 

Again, it comes down to basic but sensible preparation for a video job interview. And video interviewing for an IT role means shutting the door, moving the pet behind their own door, and giving the impression you take the interview seriously. Distractions, ahem, are for the birds!

7.    Bad mouthing — the recruiter or the role 

Telling the employer that you don’t think the recruiter who put you into the interview room has a difficult job to do, or that the job being offered is easy, is a sure-fire way to eliminate yourself from the shortlist.

Appearing to criticise recruiters generally, we know one data analyst candidate said: “All they do is send you my CV.” That’s something to absolutely not say about your recruiter at an interview. 

For the avoidance of doubt, a decent IT recruiter does much more than email a document.

What should a good IT recruiter actually do in 2026-27?

Having been one for 25 years, I believe a good IT recruiter should:

• Position the candidate 

• Challenge the candidate’s CV

• Prepare the candidate for interview  

• Prepare the employer/speak to the hiring manager  

• Answer questions from the employer/manager and manage objections 

• Negotiate the offer

• Provide feedback to both parties

• Keep the process together if it starts to wobble at the final stages.

Likewise, at or after a tech job interview, it’s a terrible strategy to badmouth the role you’re applying for or hoping to secure. 

“There isn’t that much work to be done here beyond the short key requirements of the role, which I’ve done many times, and so I can do with my eyes closed.”

A version of that was uttered by an IT job-hopeful to a talent acquisition officer at a financial services organisation. The latter was none-too-pleased. 

And there I was (at the top of this article) saying it’s not what you say at an interview that loses you the job! 

The takeaway 

Tech job interviewees do not need to be perfect in 2026-27. But as part of preparing for their face-to-face, interviewees for IT roles must resist doing the worst, and so should:

• Tell their agents and prospective employers about any special requirements or access/mobility issues they might have 

• Dress and sit sensibly

• Turn up to the interview, and if video interviewing, keep their pets at bay

• Show some respect for both the recruiter and the role. 

Final thought

This last one is my real bugbear! Insulting the person who you want to champion you, or undermining the position that you want to secure, speaks volumes about your own professionalism that can never be taken back.