Almost immediately after we had finished with the opening small talk and before I was even sure he was right for the job, the candidate laid out his demands for compensation. While there's no normal flow to an interview, it was obvious that the candidate felt undervalued and under-compensated and wanted to say that. This was a good candidate, but there are many good people. He made a naked show of what drove him and it was a turnoff. Another mistake is when candidates misrepresent or over-amplify the contributions they made at past employers.
Truth sells and honesty sells.
Unfortunately, candidates feel a need to oversell themselves. I believe that values drive society, companies and people, so one of the things I look for is a consistency in terms of what a candidate states are his values and the values he actually lives. It's whether by analyzing their actions I see consistency between what someone tells me their values are and what they really are. Some people talk about spending time with their family and kids, but they spend no time with their family and kids. You look at what they say they do.