Several years ago I was facilitating a panel interview for a client in Washington, DC. Part of my duties involved setting up the room, introducing the candidates to each member of the selection committee, and making sure that the candidates were comfortable. At the beginning of each interview I made sure that they had something to drink, knew where the bathroom was, etc. During this one meeting the candidate declined my routine offer of a glass of water but midway through the meeting he appeared to get thirsty and kept staring longingly at one of the selection committee’s coffee mug. A few minutes later and half-way through one of his responses to a question he stopped abruptly and asked whether he could have a sip of the woman’s coffee! There was this amazing uncomfortable silence...the interview ended not soon afterwards.
