At his blog, Genomic Repairman points out how to bungle a postdoc interview. For example, by failing to read up on the lab's current work.

"Forgetting to read some of the most recent papers from the lab — ding, ding, ding! This is the kiss of death," Genomic Repairman says. "We no longer work on redacted [sic], that was like 10 years ago and what the boss got tenure on. We've changed topics. Hopefully you would have noticed this."