I received an e-mail from an HR rep in response to an application. A few days later we had a phone screen. The rep started out the conversation fairly informally. Went into detail about one of his kids. By the time the call was over I knew what he did that weekend and where his child was going to college. A bit much for never having talked with this guy ever before today. No big deal I guess but I came to find out after I was not selected that it was because I said "man" a couple times. They viewed this as slang? And because of this determined that I would not be able to have a professional conversation with a client. Unbelievable level of nitpicking. Especially when the recruiter set the tone for the call in such an informal manner talking about his kids. It seems to me there's a bit something more at play here but I thought the whole thing was pretty ridiculous and petty reasons to rule out a qualified candidate that has been doing this for 10 years. I also applied for another position that I have not received any feedback on whatsoever over a week later. You're a major, multinational company -- do better ADP. You form business relationships by seemingly being informal and being relatable which is what I thought the guy I spoke to was trying to be. The person initiating sets the tone of the conversation. This HR rep set the tone as informal, then penalized me for also being informal. This isn't the 90s. This is a new generation of workers and a new day- we don't wear suits any more to the office, we're not clean shaven, and we may use a 'slang' word from time-to-time. Get a grip.