The following is a guest post by Robert Sanchez.
The most important aspect of landing your next job is the interview. How well you do in the job interview is probably going to decide whether your job search is over or just starting. This is your chance to demonstrate your industry knowledge, communication skills, project management chops, and can-do personality.
Of course, with any job interview comes pressure and stress. There are many pitfalls that can trip you up in your interview — red flags that many managers and interviewers are on the lookout for.
The good news is that, with some practice and preparation, you can ace even the toughest interviews and the toughest questions. However, you should be sure you do not fall victim to one of these five job interview pitfalls:
#1 Poor Appearance
If you make a strong positive impression with your dress and appearance in the interview, it will not guarantee you a job. However, if you make a strong negative impression with your appearance, you are almost assured you will not be hired. Many people make up their minds about a person within the first 30 seconds of meeting them. So, looking good is really important.
Even if the work environment at the company is casual, do not dress sloppily. You will give the impression you do not care about the job. You do not necessarily have to wear a $1,000 suit, but you should be sure to dress one or two steps more nicely than current employees. Research to learn how kind of work environment it is. People will always tend to hire people like themselves first. The better you show how well you fit in with the company culture, the better your chances.
Other important appearance tips:
- Take a shower, brush your teeth, use deodorant and shave.
- Do not wear too much perfume or cologne.
#2 Bad Attitude
Keep your attitude in check. Most of us know not to act like a jerk in an interview, but there is a very fine line between being confident in yourself and being arrogant. It is important to sell yourself, but be sure you do not cross the line into sounding arrogant.
One effective rule here is never speak negatively about anyone or anything during your interview. Do not ever put down your previous employer, boss or co-workers. No matter how bad it was, ripping on your old employer never leads to anything good in a job interview. When you are asked about your previous employer, only speak in positive terms and discuss the things you learned and accomplished there.
Do not talk about your personal life, unless specifically asked. Try to stick to subjects and interests that relate to your ability to do the job at hand.
#3 Poor Communication Skills
You need to show you are a good communicator in an interview, but how? One effective technique is to keep your answers short and succinct. When we are nervous, there is a tendency to ramble in our answers. Try to keep all of your responses to no more than a minute. If you speak much longer than that, you look like you are rambling, and the interviewer is probably tuning you out anyway.
Before your interview, role play some interview questions and answers with a friend or loved one. Or, watch some effective mock interviews. If you cannot answer a question in a minute, keep practicing until you can.
#4 Bad Social Skills
You need to show in your interview you know how to behave properly in a social situation. If you come off acting strangely in any way, or have poor hygiene, you really can hamper your chances. There is no doubt people are more likely to hire an easy-to-get-along-with person with average skills than a difficult or poorly-behaved person with superb skills and background. Make sure you follow these tips:
- Do not eat in an interview, unless asked to do so.
- Do not comb your hair or clip nails.
- Shut off your cell phone. If it does ring, just apologize and shut it off.
- Shake hands firmly and make eye contact. Make eye contact with each interviewer, if you are being interviewed by a group or panel.
- If they offer coffee or water, take it. This can show you are a team player. Also, having a drink handy is a great way to buy time when you need to think of an answer. Take a sip, and start thinking while you swallow.
#5 Poor Integrity
Employers want to hire someone who is trustworthy and will work hard. The interviewer cannot usually know how honest or dishonest you are, but there are some big tip offs that can indicate you are someone not to trust:
- Do not lie in an interview in any way or on your resume, especially regarding education. This is easy to check.
- If you had to lie to your employer to do the interview, never mention this to the interviewer.
- If you are asked about a project at your current job that did not go well, just be honest about what happened. Talk about what you learned from it and improved in the future. Lying about it is trouble, because they could easily contact your current employer to find out about your past.
Follow these simple tips in your next interview and your chances of getting hired will soar!
About the Author:
Robert Sanchez is a part-time staff writer for a number of business & job related portals. The tumultuous job market has been a fascination of his and aims to educate those seeking tips & advice on effective job strategies. He welcomes feedback on this and his other articles you can find online.
