Interviews don’t have to be intimidating; preparation is the key to a successful interview. If you’re in the room, if you’ve been selected to interview, they already know you have the skills to do the job. Once you’re interviewing, all you have to do is reinforce what your resume already shows: you have the experience and skills to contribute and succeed.
However, here are a few deal-breakers that will cost you the job.
- Being unprepared
An interview is the company’s first impression of you; it’s a small snapshot into how you work, what drives you, and what skills and experience you possess. Arriving late, not doing your homework about the company, and letting simple questions catch you off guard are all signs of not being prepared. As soon as you confirm the interview, you should start preparing; preparing for the interview is broad, but it’s simple. Do things such as:
- Map out your commute; if the interview is during rush hour, make sure you’re not late.
- Plan your outfit ahead of time (no, this isn’t just for women) the pants that fit you six months ago may not suit you very well six months later. Is your favorite blue button-up clean and ironed? Appearing disheveled is another sign of unreadiness.
- Do homework on the company, know what they sell and who their target audience. Know who you’re interviewing with and check out their LinkedIn profile. You may have something in common with the people interviewing you, some industries seem like small worlds.
- Not knowing what’s on your resume.
As a hiring manager, candidates who don’t know what’s on their resume seem untrustworthy and will immediately be discounted. Resumes are not law binding contracts, you don’t have to list every single employer and provide every detail of your life; however, you should always be honest. If you’ve omitted an employer from your resume because you were only there for a month, that’s ok make sure you don’t talk about that experience during the interview. Additionally, if you left an employer 5 years ago, you may have forgotten the exact date you started, take a look back and familiarize yourself with the details. It’s your resume, and it’s your life and experience own it and memorize the details.
- Disparaging remarks about your previous employer or coworkers
The company you’re interviewing with already knows you have reason to leave or had a reason to leave your current/previous employer; otherwise, you wouldn’t be interviewing. The goal of an interview is to sell your skills to a potential employer and convince them you are the right person for the job. Complaining about a terrible boss or lazy coworkers only reflects poorly on you, simply put it shows a bad attitude. Your prospective employer doesn’t care about any of that, they only care about what you did about it. The last thing a company wants to do is hire someone who is negative and complains instead of taking action. When you’re presented with a question about working with a problematic coworker, describe the situation and do so objectively, so it doesn’t sound like you’re complaining. Describe the task you took to remedy the situation. More specifically, describe the action you personally took to complete the task. Lastly, describe the outcome. Ultimately, you’re interviewing with people who understand situations can be difficult; all that matters is that you owned your part in it and took action.
- Not listening
There is nothing that feels like a more significant waste of time than interviewing candidates who are not listening. You may be nervous and, in an attempt to stay ahead of the game, you have already prepared your answer for the question before your interviewer stops talking. While you may think this shows you’re ready, it shows that you’re not listening. Make a concerted effort to listen to every question and pick up on every detail. Make yourself receptive to everything being said and any feedback given. Listening and being attentive makes you seem amenable and flexible.
- Talking too much
To oversimplify interviewing, all you have to do is answer the questions being asked. To overcomplicate interviewing is to provide more details than the question requires. Don’t be curt but answer the question that is being posed. Don’t bore the interviewer with your whole life story and details from your personal life. Don’t overshare and reveal something inappropriate you did years ago. Don’t ramble so much everyone in the room is wondering where you’re going with the story. Keep it simple, answer the question, and get to the next one.
- Not asking questions about the role/company
Not asking questions about the role or the company makes it seem like you’re disinterested and don’t care about what you do or where you work. Ask questions and ask meaningful ones. Ask about the culture, ask about the ideal candidate and the company’s mission. Inquire about the things that are important to you.
All of these mistakes can be avoided by taking time to prepare for your interview. Go over your resume, plan out the interview day, work on the details. Go through a mock interview and prepare yourself to answer questions without revealing too much and being negative.
Remember, getting the interview means they know you can do the job, be honest, be confident, and own your skills.
- Melina
