10 ways to screw up an interview
Finding a job has always been hard. Finding a good job is even harder. Finding a job you actually enjoy is borderline impossible. But if you search hard enough and long enough, you just might find the kind of dream opportunity you’ve been waiting for. And when that opportunity arises, you don’t want to screw up your chances by blowing your interview. If, on the other hand, you’re interviewing for a job you don’t want, go ahead and do all of these things:
- Keeping your cell phone on. Even leaving it on vibrate could be a distraction to both you and your interviewer. But if someone calls you in the middle of your interview and it rings? Yikes. Keep it off and keep it in your pocket.
- Dressing inappropriately. While office etiquette and dress vary–in this “modern age” it depends less on industry and more on the specifics of each company’s management–it always pays to err on the side of caution. Dress conservatively. You can never go wrong with a suit or an appropriate skirt.
- Not asking the right questions. Even worse: not asking questions at all. Don’t bring up money or ask about the hours you’ll be expected to work. Ask about the culture of the office, what a typical day is like, and what your biggest challenges will be.
- Not tailoring resumes and cover letters. While this is actually pre-interview, it’s an important step in getting out of the slush pile of endless resumes, which is how you get an interview in the first place. If your letter and resume read as generic (as in: you’ve just sent the same one to twenty companies), they’ll be able to tell. The first thing they’ll think about you: that you’re lazy.
- Arriving late or too early. Late because it shows you’re unreliable. Too early–which, for our purposes, is more than fifteen minutes–because you might be interrupting your interviewer. Even if it’s unintentional, that can put pressure on them to finish whatever they were doing earlier than they had planned.
- Not bringing anything. Nobody is going to tell you to bring your resume. Or your portfolio. Or a pen. Interviewers will expect that you’re an adult and will come prepared.
- Forgetting to do the research. You don’t have to know everything there is about the position for which you’re applying. That’s what the interview is for: you get to ask questions, too. But learn about the company. Check out their website. Know who the customer or the client is. Know how you can contribute to their model.
- Winging it. Unless you’re trained in the art of improvisation, we suggest you practice and prepare answers ahead of time. Sure, you won’t know exactly what they’re going to ask. But you can expect questions about your work history, how you succeeded there, what you want out of the future, how a new job will help you get there, and why you think you’re well-suited for the job.
- Rambling. This is especially true at the beginning of an interview. Don’t get sucked into the small talk. Interviewers use small talk as a way to break the ice, but they don’t want to have a ten-minute conversation about the weather. They have a job to do. Shakespeare said brevity is the soul of wit. We say it’s also the soul of clarity. Answer questions fully, but don’t go on unrelated tangents.
- Using clichés and stock answers. Or buzzwords. Saying you’re “organized” or “results-oriented” is what everyone else said, too. The only thing it proves is that you aren’t creative, so don’t use them. Think of new ways to say the same-old.