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11 Ways To Blow Your Next Job Interview

The employer has contacted you, asking you to come to an interview. Fabulous! But you need to be on top of your game and nail the interview. Being second or third best gets you nothing. Horseshoes and hand grenades-and job interviews, right? Here are eleven things to pay attention to make that happen.



1) Winging the interview
I cringe when I hear someone say, "I'm pretty good job interviewing. I'm just going to wing it." I've even heard people in sales say this. Sales reps who would never dream of making a presentation to a customer without having thoroughly rehearsed somehow think it is OK to go to a job interview without any preparation. What are they thinking? If you're not sure how to prepare, get some coaching. A lot of people say they find it nearly impossible to do it themselves.

2) Not Articulating Your Value
A cardinal sin in job interviews is not being able to express what you do well or how you produce value. You may have had impressive titles, big responsibilities and years of experience-but no one cares. They DO care about what you've done with those years. What do you bring to the table that another candidate doesn't? See #4 below.

3) Sharing personal information inappropriately
Remember that when you are interviewing, you are marketing yourself. The boss's office is not a confessional and it is not a place for you to be overly personal. Jane, for example, lost the job interview after she revealed the reason she was moving back to her hometown. She found an old flame on Facebook, fell head over heels again, and was moving back to rekindle the romance. That is not the employer's business! Keep it to yourself!

4) No polished stories
Stories win job interviews. I can't stress that enough. Human beings love stories. We are moved by them. We remember them. If you haven't taken the time to carefully polish one-minute stories to illustrate how good you are, you may as well not bother to show up for the interview. Stories are memorable and they create pictures of you in action. You can tell me how good you are until you're blue in the face, and it won't make anywhere near the impression of a good, brief story.

While helping a client, prepare for a job interview, he told me about how he'd handled one of his key employees when the man's wife died. This man gamely came into work and tried to do his job, but it was clear that his mind was elsewhere. My client summoned the man to his office and said kindly, "Look, go take a month off (with pay) and do what you need to do to get your life back together." This solidified the man's loyalty to the company and to my client. The story brought a tear to my eye - and I would've hired this man on the spot.

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Job Interviews Are One of Many Landmines in a Job Search 
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5) Getting knocked out of the box by salary issues
Employers often ask you about compensation right off the bat. They want to know if they can afford you, and if you're the right level candidate for the position. The boss is thinking, "I've got a $60,000 job, so if you are looking for $40,000 or $100,000, there's no point in wasting time on you."

You need to have a strategy to keep the compensation question from derailing your candidacy. If you're not sure how to do this, be sure to pick up Jack Chapman's book, Negotiating Your Salary, How to Make $1000 a Minute.

6) Not doing your homework about the company

It's hard to express what a turnoff it is when someone comes to interview without having bothered to do any research about the company and what it does. Enough said.

7) Coming late
For a lot of people, showing up early is second nature. But hiring managers tell me there are an awful lot of people who show up late. We are all "wired" in a certain way with respect to time. Some of us are wired to show up 20 minutes early; others are wired to be 10 minutes late. We tend to be very consistent. If you are one of those people who comes late, get a handle on this before it kills your candidacy. Aim to be in the area of the interview at least one hour ahead of time. Leave some cushion for getting stuck in traffic, missing your train, or other things unforeseen.

But don't go to the job interview too early. That can be almost as bad as coming late. It creates awkwardness. What do we do with you while you're waiting? Instead, sit in your car or go to a coffee shop until ten or fifteen minutes before your appointment.

8) Being arrogant
This is particularly a problem for older workers interviewing with younger bosses. It may be true that you can run circles around the boss. It may be true that you know tons more than the young whippersnapper who has hiring authority. But remember, people hire those they like. Who is going to like someone who doesn't respect them?



9) Condemning a former employer
Maybe your last boss is a vile human being. Maybe he/she made your life hell by yelling at you, putting you down in front of your coworkers, and giving you lousy assignments. Maybe you were unjustly fired after many years of loyal service. You might be totally justified in calling this person out for their crimes against humanity. But lose that attitude before the interview. It will kill you faster than being struck by lightning. The employer will think, "Just how long will it be before this person is talking trash about me?"

I recommend making peace with your past and forgiving the employer, as best you can. Otherwise, you're carrying that awful boss around with you everywhere you go-and it's awful hard to hide it.

10) Complaining
Complaining can be a bonding activity. We complain about the food in the lunch room. We complain about the weather and about traffic. But be careful in job interviews. You don't want to come across like a whiny discontent.

11) Failing to cover your weak spots
Most all of us have weak spots, skeletons in our closets, or other things we would just rather not discuss. Maybe you've been fired, you don't have the right degree, you lack experience in a certain area, or you've been out of work for a long time. Please don't assume the employer won't ask you about these things. Since you know what these issues are, there's no excuse for not being prepared. Got a tough issue? Get some coaching quick!

Good luck on the next interview.

For a no-obligation conversation about your career and job search, call us at 847 673 0339.

 

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