Five Common Interviewing Blunders

Today I’m going to go back to interviewing and talk about some of the mistakes that people commonly make.  Interviewing is almost like a fine art or craft rather than a skill.  What I mean by this is that you will never, ever get one perfectly right.  Below are five mistakes I see people commonly make.  Take a look and let me know your thoughts.

1.  Answers Questions with Yes/No Answers

You’d be surprised but this is a way too common problem.  When companies interview you they are looking for substance and depth.  In contrast they are not filling out a survey.  So when someone asks you a question you have to give more than just yes or no answers.  Truly you need to give more than one sentence answers.  How do you do this?  It’s really pretty easy. 

When you are preparing for your interview you need to brainstorm and come up with five accomplishments that you are proud of from your career – that’s the easy part.  From there you need to think about what these accomplishments say about you as an employee and person.  After that you need to practice talking about them.  It doesn’t need to be a five minute story but it needs to be detailed.  Familiarize yourself with these examples and then be prepared to throw them in when you answer questions. 

2.  Assumes that the Interviewer Knows about your company/industry/career?

As a culture we are very egocentric and often times we assume that the person you are meeting for the first time already knows all of your basic information.  Here’s the scoop – they don’t.  In a perfect world interviewers would devote the same amount of preparation to getting ready for your interview that you do.  They would research your previous companies, study your resume and look you up on-line.  When you are asked to discuss your career you should operate under the assumption that they have not read your resume before meeting you (they probably haven’t), that they know nothing about your industry and that they don’t know what someone in your position does.  Don’t be condescending or patronizing – just explain the basics to them before getting more in depth.

3.  Hijacks the Interview

OK – so I understand that I just got done talking about how you should give additional information and be very detailed.  This is true.  However, there is always too much of a good thing.  A great interview typically  resembles a conversation instead of a presentation.  Here are a couple of things to keep in mind:

·        People have a short attention span – keep on  point

·        Keep your answers to 2 – 3 minutes at best

·        Ask questions of the interviewer – people like talking about themselves

4.  Doesn’t follow Interview Protocol

I’ve written extensively on this one in the past and will continue to.  For some reason there are people out there that either think they are better than everyone else or don’t think that the rules apply to them.  This line of thinking will submarine your interviews.  There is a laundry list of items but some of the most common ones are:

·                     Wear a suit

·                     Show up five minutes early

·                     Send a thank you note

·                     Don’t chew gum

·                     Turn your cell phone off

·                     Wait to sit until the interviewer does

The list goes on an on.  Just do your best and use common courtesy and you should be alright.

5.  Isn’t prepared for Common Interview Questions

This is one that is really inexcusable.   You can Google “common interview questions” and find thousands of lists of  the most common questions asked in an interview.  Take a look at all of these.   Below you’ll find some of the common interview questions I ask that should be know but somehow still trip people up:

·                     Why are you looking to leave your current job? – I get that you might be happy and just looking to grow your career – However, you are the one interviewing.  Tell them that you are motivated to improve your career and are from time to time you are willing to explore select opportunities.

·                     Why did you leave that job? – Read some of my other blogs – but just be honest and direct

·                     How much were/are you making? (I’ll give you a hint on this one – I’d rather not share is not an acceptable answer)

·                     What do you want to do next in your career? (Again – I don’t know is not going to help you)

·                     Why are you interested in this job? – you better know this

·                     What do you know about the company? – do some kind of research

I can virtually guarantee that 90% of these questions will be asked of you in an interview.  So… prepare for them and have an answer ready to go.  You can’t memorize the answer and give it verbatim – people don’t like hiring robots.  Instead, you need to think about these answers and practice answering them in different ways