Editor’s note: This article was first published in August 2011. Rosemary Haefner’s title, Vice President of Human Resources at CareerBuilder, is as of that date.
We all know that part of the secret of a job interview is standing out from the other candidates. There’s plenty of competition, the other applicants are well prepared, and the interviewer’s memory is sometimes too limited to remember everyone they’ll see. That said, we should try to be remembered, or to stand out, for the “right reasons”.
Rosemary Haefner, Vice President of Human Resources at CareerBuilder, shares some of the mistakes she has witnessed herself during her career. Some of them may seem almost comical, but according to her they’re more common than we think in interviews for management positions.
1. Showing up in a T-shirt and/or jeans: Some executives probably think their results and reputation precede them in the world of business management, so a few of these aspiring managers allow themselves to turn up to a job interview for a management position in jeans and a T-shirt.
2. Walking in chewing gum (or walking in without it): Some interviewers don’t care about this detail, but the more observant ones can read as much into that gum as their imagination allows: someone desperate for a cigarette, an ex-smoker, or simply someone with bad manners, since HR protocol today doesn’t allow interviewing someone who is chewing gum. Anything worse? Yes: watching from the office as the candidate sticks the gum under the chair or behind a plant pot.
3. Eating during the interview: “Excuse me, but I haven’t eaten anything all morning.” According to this interviewer, it seems fairly common to interview someone who walks into the office with a pastry and has no qualms about eating while being interviewed. There’s something even worse, though: explaining to the interviewer why they haven’t eaten yet, a story that’s usually very long and tends to wear the interviewer out.
4. Badmouthing your former colleagues, employees, boss or even your own wife: Some people have no qualms about calling their previous team incompetent: “We didn’t hit our targets because they put people under me who were useless.” Obviously that’s not on at all, and it doesn’t project a good image or professionalism. When you speak badly of your boss, you show poor ethics, a lack of decorum and little loyalty as an employee. And if you go as far as speaking badly of your partner in a job interview, rather than a job you may need a different kind of help.
5. Asking permission to go to the bathroom: That was fine at school, but doing it during a job interview, honestly… it doesn’t do much for your image. Unusual as it may seem, apparently it’s very common.
6. Taking a phone call during the interview (and it’s not important): Not switching off your phone during the interview is already a small mistake, but it can be forgiven and fixed, either by rejecting the call or by answering and saying only: “I’m busy, I’ll call you back.” Yet some candidates have no qualms about talking for two to five minutes, and the best part is that it isn’t even an emergency.
And if you think these mistakes are outrageous enough, here are two other very common ones, the ones that really try Rosemary Haefner’s patience:
- Coming with a friend or relative who walks into the interview room and says something like: “Sorry, are you going to be much longer? We’re running late.” No comment.
- Interviewing someone who answers in monosyllables. By this we mean anyone you have to drag the words out of, who answers open questions with closed answers (YES and NO). Naturally, the interviewer catches it and starts speaking in monosyllables too, using a word as simple as “GOODBYE”.
In short
When you go to a job interview (and even more so for a management position), try to:
- Dress well.
- Go alone.
- Switch off your phone.
- Not walk into the building chewing gum.
- Use the bathroom before the interview.
- Not criticise or speak badly of anyone.
Follow these simple steps and you may still not get the job, but at least you won’t end up as the anecdote the interviewer tells friends over the weekend.
In a previous article we explained some tips for preparing for a negotiation and guaranteeing success, or at least greatly improving your chances. Not every point applies to a job interview, but many of them do, since they’re related to information.
See also: How to make sure you succeed in a negotiation
Featured image: Barry Mulling, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Flickr.
