6 Mistakes That Blew Up Your Job Interview

Last week I talked about 5 Key Steps To Acing Your First Job Interview. But how many of us are really able to hit the bullseye in their job interviews? How many walk out with an appointment letter and a glow on their face? The answer – only a few of us.

That’s one of the main reasons we have ever increasing number of job hunters and why interview preparation is in itself a thriving business today.

It’s not always that you fail an interview due to weak academic backgrounds and inadequate skill sets. You will hear stories of people getting selected for a job in spite of not having the required educational qualification and experience. How did they do it? Simple, by presenting themselves better then the other candidates and not committing the mistakes that I am going to talk about. You committed these mistakes and that’s why you failed and the guy next door who wasn’t as experienced and educated as you, got that cherished job!

• You didn’t prepare
  You knew there was an interview coming up next week and you really wanted that job. However you didn’t think about preparing for the interview and researching the company and various other things related to the interview. Why should you? You’ve got all the experience and knowledge, right?! Complacency is the mother of destruction, and this complacency about yourself, your experience and your skills cost you the job.

So the mantra is – Even if you were the CEO of your previous company, you should take some time out and prepare for the upcoming interview. There’s no harm in doing that and it will empower you with more knowledge and confidence for the interview.

• The “I don’t care” attitude
  You arrived late for the interview, were not dressed properly, didn’t carry all the documents required and had an air of supremacy around you which had developed from the belief that you are the right person and the only person fit for the job. And that’s why you didn’t elaborately answer most of the questions asked by the HR executive.

Such an attitude can easily ruin the prospects of the best candidate out there.

• You were aggressive
  The interviewer tried to test your patience by asking you some weird questions or similar questions again and again. Instead of being patient and responding politely, you lost your cool and spoke in a loud voice.

You should know that it’s a very common tactic of testing the candidate’s patience where the interviewer tries to provoke him in order to check if the candidate freaks out too early. This is done to see if the candidate would be able to work in a high pressure corporate environment. Losing your patience in such situations reduces the chances of your getting selected in the interview.

• You begged for the job
  Anticipating that you may not have a good chance for getting selected in the interview, you resorted to begging for the job and emotionally alter the HR executive’s decision.

Believe me, when you beg for the job, the interviewer on the other side loses all respect for you and makes sure that you are rejected. It’s a give and take relationship and the employer doesn’t pay the interviewer to hire those who haven’t prepared well and don’t respect themselves.

• You badmouthed your previous employer or your boss
  You were already employed and hence you were asked the obvious question, “Why you want to switch jobs?” Iin the answer to that question you criticized your employer and your boss and said that you didn’t like to work there.

Portraying a negative attitude towards your previous employer can go against you because the interviewer might consider you to be wrong, not your employer.

• You didn’t think beyond the money
  You just talked about money and nothing else. When asked why you want to switch jobs or what do you expect from your new employer, your answer was always centered around the money factor.

This is the dumbest of all mistakes and the most commonly committed too. Even if you are in it for money, you shouldn’t show that. Instead talk about career and other benefits related to the job.

I hope this article helps a job seeker in getting the best out of his interview and ultimately securing the job.

Cheers,

Abhijeet