89% of Interviewees Make These Silly Mistakes

I’m going to skip the obvious stuff like: dressing inappropriately, not washing, swearing. If you don’t already know about these mistakes, your parents failed you, and there’s not much I can do to help. If you’re intelligent and reasonably well adjusted, then this article was written with you in mind. While I’m not the world’s best expert on hiring, I have hired IT staff and tech contractors from every continent, sifted through hundreds of resumes, interviewed and trained staff  to interview. So it’s time I shared the most common interview mistakes.

Telling them what you earn in your current position

Don’t do it! Whether it’s the employer in your interview, or the agency asking you to fill in the salary box on their form. Why are they asking? To offer you the lowest salary they can get away with. Most of the time it’s much easier to get a new employer to pay you a big percentage more than it is to get your current employer to give you a salary hike. Remember that the agency gets paid by the employer, not you. There are plenty of you out there for them to place, but a limited amount of employers with jobs to fill. So what do you do in response to this question? Tell them that your last position is private and totally different from this position, and that you’re switching because you have the requisite experience from it to move on to more challenging and better paid opportunities.

How well did you get on with your last boss?

Yes, he may have made President Bush look highly skilled in diplomacy and intelligence by comparison, but now’s NOT the time to spill your guts. Fact is more people leave their bosses than they do their companies. So the chances are high that you don’t think much of your last boss. They’re not really interested in what type of boss he / she really was. They’re far more interested in knowing:

•  If you get on well with people, or are a fire breathing nutball.
• How well you handle difficult people - outside of the interview room, your interviewer or future boss may make your ex-boss pale by comparison.

If you decide to confide what an ogre your last boss really was, then be prepared to answer more detailed questions about the types of things he / she used to do, and how you handled them. Good luck!

Only interview for the jobs you want

This is a case of the heart ruling over the head. Yes, nobody wants to waste precious time and energy pretending to be interested in a company or job that rates right down there with having a root canal. Fact is it’s the smart thing to do. Why?

• Like an athlete, you’ll arrive match fit at the interviews you want to attend, and stand a better chance of getting the job you really want.
• You’re likely to get offered more jobs, and this gives you leverage over the jobs you do want. You can say you have a more attractive offer. I’m talking negotiation leverage here.

Why should we hire YOU?

If you think this question is about you, you’ve made the first fatal mistake. You’re in good company though, as most candidates rattle on about how they’re ambitious, and a team player and work hard and and and… they don’t get the job. It’s counter intuitive - they want to know about why THEY should hire you (note my emphasis). If you want this job, then you should know a thing or two about the position and the company. So now’s your time to shine and stand out from the thundering masses.

Why are they hiring? Usually because they have to, usually because the pain of not hiring exceeds the pain of the money you’ll cost them. So just like a pro salesman, talk to their pain. If they have a major project running behind schedule or staff /customers screaming for support, ask them about their pain, and then tell them how life will be so much easier once you’ve joined their team

‘Please Sir, may I have some more?’

Oliver Twist would have done better than 2 out of 3 of us. Fact is that a Society for Human Resource Management survey found that 8 out of 10 recruiters were willing to negotiate benefits and salary with job applicants. Yet only 33% of applicants surveyed said they felt comfortable negotiating. Note the ‘and benefits’. If it’s your first position, then you may do better to focus on the benefits that mean a lot to you,  especially if they cost the employer  little/nothing. Or better yet, benefits that you both would like. For example: your employer paying to set your home office up, so that you can work from home 1 day or so per week.

Spend all your time preparing smart answers

This is the one that makes me the saddest. After 20-30 minutes of the candidate doing very well at answering my curve ball questions I ask the candidate what questions they have to ask me. Silence. Silence never felt so disappointing. How interested and smart can this candidate be in the job and company if they didn’t come armed with some tough questions that have me thinking (and even at times squirming)? Google some great questions, the company’s website, news on the company, read the job description, interrogate the agency about the company. Make sure you write down all your questions - else you’ll forget them. I write down all my questions, and it’s not because I’m forgetful.

Tell them the facts

After being bored out of their minds sifting through resumes, interviewing tens of candidates, having trouble remembering who said what, you’re not going to get the job by boring your interviewer to death with facts. Want to be liked more? Learn to tell stories. Same goes for getting hired more. Tell me about a mission impossible project you pulled off against all odds, or how you saved your company money from improved processes or systems.