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Ace That Interview (By Not Doing This).
Featured Author:
Benifys
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November 30, 2009
One position, multiple applicants – but still one of them has to be and will be selected, what gives? To complicate things further some of them might even have the same educational qualification and experience, what’s the deciding factor? Selecting the younger of the two is what happens at the Universities, not necessarily at the workplace. The interviewer will not feel compelled to hire you only because you look good on paper, in fact Cavett Robert estimated that 85% of the reason you get a job, keep that job, & move ahead in that job has to do with your people skills & people knowledge.
We went ahead and asked some seasoned recruiters the one thing that candidates do which completely ruin their chances of making it, listed below are the most common answers in no particular order:
1. Being defensive – Some people seem to be engaged in an ever lasting battle in defending their point of view, or their career choices and amongst other things. There are a few things to be considered here – (1) An interviewer might be testing you for how flexible you are, (2) You might actually have made some mistakes, but you don’t want to admit them, (3) You are the sort of person who starts their argument based on a defense, e.g. “Although I wanted to be in the healthcare industry, but I wasn’t good enough for it”. Either of these ways, you’ve set the alarms ringing in the mind of the recruiter.
2. Complaining a lot – Traffic was bad, it’s always too hot or too cold, the office is not anything like what you expected, the previous employer exploited you, they had the wrong business plan, you’re sure the future employers will too… these are the kind of things that an interviewer does not want to hear from a candidate. Think of an interview as a one hour job where you have to be at your best behavior and highlight the positive aspects of your personality, go easy on the complaining. Nobody wants to hear it.
3. Narrating scripted answers – This might be acceptable to some extent for students right out of college, but as a seasoned professional you are expected to talk about your careers so far and the way ahead in an ‘as it is’ manner and not as you think the recruiter wants to hear it. Stephen Paul says, “When you give up your own truth to win at someone else’s game, everyone loses."
4. Being arrogant – This actually happened with a recruiter – A candidate for an IT position came in for an interview on time and well dressed and the whole drill… score? Sure. He had good credentials and a consistent employment record… win? Absolutely. Now, as part of standard selection procedure, he was asked to take a half hour written technical assessment when he realized he didn’t have a pen on him. He asked the recruiter for a pen and was quick to show his impatience when the recruiter too couldn’t find one. And that was the moment of truth in the interview, no points for guessing the outcome.
