#JobSearch : 5 Interview Mistakes That Are Costing You A Chance At Your Dream Job. Great Checklist Before for Today’s Job Interview.
Interviewing can undoubtedly be a nerve-wracking experience for many. The unfortunate reality is that a great deal of job seekers were never taught how to prepare for an interview. As such, they unknowingly make common mistakes that prevent them from getting their dream job.
Aside from looking polished and professional, arriving on time and doing your research, you should use this time to let your personality shine. Employers want to know you’re qualified for the position, but they also want to know that you’d be a good cultural addition. The way they assess this is through your personality and how you interact with them throughout the interview.
Here are five common mistakes you could be making that are costing you a chance at your dream job.
Avoiding The Salary Question
Unless you’re certain of the exact salary you’re worth, make sure to always give a salary range. This lets employers know the lowest salary you’re open to receiving. Paw Vej, recruitment manager and team leader at Financer, a leading financial comparison website, said, “if you have no idea what your realistic salary is, you have no starting point for a negotiation. Start by figuring out what the average salaries are for the position in which you’re interviewing.” You can utilize sites such as LinkedIn Salary, Glassdoor and Salary.com, to name a few, to get a range of what the typical salary is in your industry and location.
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While many people recommend not giving a salary and avoiding the question altogether, ultimately everyone has a minimum salary in mind. Furthermore, company’s typically have an inflexible budget if yours exceeds what they can afford. In order to not waste your time or the company’s, it’s important to be transparent upfront.
Likewise, not having taken the time to prepare an answer to this question isn’t always favorable. Larry Pendleton, president and CEO of Government Services Exchange, asserted, “I always know the average pay for a person seeking a specific position, so overshooting and even undershooting the salary question will leave me wondering about the candidate’s confidence.” He added, “a simple Google search will reveal the average salary for any position globally. Know your experience, and be ready with an honest number.”
For rare and unique positions that aren’t easy to benchmark, Sarah Johnston, job search strategist and founder of The Briefcase Coach, recommended candidates to instead respond with, “I’m still learning about this position and what it entails and I’m still not clear on the total compensation. Based on what I know, I feel comfortable sharing that I would need to make between X and X. Does my range match yours for the role?”
Blaming Your Last Company
One of the biggest red flags for an interviewer is when a candidate speaks badly about a current or past employer. Aaron Simmons, founder of Test Prep Genie, explained, “though it’s true that there’s no perfect company, it’s still inappropriate and unprofessional to directly put the blame on them for unfavorable job experiences.” He added, “it gives the interviewer the impression that should you be hired and leave after some years, you would also stab them at the back.”
Conversely, with more awareness being brought to workplace bullying, if you left due to mistreatment, it’s okay to share that the company was not a fit for you while leaving the details for a later time. As an HR professional who was also the victim of workplace bullying, I understand how common it is. While I can empathize with candidates who have also been bullied and mistreated, there’s a fine line between sharing an experience and using an interview to air your grievances and bash a company.
Not Doing Your Homework
Regardless of industry or location, there are standard interview questions in which every company asks. As a job seeker, it’s important that you do your homework and are prepared to answer these questions. An example of a common question is “what makes you interested in working for your company?” Hiring managers typically ask this to better understand your motivation for applying for the job. Not doing your homework and failing to research into the company is a sure way to be disqualified early on.
Before your interview, take the time to visit the company’s website and learn about their core values, the clients or customers they serve, the products or services they deliver, how they give back to the community, the LinkedIn page of the person interviewing you as well as recent events or company milestones. Not only will these provide great talking points and potentially find common ground with the interviewer, but they’ll help you to form insightful questions to ask during the interview.
Failing To Ask Insightful Questions
Interviewing is a two way process. This is the time for you to interview a prospective employer to see if they’re a right fit for you just as they’re wanting to see if you’re a good fit for them.
When you ask questions during an interview, it shows the interviewer you’re engaged, you’ve done your research and you care about more than just a salary. Asking questions only about the salary and benefits tells interviewers you only care about what’s in it for you. Vej shared, “as an interviewer, I need to see that you’re actually interested in the work, otherwise, you’re not going to perform very well, in my experience.”
Failing to ask questions could put you into a toxic workplace situation. For this reason, make sure you ask questions that will give you insight into what you would be entering into should you be made an offer and accept.
Here are some questions to get you started:
- Why did the last person in this position leave?
- What would the onboarding look like for someone joining the company?
- How do you invest in your employees development?
- What makes you proud to work at (company name)?
- When and how is feedback given?
- What would you say would be my biggest challenge if I would join the company?
- What are some ways you celebrate individuals or company milestones?
Leading With An Ego
You can have an impressive resume with superior qualifications, but if you let your ego lead the interview, interviewers will see you as problematic and opt for someone more humble. There’s a difference between selling yourself versus focusing only on yourself. Vej explained, “if you only focus on yourself, it becomes very difficult for me to see how you can provide value for our company.” The key is being able to connect your accomplishments with how they’ve helped your current or previous employer.
Additionally, when it comes to answering the “what’s your greatest weakness” question, the worst thing you can say is that you have no weaknesses. This shows the interviewer that you lack self awareness. The reason behind asking this question is not only to see how self aware you are, but how you’re working to address and improve those weaknesses.
Candidate’s who lead with their ego feel like the interview is a waste of time and their skills are far superior to any other applicants. Moreover, they use the interview to boast about how great they are. While an interviewer may carry out the rest of the interview, mentally they’ve already written the candidate off.
Forbes.com – November 30, 2020 – Heidi Lynne Kurter
