8 Signs That You're Unintentionally Ruining Your Job Interviews
You've found yourself with more than enough credentials to back up your chances of landing a good job. But then again, every time it comes to making it successfully through an interview, you feel as if something is missing.
From arriving too early to not looking your best, there are many ways that you might be unintentionally sabotaging your interviews:
- In fear of showing up late, you show up too early.
When you show up an hour early for an interview, this can come off as being overly-uptight. Hiring managers don't want to interview someone who doesn't do what he or she is told—and this includes showing up on time (not super early). Five minutes early should be plenty early enough.
- Your favorite latte makes the interviewer (and everyone else) jealous.
If you're going to bring Starbucks to your interview, then you may as well bring one for every person in the office. Yup, that's right. You don't want anyone to feel left out do you? Especially when you're trying to land a new job. Because of this, your best bet is to leave the coffee in the car.
- You talk about your parents and who they are and what they do.
An interviewer can really care less about what your mother's and father's accomplishments are. After all, you are your own person. So when it comes to bragging on your family, leave your mom and pop off the table.
- You come in with your shirt unbuttoned because you're afraid of being late.
It's better to show up five minutes late looking your best—than to show up right on time looking sloppy. (Never show up with wet hair; this spells “I’m unprepared and unprofessional!”)
- You forget the name of the company that you're interviewing for.
If you don't know where you're at or the job position that you're applying for, then this will look really poorly on you. And to put it bluntly, an interviewer will not want to recommend you as a possible new hire if you can't even remember where you are.
- You ask too many questions.
There is such a thing as asking too many questions. Try to limit yourself to about three to five questions and then listen. Asking too many questions makes you seem as if you know that you’re going to land the job—and being overly-confident could be the one thing that causes the hiring manager to give the position to someone else.
- You don't ask any questions.
Sure, you shouldn't ask too many questions—but you need to ask at least one. If you sit there with your mouth closed like you're in la-la land (and with absolutely no interest in what's actually being talked about), then you may as well kiss your chances of landing the job goodbye.
- Your resume looks like a high schooler created it.
If your resume and cover letter look amateur, then you'll probably be perceived as an amateur. Follow these tips and you can be well on your way to having a top-notch resume and cover letter.
