10 top mistakes people make in job interviews
(MoneyWatch) You can never be too prepared for a job interview -- you never know what minor element of your personality or presentation can make or break your chances. But while you maybe polished to a luster for the usual interview questions and your resume is gleaming, what about some of the other intangibles involved in getting hired?
After all, for better or for worse about a third of hiring managers assess candidates and make a hiring decision within the first 90 seconds or so. Fair? Of course not. But it does mean that it's critical to control those elements that aren't just about your previous job performance.
Recently, education research firm Classes and Careers published an interesting infographic that rolls up a slew of less obvious things that influence the hiring process.
- How to prep for common job interview questions
- How to discuss having been fired in an interview
- Why you didn't get hired
For starters, there are a slew of nonverbal queues that hiring managers consider mistakes that can cost you the job. The most egregious ones? Failure to make eye contact is at the top of the list. Other deal-breakers include failing to smile, bad posture and fidgeting.
In addition, your choice of clothing is important. More than half of hiring managers say that your choice of clothes can be the deciding factor when choosing among similar candidates. In particular, it can be a liability to dress too fashionably or trendy.
According to Classes and Careers, here are the 10 most common mistakes people make at job interviews:
10. Over-explaining why you lost your last job
9. Conveying that you're not over having lost your last job
8. Lacking humor, warmth or personality
7. Not showing enthusiasm or interest in the job
6. Inadequate research about the position or company
5. Concentrating on what you want rather than what the company needs
4. Trying to be all things to everyone
3. Winging the interview
2. Failing to set yourself apart from other candidates
1. Not asking for the job
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looked for tatoos or piercings during the first 30 seconds. If there were any I would let the wannabe talk for 5 minutes and then say we would be in touch. (NEVER)
And time not wasted on unsuitable candidates is well spent.
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if you could have done that ... they should have been filtered from the interview process from ever happening ... by using a review of resume ... or if you're using a placement consultant or internal hr group ... a pre-interview (likely by phone) to disqualify them from ever sitting in front of a hiring decision maker.
human beings are way too complicated to be classified in such a short timeframe in a real interview setting ... and people who think they can do it instantly are full of cr@p about their ability to do this ... likely using a simple and ignorant bias to exclude people for simply being 'not like them'.
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these people should in no way be part of the hiring decision process.
there's no way you can assess someone's suitability for a job in 90 seconds.
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that's not what the story is about ... or what my comment is in response to.
it's about a hiring decision maker assessing an applicant and making go/no-go decisions about them in 90 seconds or less.