Job Interviews - What Not To do (:

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The Mr Job Tracker Job Search Learning and Coaching Program. (Resume writing, interviews, everything your Job Search needs) Helping you to get the job you want .... faster. Mr Job Tracker (thinkific.com)

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It’s hard enough to get a job interview and we all want to perform the best we can.

Note: this is not the whole story on interviews, but it does focus on some important aspects of the process.

We start here by observing the things we should not do, all of which have a positive spin to them. In other words, they also explain the things we should do.

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Talking Too Much or Not Enough.

Both mistakes can damage your chances. That is why I place such emphasis on the importance of practice, including video practice. Watching yourself on video will enable you to see how you are coming across in terms of the duration and substance of your responses. My general rule of thumb is that 90 seconds is an adequate time for you to respond to a general interview question. You can allocate more time to the bigger questions such as “tell me about yourself?”

Much less than 90 seconds and I might question the depth of any particular answer. Much more than 2 minutes leads to the question of padding or getting off the point.

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Straying From the Topic and the Question.

Often people who talk too much run the danger of talking their way off the point and this leads the interviewer to question your communication skills. Video practice will help here.

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Dwelling on Negatives.

Talking too much about the problems you encountered in your last job or speaking in a negative way about a previous employer will inevitably cast a negative perception on your ability to integrate into your new organization and job.

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Failing to Focus on the Camera in Video Interviews.

Looking at the camera (not the screen) means that your interviewer will see you looking at their eyes rather than slightly down and away from their gaze. This is incredibly important for building personal rapport. It is hard to remember to keep doing this, so it is a good idea to practice. No interviewer will say “She was a great candidate because she looked at the camera.” But they may get the feeling that they could relate to you better than the other candidates who did not look at the camera.

Its harder than you might think to hold the “eye of the camera”. I sometimes stick a page across the screen to remind myself. With the right sort of paper, you can still see through to the screen to see what’s going on, but it’s a great way to retain this important focus.

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Communicating in a Self-Centered Manner.

Obviously in a job interview you are talking about yourself but dwelling too much on how you reacted to things, how they affected you and what you thought about everything can result in negative perceptions about you. It is better to have an outlook that focuses on other people (e.g., customers, staff) and business outcomes.

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Not Taking the “First Impression" Opportunity.

No matter if it is in a casual situation, a date, a business meeting or a job interview, first impressions really do count. So, make sure that you make the most of this opportunity through the way you dress, the way you conduct yourself and your answers to the first few questions, a topic which will be covered in other newsletters.

Ignoring the Basics.

Punctuality, appropriate attire, body language and distractions (e.g., leaving your phone turned on), will all count against you if not handled the right way.

Regarding attire, there is no single set of rules that have universal application to every job, every level and every working environment, so do your homework (including talking to people who might know) to best anticipate what is going to be appropriate in the interview. Generally speaking, for video interviews more casual (but still smart) attire is appropriate.

Common courtesy is also important and includes a firm handshake, looking people in the eye and demonstrating respect for everybody you meet on the day including reception and security staff.

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Lack of Preparation.

This includes not doing enough pre-reading and research about your possible future workplace and role, so that you come to the interview with a reasonable level of knowledge.

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Inappropriate Body Language.

It almost goes without saying but you need to sit up straight, look directly at the interviewer and avoid any distracting mannerisms such as overuse of hand gestures. Reviewing yourself answering questions on video and asking your friends are effective ways to review body language.

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Missing the Follow-up Opportunity

I recommend that you follow up in some form after the interview. Interviewers generally think that follow-up is courteous and a nice touch. Having said that, in my experience only around 5% of people actually follow up. So, if you were on a short list of 5 people, it is highly probable that you will be the only one to follow up.

Follow up is simply a courtesy email to thank the interviewer and possibly to point out something about your background that you want to emphasize.

From your viewpoint the reason for the follow-up is to make you stand out from the other candidates on the shortlist. There are three possible outcomes from this:

1. The interviewer will be impressed with the professionalism and courtesy of your follow up.

2.? It will not make any difference at all.

3. The interviewer will think following up is a blatant attempt to gain favor or is a sign of desperation and therefore might make them think less of you.

For most people who write about the subject including interviewers, recruitment consultants and career counsellors, the majority opinion is that option number three rarely applies. In other words the follow-up can either be neutral or positive. Given that it only takes a couple of minutes to do, why would you hesitate.

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Here is an example of a follow-up email:

Hi Mr/Ms interviewer,

I am just writing to thank you for your time in interviewing me for the position of ABC. I wanted also to let you know that I am very keen on the job as I think it would be a good step for me and I believe I can make a contribution in relation to the important aspects of the job that you mentioned.

(If you wanted to go further in this email you could write another paragraph along the lines of ….)

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I have thought about what you said in relation to product returns and while I did not mention it during the interview, I have had some experience dealing with product returns when I worked at the ACME Inc company? where I learned that ……. .

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I look forward to the next stage of the selection process.

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Sincerely Yours

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It is not always easy to get the interviewer`s email address and harder still when you are working through a recruitment consultant or agency who has arranged the interview. You can ring up Reception to try and get the email address or you can guess the email protocol (e.g., many companies use this kind of structure [email protected]). If the email does not bounce back, then you have probably been successful getting through. There is help on the web. Google: 12 to find someone`s email address

That’s all for now? ….? Have a great week.??????????????????????????????????????????? Phillip Powell

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The Mr Job Tracker Job Search Learning and Coaching Program. (Resume writing, interviews, everything your Job Search needs) Helping you to get the job you want .... faster. Mr Job Tracker (thinkific.com)

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