Never Say or Do These Things in a Job Interview
By Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter
Ah! The things people do and say on interviews that prove costly and result in you interviewing longer than you should.
Never say or do these things in a job interview. I’m Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter. People hire me for no BS job search advice and coaching globally, because I make the process so much easier for people. I also do some other things. But fundamentally, people start off working with me related to a job search.
And I must say I did recruiting for a long time and filled a lot of positions throughout the US and Canada, I found there were people who kept making these dumb mistakes, and costing themselves opportunities they should have gotten, but they hurt themselves. And thus, they had to go home afterwards, and say, “I don’t think I got it,” and deal with their friends, wife, husband, partner, kids, the dog, the cat, who were always hoping they got this job, but they hurt themselves. And I want to help you avoid doing that. So you can get to your next role much more quickly.
So the first mistake people make is they talk ill of their former employer. That could be they complain about their boss, they complain about their co-workers, they complain about the treatment that they have received. And this employer hears that goes, “How long is it going to take for me to be the brunt of their criticism once they join me?” They don’t want to become a complaint target. They just want to hire people with a good attitude. So you’re better off always talking about, you know, “I can keep doing the same work for the next 20 years of my life but I don’t want to do that. I want to learn and grow and get ahead and move forward and not do the same tasks forever, like I might have here.” And that will serve you a lot better than complaining.
Standing Out on an Interview
The second thing is they act desperate. And I must in all candor tell you when people act desperate, it reminds me of dating, and having the desperate person out there trying to meet someone. No one likes desperation in dating, right? And they certainly don’t like it in job search. You may want to position you’ve been out of work for a while, you need something, but they don’t want to hire someone who’s desperate. So you’ve got to maintain your cool, be friendly, be interested, but not cross that line to desperation.
Third thing is they don’t provide cliches or you shouldn’t provide cliched answers to interview questions. Now, when they ask you predictable questions, you have to generate some personality and answer them in ways that are a little bit different, so that they experience you differently. After all, if you answer questions in the same way as other people, why should they choose you? You’re just like everyone else. Other things have to come across in your answers in order to find something more quickly.
Never say you don’t know something. Always connect back to something in your background. That’s similar to what they’re talking about. Like I’ve said many times, there are certain dirty words in an interview. “I’ve ONLY done this,” I’ve JUST done that. I have LIGHT experience with this or that.” You know, they’re dirty words in interviewing because they don’t really say anything. All they do is say, “I don’t know anything about this subject; could we talk about something else?”
Next, never be the lazy person going into the interview. Always research the firm, and what it is they do and what their expectations for you are going to be, and be prepared to answer predictable questions about your background, and how it fits with the role. At this stage in life, you should know that you should understand what the firm does. That should be the most basic thing you do. You should also be on LinkedIn and see what the hiring manager’s background is. You want to understand more about the position and get a job description in advance or reread the ad, but you want to confirm that is what they are looking for. Because job descriptions often aren’t completely accurate. So you just want to make sure that what it is you think they’re hiring for is what they’re hiring for.
You want to dress appropriately. That’s number six. I don’t care if you’re on camera or in person. It’s important to look the part and present the part so that this way, you look well. If you dress in a sloppy manner, they’ll reject you, right? They don’t think you care. They want to see people who . . . I’m not saying towear a suit and tie if you’re a man, or a formal dress, if you’re a woman, but look well and present yourself, well. It does make a difference.
You don’t want to be asking about time off– big mistake on your interviews. Now, once they want to hire you, if you’ve got planned time off, you can use that as part of your negotiation. “I have a vacation with my wife, husband or partner scheduled for later this year, and I need some time off for that. I just want to make sure you know in advance, because I know you don’t want to be surprised last minute, do you?”
Number nine, give rambling answers. Always think in terms of answering questions in a minute 15, tops, a minute 30. And thus preparing stories in advance so that you answer their questions about what you did and how you went about doing it in that length of time.
I’ll also say it’s important to engage with the interviewer. And thus, without that engagement, they don’t think you care and caring about what you do is important.
The last thing I’m gonna bring up with you today, and there are many, many more, is looking or acting as if you’re disinterested. Disinterested people are rarely hired. You have to always present as though you care. Because if you don’t care, they think that’s going to reflect your work too. So being animated, excited, interested, and if you’re an introvert, you want to communicate in ways that they feel the intensity of your background and interest. It’s not about a big exuberant personality, but it’s about intensity more than anything.
I hope you found this helpful. I’m Jeff Altman. Visit my website, TheBigGameHunter.us. There’s a ton in the blog that can help you. AND you can schedule a time to have your questions answered by choosing Trusted Advisor Services or have me coach you and there’s an option there to schedule a free discovery call with me or you can go right into coaching. I’d love to help.
There’s also information about my video courses, books, and guides. My video courses are very, very good. And connect with me on Linkedin at linkedin.com/in/TheBigGameHunter. I deliver new information on LinkedIn daily. Have a terrific day and most importantly, be great!
Never Use These 3 Dirty Words in a Job Interview
ABOUT JEFF ALTMAN, THE BIG GAME HUNTER
People hire Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter to provide No BS Career Advice globally because he makes many things in peoples’ career easier. Those things
can involve job search, hiring more effectively, managing and leading better, career transition, as well as advice about resolving workplace issues.
Schedule a discovery call at my website, www.TheBigGameHunter.us
He is the host of “No BS Job Search Advice Radio,” the #1 podcast in iTunes for job search with over 2600 episodes.
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