Stupid Interview Mistakes: Criticizing The Past
By Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter
In this video, I talk about another 1 of those dumb things that people do on interviews – – criticizing the past.
I’m Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter, the head coach of JobSearch.Community And I want to give you one of those stupid interview mistakes that people make so often. It’s frustrating. I just want to shake them.
And the mistake, as is in the title, is criticizing the past. It could be the lengthy rant about a co-worker who would eat your lunch, take it out of the refrigerator and eat it. It could be the rant about, you know, I’ve been at this firm for five years, passed over for one promotion after another and I’ve had it.
Or, my boss is an imbecile. You can do it in a more mild manner of way. But, you know, it ultimately translates into that.
We are super critical of one thing or another to the point where you just sound as though you’re a complainer. And if someone is sitting opposite you during the interview and you know what’s going through their mind, they’re saying to themselves, okay, I wonder how long that’s going to happen before it happens to me. Well, I could have brought cancer into our midst, but I’m going to nod my head for a little while and smile and bring this one to an end.
So, here’s what you need to do in order to be effective in communicating why it is you want to change jobs. So, an example of feeling passed over. You don’t want to focus on the passed over part.
Here’s how you do it. You basically say, hey, look, I’m real good at my role. And my firm likes me in this role.
But I don’t want to spend the next 25 years of my life doing the same thing over and over again. I understand I might have to join this firm, improve myself here in order to demonstrate my abilities. But what I’m looking for is an organization where I can learn and grow and get ahead.
And my firm is content to basically let me do the same job for the rest of my life. That really isn’t for me. So, again, I’m willing to demonstrate to you that I’m capable and competent and pay my dues here.
But I also want to know that there’s an upside. They know right away that you’re looking for promotional opportunities in the future. Not a bad thing, right? So, that’s one way to do it.
The co-worker who eats my lunch or the problem co-worker. I work with a problem co-worker who would steal stuff from his colleagues. So, if I was in a situation where I was on an interview, I might just simply say, you know, I’ve worked in this organization for a long time.
But, you know, after a while, there’s some personalities that show up where people don’t necessarily behave properly. And, you know, I don’t want to come across as though I’m a complainer or a whiner. I’m not.
But, you know, when people go to the refrigerator and take my lunch out or, in my particular case, they steal resumes and present them to other recruiting firms, there’s a problem in the office. And when management doesn’t want to address it, because this person’s writing business, eventually, I have to ask myself, who’s looking out for me? And that’s why I’m saying, you can come up with your own version of that. My boss is an imbecile.
Never go down that road. Never, ever in a million years, go down the road of criticizing your boss. It’s just a losing proposition.
You’re better off doing the speech about wanting to join an organization where you can learn and grow and get ahead. I started this with rather than being critical of your boss. So, you know, again, don’t want to criticize the past.
You want to be focusing on what you’re looking for going forward. And even the example of the problem colleague, if I were in that situation, I would conclude by saying, I’m sure in this organization, such things, hey, stuff happens. People are people.
But, you know, if someone were stealing from the firm, it would be something that wouldn’t be tolerated. That’s why I trust that you’ll handle things in a professional way and look out for the people. Very graceful way to wrap that one up.
I hope you found this video helpful and hope you have a great day. Take care.
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’ careers
easier. Those things can involve job search, hiring more effectively, managing and leading better, career transition, as well as advice about resolving workplace issues. He is the host of “No BS Job Search Advice Radio,” the #1 podcast in iTunes for job search with over 3100 episodes.
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This is nice but it’s a strawman argument.
We’re all at the top of our nervousness range in interviews, especially in
person interviews, and I have heard this meme for ever. I’ve never
encountered it nor did any of my coworkers ever mention it. It’s far more
likely that an interviewer goes through every single job you’ve ever had
and asks what you did, why you left, and would they rehire you. I’ve
personally known interviewers that would purposely keep asking questions
until you burst into tears to see where your breaking point is (he was
brought in on purpose for this during interviews).
You can dance around hard times in your resume or you can simply plow
through it. Simple responses such as “the company was laying off and I had
little seniority”, or “I liked the job but my manager and I didn’t get
along” should be sufficient. Silence rather than chatter should be the
response to probing questions.
Employers will sometimes in best Khmer Rouge style assemble the employees
and have everyone answer “what sucks about this place” so they can identify
the dissenters and fire them afterwards. This carries over on interviews-
decide for yourself if you want to work for a place that is that insecure
🙂
Jeff – no offense but lose that hat, no one cares about your hairline
+Maurice Levie i have a shaved head and that is a hairline I like and choose. The hat minimizes glare from overhead light in winter on my glasses and head.
my comments on backdrops still stands – styrofoam
This is nice but it’s a strawman argument.
We’re all at the top of our nervousness range in interviews, especially in person interviews, and I have heard this meme for ever. I’ve never encountered it nor did any of my coworkers ever mention it. It’s far more likely that an interviewer goes through every single job you’ve ever had and asks what you did, why you left, and would they rehire you. I’ve personally known interviewers that would purposely keep asking questions until you burst into tears to see where your breaking point is (he was brought in on purpose for this during interviews).
You can dance around hard times in your resume or you can simply plow through it. Simple responses such as “the company was laying off and I had little seniority”, or “I liked the job but my manager and I didn’t get along” should be sufficient. Silence rather than chatter should be the response to probing questions.
Employers will sometimes in best Khmer Rouge style assemble the employees and have everyone answer “what sucks about this place” so they can identify the dissenters and fire them afterwards. This carries over on interviews- decide for yourself if you want to work for a place that is that insecure 🙂
Jeff – no offense but lose that hat, no one cares about your hairline
This is nice but it’s a strawman argument.
We’re all at the top of our nervousness range in interviews, especially in person interviews, and I have heard this meme for ever. I’ve never encountered it nor did any of my coworkers ever mention it. It’s far more likely that an interviewer goes through every single job you’ve ever had and asks what you did, why you left, and would they rehire you. I’ve personally known interviewers that would purposely keep asking questions until you burst into tears to see where your breaking point is (he was brought in on purpose for this during interviews).
You can dance around hard times in your resume or you can simply plow through it. Simple responses such as “the company was laying off and I had little seniority”, or “I liked the job but my manager and I didn’t get along” should be sufficient. Silence rather than chatter should be the response to probing questions.
Employers will sometimes in best Khmer Rouge style assemble the employees and have everyone answer “what sucks about this place” so they can identify the dissenters and fire them afterwards. This carries over on interviews- decide for yourself if you want to work for a place that is that insecure 🙂
Jeff – no offense but lose that hat, no one cares about your hairline
+Maurice Levie i have a shaved head and that is a hairline I like and choose. The hat minimizes glare from overhead light in winter on my glasses and head.
my comments on backdrops still stands – styrofoam