Getting your player ready...
You probably know most of the interviewing tips that can help you forge a connection with a potential employer. Now it’s time to learn some of the things you must avoid in an interview to ensure the interviewer doesn’t end up hating you by the end of it. These things do happen. Make sure they don’t happen to you.
1. Jump at the chance to trash your former boss. “An interviewer will dislike you if you respond to the question, ‘What advice would you give your former boss, if asked?'” says Lee Evans, CEO and career coach at Free-Job-Search-Websites.com, adding that this is a trick question. “The interviewer will interpret your negative response as the answer you might give when asked about a manager at the interviewing company. It’s also a test of your ability to respond appropriately to sticky questions. Your interviewer and prospective employer will side with your former manager, and view you as difficult to deal with.” Instead: Answer professionally; watch for trick questions. 2. Tell the interviewer what you would change. Sometimes interviewers will ask you what you might change about a prospective employer. Keep it constructive and wait until they ask, says Ronald Kaufman, author and executive coach. “Telling them things you would change about their company is arrogant and implies you might be a disruptive employee,” Kaufman says. “As an outsider, you don’t know my needs, my budgets, my problems, and telling me what you would change is a major turn off.”Instead: If the interviewer asks, keep your comments brief and constructive, stressing you don’t have all the information. 3. Comment on your interviewer’s appearance. Whether you like the way your interviewer looks or not, keep it to yourself. Even “well, you look nice today” is inappropriate, according to Evans. Commenting on how people look when you’ve just met them can be a signal that you aren’t concerned with social boundaries or are rude. Comments about appearance are on the “interviewer’s red flag list,” Evans says. Instead: Keep social commentary to a minimum, and stick to safe and general topics, such as the weather or traffic. 4. Denigrate the organization you’re applying to. Even when you want the job, it’s possible that things you say make it sound like you think you’re better than what the company deserves. “If you make it appear as though the organization where you are applying is not up to speed in terms of technology or that its facility is lacking, you will alienate the interviewer,” says Cheryl Palmer, a career coach. Instead: Find ways to talk about how you’ll be a good fit for the company, rather than implying you’re a superhero for offering to help the organization.
