At the beginning of a New Year, everyone’s full of resolutions — to eat better, exercise more, spend more time with family and friends….
- Dress too casually
- Rely on public transport running like clockwork
- Arrive stressed
- Address your interviewer by his or her first name until invited to do so
- Act too informally or try to be funny – it’s not a stand-up routine!
- Be ‘creative’ with the truth i.e. lie!
- Take out any frustrations about the job search process on your interviewer
- Speak negatively about your current or former company, boss, or co-workers
- Make excuses
- Seem desperate to take any job
- Answer your phone, check messages, or text during an interview
- Say you don’t have any questions
Quite frankly, most of these should be obvious, however, under the pressure of interview situations it can become easy to ramble on with little conscious consideration to what you are saying. We’ve all done it!
With the Don’ts in mind, here’s what you should….
DO:
- Research the company and the position you’re applying for
- Dress appropriately for the job you want
- Arrive 10 minutes early
- Be polite to everyone you meet; you never know whose opinion will count
- Offer a firm handshake and make eye contact when meeting someone
- Take time to think about how to answer an unexpected question (swot up on common questions)
- Ask intelligent questions about the job, company, or industry.
- Write a thank you note and send it within 24 hours of the interview.
- SMILE!!!
Armed with these winning job interview tips you’re sure to make a much greater impact and stand a good chance of grabbing that dream job. Good luck!