How You Can Lose a Great Job During the Interview
-
How You Can Lose a Great Job During the Interview
Instead of selling themselves, too many job seekers take themselves out of the running during interviews—sometimes because of their appearance or body language.
Despite the wealth of technology-enabled ways to connect to a potential employer, the traditional in-person job interview remains the "make or break" test for potential hires. After all, there's nothing like looking a manager in the eye and making your best pitch. Unfortunately, instead of successfully selling themselves, too many job seekers take themselves out of the running during these one-on-ones, according to a recent survey from CareerBuilder. For starters, many people avoid eye contact because don't like "looking a manager in the eye," while others don't smile. Then, there are candidates who dress inappropriately, pull out their mobile device to check texts or emails, and/or convey an arrogant attitude during these discussions. Keep in mind that landing a great job involves more than tech know-how: You're marketing your people skills too. "Preparing for an interview takes a lot more than Googling answers to common interview questions," said Rosemary Haefner, chief human resources officer for CareerBuilder. "Candidates have to make a great first impression appearance-wise … and control their body language." For the purposes of the research, CareerBuilder has divided the mistakes into general job interview blunders and body language-based errors. In addition, the company has included real-life strange interview stories, and we've included some of those here. Nearly 2,600 hiring and HR managers took part in the research.