How You Can Lose a Great Job During the Interview

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.