An article on the Monster website had some good tips on how to approach your job interview. The article follows below and is written by Catherine Conlan.
By Catherine Conlan
Monster Contributing Writer
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 really do happen. Just 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: Keep your responses professional and 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, and it can be an opportunity to bring out some
ideas you might have. But 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: Wait to offer suggestions
until the interviewer asks for them, and even then, keep them brief and
constructive while stressing that you know 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, before you get into the interview.
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. “You need to give the interviewer reason to believe
that you are the best person for the job and that you really want to
work there.”
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 out of a jam.
5. Show up late.
It’s a killer, no matter why it happens. Showing up 10 minutes early is
a common interview tip, but its importance cannot be overstated.
“Tardiness shows one of two things: disrespect or poor planning, both of
which are nonstarters for most hiring managers,” says Michael “Dr. Woody”
Woodward, an organizational psychologist and author of “The YOU Plan.”
Showing up late sets the tone for the rest of the interview, and you’ll
have to be at the top of your game to come back from such a setback.
Instead: Make sure you’re early to your interview.
Interviewers
aren’t looking for reasons to say “no,” but things you do can annoy
them enough that you lose your chance at the company. Do what you can to
make sure they don’t hate yo
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