Ways to Blow The Interview
(The Things You Want To Avoid)
There are a number of ways a prospective employee can blow the interview.
A quite common problem is the choice of attire or lack of it. Typically, your choice should lean towards conservative attire and a business, professional look. Suits are great for both men and women usually. The exception would be the job that requires work boots and dusty clothes like bulldozer operator, truck driver, or pest control specialist and others – in these instances, wear the next better level of clothes like polo shirt and colored denim jeans.
Remember to tone down the use of color utilizing more of the dark blues, browns, blacks, and greens rather than the reds, oranges, yellows, and such. In most cases, body piercing, tattoos, and jewelry in excess is discouraged. So, too, are all the scents, smells, and overuse of make-up.
Obviously, issues of hygiene, cleanliness, and personal care can affect the interviewers perception of the prospective employee.
Your personal choice of vocabulary - street language versus business language - for example, will have an effect on how well you relate and communicate your thoughts to the interviewer.
Remember, it is not the big words you use, but the proper use and effective communication you perform with the words and messages you do choose.
As you portray yourself, your goals, and objectives to the interviewer you can easily blow the interview.
For instance, being too focused on the money and not the career choice can lose it for you.
In turn, being too focused on training and educational opportunities can give the idea that you are just here for the training, then you are planning on moving on down the road to a competitor that may pay a dime or two more.
When asked what job they want in the company and replying the President’s job, sometimes can make the interviewer perceive that you want too much too fast.
Remember not to tell any dirty jokes, make reference to all the guys that went partying with you last Friday evening, nor the amount of beer you can drink at one sitting. Dignity, sobriety, and maturity are the issues of importance during the interview.
The interviewer is trying to determine whether you can work with people of the same and other gender, other cultures, other religious backgrounds, individuals of differing sexual lifestyles, and people that have experienced life from a different point of view from yours without creating some kind of havoc and discontent in the workplace.
Know that they are looking for people that can make decisions that bring a level of maturity with them, and that enjoy new experiences, new cultures, and learning new things.
They focus on how well you can express yourself, how well you operate under pressure (like in the interview situation), the type of environment you like best (indoor / outdoor; well lit / darker; hot / cold; air / underwater; etc.), and how well you can complete forms (like their application).
They are expecting you to be prepared with several copies of your printed resume, a printed sheet of references, and all documentation that may be needed to obtain the position you are seeking (drivers license, diploma, certificates, medical records, social security card or green card, and more).
Quite frankly, they are asking themselves, do you “fit” the position and the company’s cultural atmosphere?
Can you work here and be successful, thus, benefiting the company’s long range plans and goals? Are you worth the investment in time, money, and energy to bring on board and integrate into the company? Are you the quality of person that the rest of our employees would work well with? Can you be trusted?
ARE YOU ONE OF US?
That is the ultimate question. Do you walk like a duck, talk like a duck, think like a duck, act like a duck? Then, you must be a duck! Therefore, since we are all ducks and so are you… welcome to the land of ducks!
But remember, if you are a peacock, simply trying to “fit” in the world of ducks, you will be found out! Yes, you may be able to adjust and thus, “fit in”. Others that cannot adjust will be bypassed initially or perhaps, let go at a later time. This is not all bad.
To be happiest and most productive at your career you and your company must “fit” each other. So, if you choose a company and then get overlooked, remember, the interviewer is on the inside and it is their job to decide whether or not prospective employees really “fit” the company.
You may assume you “fit” looking from the outside in. But, the interviewer may know more since they are looking from the inside out. Don’t dwell on being disappointed, instead, go on down the street where you will be appreciated - a better “fit”!
More information is contained in the book “How To Get The Job You Have Always Dreamed Of” by Eddie Powell – published by www.PublishAmerica.com also available at www.Amazon.com. Eddie Powell is a Career Coach, Speaker, Trainer, Business Consultant, and Journalist available through Shared Resource Network, Inc., PO Box 65, Reynoldsburg, Ohio 43068-0065 or by emailing: Eddie@EddiePowell.com.