Have you ever wondered what to avoid doing when you're being interviewed? We've heard of some unique and horrendous blunders, but there are some quite common ones you really should try and avoid:
- Never slate your current/past employers or managers! Explaining that you want to leave a job for negative reasons about your employer or manager can lead your interviewers to think you're not as loyal as you need to be and that you could be hiding some truths about yourself. This is one of the worst mistakes that you can make in a job interview setting so try hard to avoid it.
- Turning up without any questions to ask your potential future employer. You need to appear interested in the job and the Company. Having questions to ask means you've some interest in finding out more and potentially showing you've done some research - both of which are plus points.
- Even if you're being interviewed on your lunch break (which in itself is not ideal), don't tell your interviewers you have limited time before you have to dash. They will think you're not serious about the job, as you haven't made enough time for a decent, relaxed interview. Accept that you may just have to return later from your lunch break if you really want this job.
- Unless asked, don't tell your interviewers you have another offer. They won't want to feel under any pressure to make a quick decision, even if you'd like them to.
- Never turn up with hand-outs unless you've been asked. Most interviewers will have a set format they wish to follow, and throwing a spanner in the works of their schedule and format will be off-putting for them.
- If you can't answer a question immediately, don't ask the interviewer to move on to the next one. Simply ask them either a) for some time to think about it or b) ask them to elaborate on the question so you buy more time to work up your answer.
- If you're in a panel interview situation, make sure you direct your responses to all those across the table. Focusing on just one interviewer will make the others feel excluded, which means they'll question your communication skills!
- At the end of the interview, never ask, 'How did I do?'. Your interviewers will want to discuss your performance and the outcome with each other before they discuss it with you.
- Don't lie! We've heard countless stories of people feeling the need to misrepresent their skills, abilities and experience, only to find that the interviewer then catches them out with a suitable probing question.
- Even though you may be sorely tempted, please don't criticise your interviewers when they are still in the room. They might have worded a question poorly, distracted you from providing a clear answer or even tried to trip you up with probing questions, but to let them know will prove pretty fatal, and you'd be as well to expect a resounding 'No' within 24 hours!
