Common Interview Mistakes

The top three interview mistakes most entry level candidates (or anyone) makes!

1. Be yourself

Understandably many people tell you be "be yourself" when entering an interview setting. Although it is important to stay true to yourself during an interview when it comes to your values, morals, experiences, etc. - it is also important to read your audience and cater your delivery to who you are speaking to. For example - you would tell your life story differently if you were talking to your 5 year old niece, your grandparents, or your college professor. Read the room and cater your tone of voice and body language to fit the environment.

2. Let the interviewer do the talking

A major misconception many people fall for is to let the interviewer talk. Many people in HR who are interviewers are talkers however, that does NOT mean they actually want to be the one talking. They want to feel that they can't get a word in because the candidate has so much to say about themselves and about the job. If you are speaking to a recruiter who is going on and on try to pivot the conversation to a question you have about the role and try to get the content of the conversation back to you.

3. Prepare, prepare, prepare

Indeed you want to be prepared for your interview. You want to research the company background and current news. You also want to prepare to speak to certain topics on your resume and prepare to answer questions why you would be the perfect candidate for the job. What no one tells you is to prepare for the unwanted, unfair, and inappropriate questions. Prepare to answer questions such as "why is this your second job in two years?" "do you plan on having children anytime soon?" "why do you have tattoos?". These are the questions that will help you to dodge questions that you couldn't even fathom being asked. You still have a decision to make if you want to work for certain companies but at least you're prepared for the best and the worst.

Go Forth into your interview future and knock 'em dead!