posted on Thursday, October 26, 2006 1:41 PM
by
Lou Michels
Obvious Job Interviewing Tips
CNN has a segment from Careerbuilder.com listing what can only be described as “stupid interview tricks” that bear repeating here, if for no other reason than to make you feel better by comparison. Some of these are so obvious that you have to wonder ….
For example, under the guidance “Don’t Let Your Professionalism Slip”, the article describes one applicant who brushed her hair in the middle of the interview (what, didn’t have time to look in the bathroom mirror before walking in the door?), and another who brought his pet dog along to the interview so he would have something to talk about. I have had some of my co-workers bring their dogs into the office on Saturday mornings, but they at least waited until they made partner.
Honesty is generally the best policy, unless you are honestly informing the interviewer that you’ve lied on your resume. One applicant indicated that he had, but that he should get the job anyway because of his attractiveness and a presumably qualified brother in the information technology field for which the applicant was applying. Bad idea. Similarly, an applicant for an apartment manager position who told the interviewer that she saw nothing wrong with charging more for rent than the ownership said to charge so that she could have a little spare cash probably revealed a little too much. Likewise, listing all the places that you’ve interviewed that didn’t offer you a position is probably not going to instill confidence in the interviewer.
For those of you who need to take the occasional nerve pill to get through meeting someone for the first time, the general advice is “do it”. The job applicant who vomited on the interviewer, and the one who laughed so nervously and loudly that she spit out a false tooth probably didn’t get that “hire” box checked on the evaluation at the end of the day. At the same time, don’t show up for an interview with a bottle of beer in your hand and finish it in the reception area while you wait for the interview. Not only will the receptionist alert the management team, but when you walk in smelling of beer you generally give people some pause about your judgment as well as your imbibing habits.
And for those of you who are responsible for job interviewing, if you see any of these warning signs in an applicant, I’d take a pass, unless the guy with the dog is applying to be a partner in a law firm.