If you have already submitted your Curriculum Vitae and you liked your profile (we recommend our article “10 tips to improve your Curriculum Vitae”), congratulations, you have an opportunity to get that job that you have been looking for for a long time.
Now, not everything is won. There are a series of unwritten rules that we must comply with if we want the company offering the position to opt for our services.
Job interviews: making a good impression is up to you
In our daily lives we all make mistakes, but if there is one place where we should avoid them, it is during Job interviews
On many occasions, errors can be corrected, but mistakes made during a job interview can determine, in the eyes of the interviewers, whether or not we are suitable for a specific position. Since we probably only have one opportunity to demonstrate our potential, it is necessary to give the best possible image in the short time we are given in one of these professional meetings. And in this sense, focusing on what not to do in a job interview can be easier than having in mind a list of actions that we must perform. So, let’s see what are the mistakes you should avoid.
The most frequent mistakes in job interviews
In the following list we will cite the ten most common errors that the Human Resources staff detected in interviews.
We will also propose some tips to avoid them, in order to have a greater chance of being chosen for the job we want. So let’s review the most frequent mistakes in job interviews.
1. Dressing inappropriately for an interview
How to avoid it: we should research the company culture to get an idea of how to dress Both the job position and the organizational culture can determine what is the best impression for the job we aspire to. If you have no idea how to go, the safest bet is to dress seriously and elegantly, not necessarily in a suit.
2. Being late
How to avoid it: If you are the type of person who is usually late, you should leave home half an hour or an hour early , the time that you consider sufficient considering the worst of the situations (traffic, that you could get lost on the way, etc.). Few mistakes are going to ruin your chances of getting hired more than this one.
3. Bad body language
How to avoid it: it is one of the most frequent mistakes in job interviews and also the easiest to prevent. Maintain good posture, stay relatively still and maintain eye contact for as long as possible. Training yourself to avoid nervous habits such as touching your face, rocking back and forth, or excessive head nodding can improve the quality of the interview and the interviewer’s perception of you.
If you want to delve deeper into the aspects of non-verbal language that influence the image you project about yourself, you can consult the article: “5 keys to mastering non-verbal language.”
How to avoid it: do not stammer, do not look at the floor or the table, and above all, do not fall short when talking about personal abilities But always with humility! Most people are somewhat afraid when it comes to exposing their positive qualities and achievements, but job interviews are the perfect place to do so.
Self-confidence is key, so do not hesitate to take a look at the post “Self-confidence: 7 keys to improve it”.
5. Lack of interest
How to avoid it: Ask questions about vacation time, benefits, or how relaxed you would like the office work environment to be you want to work on can have negative effects. However, not asking anything can be even worse, because it can convey apathy. You have to show interest in the position and the company so that the interviewers can know that you really want the job.
6. Ask too many questions
How to avoid it: ideally, You should wait to ask questions until the interviewer lets you know Otherwise, you should do them when the opportunity arises during the job interview. It is important to show curiosity, but without bombarding the interviewer with questions.
7. Interrupt the interviewer
How to avoid it: In the best case scenario, if you interrupt the interviewer, they will not perceive you as an anxious person, but they will probably think of you as disrespectful or simply rude. No matter how excited you are, make sure you are actively listening and very carefully to the interviewer, and wait for him to finish speaking before answering.
What does the interviewer usually ask? You can discover it in our article “The 10 most frequently asked questions in a job interview”.
How to avoid it: In job interviews, you’ll probably be asked a question or two about your old job or your relationship with your last boss. Don’t take this as an opportunity to badmouth them
Accentuating the positive makes you a kind and pleasant person who is a pleasure to work with. If you focus on the negative. He will seem spiteful and vindictive, and this can give an image of an unreliable and overly individualistic person.
9. Giving false information
How to avoid it: study the company; Don’t go to job interviews without knowing them well Review your resume. There’s nothing more embarrassing than not being able to accurately answer a question about a specific project you’ve worked on.
The first step in preparing for an interview is to be an expert on yourself. Take some time to get to know who you really are and know your qualities and defects to be able to conduct a smooth and correct interview, without lying but emphasizing your qualities that make you more desirable for the organization interviewing you.
10. Lack of preparation
How to avoid it: All the mistakes mentioned above can be summarized in this one. An interview is essentially a casting, and you are an actor. Do you think anyone would show up to a casting call unprepared?
Do your research and make sure you are ready to do an interview in which you can show your best profile, or at least that version of yourself that best fits what the company in question is looking for.
