Here are more of those mistakes people make on interviews; mistakes you can easily avoid:
Lack of self-awareness: This happens when you’re sitting in the reception area, waiting to interview, and make or receive calls on your cell… speaking more loudly than you might realize (or worse, realizing how loudly you’re speaking and doing it anyway). It happens when you bring food and beverages into the reception area (or worse, when you cart them into the interview; even worse, when you eat and drink while interviewing.) It happens when you walk in front of the interviewer on the way to the interviewer’s office; when you finger whatever’s sitting on the interviewer’s desk or hanging on the walls, when you take a call or worse, make a call in the midst of an interview, saying “Hold on, this will just take a minute.”
Too much information: This happens when you provide personal information that jeopardizes the interview (e.g. your marital and family status, age, religion, sexual preference, national origin, physical and emotional limitations). It happens when you speak indiscriminately about your former employers; when you share confidential information about your former employers; when you disrespect former employers or co-workers.
Dress inappropriately: This happens when you wear too little (distracting the interviewer with what’s showing instead of what’s missing) and when you wear too much (and the interviewer is blinded by too much jewelry, overpowered by too much fragrance, and overwhelmed by too much style.
Cutting to the chase: This happens when the first questions you ask are about money, hours, or time off. Any one of those questions is a turn-off. All three combined, a disaster. Why? If you can’t prove that you add value by meeting or exceeding the employer’s needs, you’re not worth any kind of compensation. With that in mind, talk about proving yourself, and let the employer talk about money.
Lack of curiosity: Employers want to know that you can and will ask questions; that you realize there’s more to know than what you already know and that you’re willing to ask to find out. They want to know that you can connect the dots and make sense of the information you’ve been provided and can demonstrate that by wanting to know more. If you’re not curious in the interview, and not willing to frame that curiosity in the form of questions, the employer will logically presume that you won’t ask questions on the job and instead of finding a way through or around a challenge you will wait to be directed. Granted, you might be very curious and prefer to figure things out on your own without the benefit of outside help, but the interviewer won’t know that. Ask questions.
Tardy: This happens when you arrive late, with or without an excuse. Anything short of an accident (and please don’t have one to get a pass) won’t turn this around for you. Why is it such a big deal? Because it is avoidable and sends a message that even on your best day you can’t get where you’re going on time.
