Career News 24/7: The Cynical Girl: 3 Tips: Don’t Blow Your Interview

Wednesday, October 3, 2012

The Cynical Girl: 3 Tips: Don’t Blow Your Interview

Posted: 02 Oct 2012 03:45 AM PDT

Job seekers are their own worst enemies. They assume so much about the interview process and know so little. And when you tell them, they don’t listen.

“Surely it must be more complicated than you make it out to be…”

No it’s not. And don’t call me Shirley.

Here are three tips to make sure you don’t blow your job interview.

Your appearance matters. It shouldn’t but it does. The goal is to be as neutral as possible. No new outfits. No patterns or funky colors. Trim your nose hair. Don’t give that lazy recruiter an excuse to talk about anything other than your resume.
Shut up. Seriously, please, shut up. Don’t do a ton of talking. Never say a negative word about anything: your boss, your former employer or Barack Obama. Turn every question about you into a question about the company. What’s your biggest weakness? Who cares. Give a simple answer and then ask the recruiter — What types of employees succeed at this organization? What employees fail? What’s the single biggest attribute that a successful candidate can bring to this job? Then shut up and listen.
Say yes. Do you work well in pressure cooker environments? Do you consider yourself to be flexible? Can you work long hours? Can you work nights and weekends? Say yes, get the job offer and then figure out if you really want the job.

I would never tell a job seeker to be blatantly dishonest. I would say that looking for a job is all about marketing; you owe it to yourself to sell your product (i.e., your knowledge, skills and abilities) in the best possible way. Believe me, recruiters may be lazy but they are not stupid. They know the old adage: buyer beware. That’s why they are interviewing you in the first place.

Dress professionally. Shut up. Don’t say no.

With three small moves, you are already ahead of your competition.