10 Biggest Job Interview Blunders
By John Heaney on November 19, 2009 at 10:08 am
Interviewing, The Search
This week, Anne Fisher wrote a column for Fortune’s online magazine detailing the top 10 job interview blunders.
The mistakes she details are pretty common, and can generally be categorized in two broad categories: lack of preparation and failure to focus on the company’s needs, not yours.
With all the information available on the web (including our own series of videos How to Handle the Toughest Interview Questions) there is no excuse for a job interviewer to be unprepared to handle some tough, probing questions. Even if the interviewer doesn’t ask the precise questions that we pose, your preparation and practice answering these tough questions should provide you with a concise understanding of your strengths, accomplishments and personal characteristics that make you attractive to a new company.
There’s also no excuse for any job candidate to arrive at an interview without knowing about the company. There are simply too many tools and sources available online that can provide a wealth of information not just about the company, but about the company’s executives as well. What message are you sending to the interviewer if you haven’t made the effort to learn anything about their company, their products, their culture or their staff?
Landing a job provides you with potentially hundreds of thousands of dollars of income, health care coverage, retirement savings and other benefits. If you can’t be bothered to invest at least several hours researching the company, then they’re likely correct in their assessment that you must not have wanted the job very badly. Do your homework.
Job seekers need constant reminders that the job interview isn’t about them. It’s all about the company.
When interviewing for a job, your first priority is understanding precisely what the company needs and then convincing them that you can fulfill these needs. By demonstrating a comprehensive understanding of their needs, you can differentiate yourself from the other candidates they’re talking to. And differentiation is crucial. Not just by the set of skills you have, but by the enthusiasm and energy you display. They want to hire someone who is genuinely excited by the prospect of working with them, so make sure you present yourself as someone they’ll want to work closely with.
One final thought that the writer left out of her piece: send a thank-you note immediately after the interview. Not an e-mail. Not a tweet. A real note on genuine paper. It sets you apart from the 90% of candidates who don’t ever send a follow up note of any kind and provides you with an opportunity to reinforce your skills and demonstrate your enthusiasm. And isn’t a new job worth the 44 cent stamp?
Tags: blunder, career, employment, Fortune, interview, job interview, john heaney, staffing
5 Comments
Dear Mr. Heaney,
Thank you for pointing out the Thank You note item. In this world where communications are continually being compressed to fit into a 140 character format, the thoughtful act of sending a well-composed physical, snail-mailed Thank You note can serve any applicant stand well in front of the pack.
I advise all job seekers to invest in personalized Thank You notes on a heavy weight professional stock. And please don’t send the store-bought ones that say “Thank You” or have pictures of bunnies/kitties/babies on the front. This is Business where Tacky and Cute just don’t cut it. Have your initials on the front.
As a former printer, I am a bit of a snob when it comes to Thank You notes. I look at the envelope. Is it lined? (a thrill!) I feel the paper. I look for a watermark… and my heart goes all a-flutter should I come across the rare situation when the initials are embossed, not just thermographed.
Here’s a suggestion for people looking for professional notes that will help them stand out from the fray. You can’t go wrong with Crane’s: http://www.crane.com/
Thank you for your insightful and professional comments; I look forward to your next posting.
With great regard,
Susie Sharp
I had a bad experience with mailing thank you cards. I had an interview with a company and decided to HAND deliver the thank you cards. It was a big corporation so I had to drop them off at the reception desk. The office was so big that each office had kind of its own address. I had the receptionist look over how the envelopes were addressed before I gave them to her. About 10 days later I got the letters in the mail postmarked “no postage” and “insufficient address”. By that time they had already made their decision.
A great cautionary tale for job seekers. Make sure you get business cards from each person you interview with so you have their precise address when mailing thank you notes. Large companies typically have a location code in the address of each person indicating their department, floor and specific location. Make sure you use it or your mail won’t find the right person until it’s too late.
You are correct. In my case the receptionist OR mail room person put the cards in OUT going mail.