5 Common Interview Mistakes to Avoid
Mistakes are mistakes; we don’t make them on purpose, but sometimes they just happen! Being aware of some common mistakes means you’re halfway there in avoiding to make them. Here are 5 common interview mistakes to avoid.
1. Arriving Late
Preparation, preparation, preparation! Look up the route before you head there, do a practice drive, leave additional time for traffic etc. You could do all the right things but still turn up late because of unexpected delays. Arriving late creates a notable first impression, but not for a ‘good’ reason. It puts you a step behind, before you have even stepped into the interview and means you will spend the whole interview trying to make up for lost time.
Recommended by Hays Recruitment, aim to arrive 45 minutes before your interview, and give yourself time to calm your nerves and go over your notes so you go into your interview feeling confident and calm!
2. Ignoring everyone besides the interviewer
It’s very likely that the only person you will come across when attending your interview is not just your interviewer. You will most likely come across many potential colleagues, greeting you at reception, walking up the stairs, walking to your interview room and many more examples! Be polite, give a smile, make some small talk if you can!
The interviewer will most likely ask their colleagues their first impression you. Make every interaction count!
3. Rambling on
Rambling is a natural reflex when you are nervous. Try devising a structure when answering questions.
Hays Recruitment have a strategy called STAR.
S is for Set the Situation
T is to describe your task & involvement
A is to tell of your action
R is to show off the result
But any structure can work! Develop one you are comfortable with and stick with it!
4. Speaking negatively
Interviewers can poke and prod at questions which could incline you to respond negatively. For example; Tell me about a time you failed, tell me a weakness of yours, why are you looking to leave your current employer. These are all valid questions for an employer to ask and your answer is extremely important. It’s recommended to research tricky questions you could be asked and how you can possibly answer them.
For example, ‘Tell me a Weakness of Yours’ requires you to say something about yourself, that you know is not your best asset. A structure/way to answer is to say, ‘A weakness of mine is my public speaking as I can get quiet nervous and flustered, however I am working on this by putting myself in situations which require me to public speak, as I understand the only way I can improve is to practice and do it as much as possible.’ So in this instance, state the weakness and then how you aim to solve it!
5. Not having a question at the end
This is a big one! Ensure you prepare a number of questions, but also try to develop questions when you are in the interview based on information provided by the employer. This demonstrates to the employer that you have been listening to them and processing what they have said to you!
Good Luck with your next interview especially if it’s with Gallant Plumbing!
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