Here’s the final 3 missteps to avoid making once you’ve made it to the job interview stage of your search.
1. Badmouthing former employers to potential future employers.
A big no-no in job interviews is this doozy. Talking smack about your old boss will not go down well with the prospective one. You risk blowing your chances completely as this sort of negative attitude points to an excuses-prone, blame-shifting personality; a person unwilling to take responsibility for their actions.
Avoid criticizing your old boss and instead discuss the challenges you faced in a positive light, identifying the good which came from the experiences – what did you learn? How did you develop and grow?
Pin-point the positives and communicate those.
2. Not bringing a copy of your CV, references and work samples.
Don’t just assume the interviewer/prospective employer has printed off your resume, or that because they haven’t asked to see your references and job samples when they called you to come in for an interview, they don’t want to.
Always come prepared with another copy of your CV, work samples and references. It shows professionalism and that you know how to organise yourself.
Hand over the documents at the start of the interview so the prospective employer can glance over them at their leisure as the interview progresses.
The documents may help re-route the flow of conversation, inspiring fresh questions from the interviewer/prospective employer, or they may help you segue the conversation in a direction you can take advantage of.
3. Not following-up after the job interview.
Even if you feel you breezed through the interview, you need to follow through with a follow-up to differentiate yourself from those who also believe they aced this stage.
While this follow-up can take the form of a ‘thank you for your time…’ email, it would be wise to consider another, less-uniform approach to really make a lasting impression and set yourself apart.