Things not to do in interviews

Seen some regular posts asking the same questions, is it worth building an FAQ?

1. Fail to wear a suit or be well groomed
2. Treat an informal interview as informal (hint, it's never informal)
3. Fail to ask decent questions
4. Fail to turn up on time, or 5 minutes early
5. Qualify your apology if you're late ("sorry I was a few minutes late" is a half-apology in my book)
6. Fail to have copies of your CV/resume, application and covering letter for the interviewers
7. Go in stinking of cigarette smoke, alcohol or drowned in aftershave/perfume
8. Fail to answer the question
9. Fail to ask if you've sufficiently answered the question if you're not sure
10. Say no to a walk-around
11. Answer anything but "yes, absolutely" if asked if you'd take the job if offered it (you can let them down later)
12. Shake the interviewers hands firmly but not death-grip whilst looking them in the eye (which I personally don't care about but some people do)
13. Be able to answer succinctly if required and elaborate if necessary.
14. Lie or try to exaggerate too much.
15. Start the 'tell me about yourself' with your favourite TV show as a 5 year old.

Anyone got any others?

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Comments

ratbuddy

dave330i wrote: »

Why is anyone asking about salary during an interview? Salary should be discussed with the recruiter before showing up at the interview.

Yup. If you are at an interview without knowing the salary range, you're doing it wrong.

seigex

bertieb wrote: »

Don't call the interviewer by the wrong name several times after the introduction and continue to do so after being corrected.

This has happened to me on two separate occasions whilst interviewing for junior level roles and even though I accept nerves happen in interviews, my name happens to be Mike, and definitely not Martin or Paul(!!).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tMe3WDmxBEI

GForce75

ratbuddy wrote: »

Yup. If you are at an interview without knowing the salary range, you're doing it wrong.

Good point. I had a buddy waste months on end because he would get accepted and find out the salary was garbage in the end.

NetworkingStudent

Here's my 2 cents:

Before the interview

1.Research the company
---What do they do?
---Why do they do what they do?
---What are their values?

2. Know the position

3. Be ready to ask questions.
Also, prepare to have questions asked of you.

4. Have portfoliio ready with 3 copies of each of the following:
certs, resume, references, and cover letter.

I say 3 copies ,becasue others in the company may want to look at these documents as well.

5. Drive to the company location a couple of days before the interview.
This way you can get a feel for the drive.

6. Leave 1 hour earlier from your house for the interview.

7. Arrive 10 minutes early to the company's office for the interview.

8. BE IN THE MINDSET THAT THE COMPANY WANTS TO HIRE YOU!! THEY WANT YOU TO BE THE CANDIDATE THAT THEY HIRE.

binarysoul

For most jobs I feel more comfortable and myself without a tie!

ThePrimetimer

Never respond with an answer of "the elderly" to the question of which type of people you have the hardest time working with.

I did this on my first IT interview. After I was hired, the team told me that they almost burst out laughing and my manager at the time said it was on of the reasons they hired me. This was being fresh out of working for a Grocery store for years, and I had to deal with them all the time.

One thing that I have learned is to be honest. I got jobs that required knowledge of software I never worked with, like Exchange, and told them up front that I'd never had exposure to them in previous jobs, BUT WAS WILLING TO LEARN THEM!

ChooseLife

The intervew should be about the knowledge, not the suit.

Snow.bros

kMastaFlash wrote: »

Never poop/use bathroom at the place you will be interviewing. You never know if the person who is interviewing you is in the bathroom with you. I'm interviewing today and took my own advice. It's just odd if you happen to have a bowl movement and it happens to be loud then go into the interview room knowing "Oh he heard me poop". This may be immature on my part but better safe then sorry.

I have never interviewed for a job in my life but if this is in fact true then I think it's utter nonsense (not you OP) in my own point of view, why is it becoming a secret that human beings poop come on people we are not robots or androids of some type, it wouldn't make any sense if I saw you coming out of the bathroom from pooping then I don't get the job because of that. Nature called you answered, it shouldn't be the deciding factor because sometimes we can't control our nature of being. Those interviewers are just plain insecure and not thinking about the future of the company they forget that it's not about them.

Are you guys trying to make us paranoid?

rsutton wrote: »

Some common issues I run in to when interviewing folks:
-They don't smile
-They don't maintain eye contact
-They don't know how to carry on a conversation (this is a life skill that every professional should try to get better at)

As an interviewer looking for a candidate to fill a job with fitting skills, how is the above relevant to the job/position you are interviewing for?

NetworkNewb

Snow.bros wrote: »

I have never interviewed for a job in my life but if this is in fact true then I think it's utter nonsense (not you OP) in my own point of view, why is it becoming a secret that human beings poop come on people we are not robots or androids of some type, it wouldn't make any sense if I saw you coming out of the bathroom from pooping then I don't get the job because of that. Nature called you answered, it shouldn't be the deciding factor because sometimes we can't control our nature of being. Those interviewers are just plain insecure and not thinking about the future of the company they forget that it's not about them.

Are you guys trying to make us paranoid?

You don't want them to have any correlation between you and a pile of $h1t do you?

Could leave a $h1tty first impression too...

Snow.bros

Excuse the pun lol...

I wouldn't give crap. I don't see any reason any why you have to be insecure and being too sensitive.

I am here to interview for the job why can't we just be professional and live out the irrelevant since we are both "professionals". don't you think?

regardless if I get hired or anyone else chances are we are going to meet in the bathroom any way won't that make it awkward. This does doesn't make sense to me.

dave330i

ChooseLife wrote: »

The intervew should be about the knowledge, not the suit.

Bad first impressions are hard to overcome.

NetworkNewb

Snow.bros wrote: »

As an interviewer looking for a candidate to fill a job with fitting skills, how is the above relevant to the job/position you are interviewing for?

Because no one wants to work with an awkward person. Whether a person is going to fit in with the people who work at the company matters just as much as the person's skills.

kurosaki00

Remember to pay attention to whoever is talking to you or you're talking to! Look at them!
Recently there was some kid my SV was touring/explaining stuff and I could see him checking his phone/texting. I wanted to slap the kid!

Also the suit thing is situational. I usually go with suit without tie. But if the meeting is in a more informal space, some khakis and button shirt are more than enough.

networker050184

ChooseLife wrote: »

The intervew should be about the knowledge, not the suit.

Knowledge of how to conduct yourself in business situations is pretty important knowledge. If someone doesn't know you should show up to an interview dressed sharp will they know to do that for clients? Will they know every day office etiquette? At that point I would seriously start questioning their common sense.

devils_haircut

The whole "suit or not" question seems to be very region-specific. I live in Indiana. I have never worn a suit to an interview, and I have only ever been passed over for a job once in my life. I generally wear a long-sleeve button-up shirt with a tie and dress slacks, but I generally don't wear a suit jacket with it. I've always been better dressed than my interviewers.

Now, I'm not interviewing at Fortune 100 companies or prestigious law firms, so take it with a grain of salt. But most people around here are rednecks (me included), so a suit just seems out of place.

Mishra

It's hard to agree on these kinds of lists because there are few rules that are mostly constant. So rule #1 to me is:

Know Thy Interviewer

You have to measure the situation and understand what you are getting into. If you don't know what kind of guy you are interviewing with, then ask the recruiter. "So does he/she like a talkative person or is he a straight to the point kind of girl/guy?"

You need to deliver what that person is looking for which ranges some person to person. Maybe they require a suit, or maybe they just want answers. Whatever it takes, you need to feel your way around the situation and hit key points. Unfortunately for some, the interview is a sales process so you cater to their needs. Sometimes this means you need to be the 'yes' guy.

E Double U

Never tell the interviewers "wait, they didn't say that you were going to ask that".

At my former employer, our support desk was being offshored so we were all applying for a new NOC they were setting up. They had staff to prep us for the lengthy interview process so of course we all took notes. Well, one guy prepared a script for the interview. Legend has it that they started off with a question that was out of the order of what he had written. So instead of just answering that question, he responded by saying that he was told he would be asked a different question first. He then pulled out the script and told them the question that he had written down first then proceeded to answer it. They stressed to him that they were conducting the interview and that he had to answer whatever questions they asked. His response was he's been with the company for x amount of years and that he would tell them how the interview would go. As you can imagine, it went downhill.

"Boy, that escalated quickly... I mean, that really got out of hand fast." - Ron Burgundy

kurosaki00

I think discussing Salary should be a first in any interaction for a new job. Even before the official interview the person should know at least a ball park.

Hey... so yeah this system admin role with Project management duties....
Yeah the salary is 35k...err
I think it's a waste of time for both parties if they are not on the same page.

yeah yeah

the_Grinch wrote: »

Typically, if you wear a watch you are going to look down at it. You may not be bored, but out of habit you'll look at it. Now if you're giving an interview and you see someone checking out their watch what does that say to you? Oh he/she must have a better place to be right now. If you're early leave it in the car you won't need to know what time it is anyway.

If you're constantly looking at your watch, either you're bored, preoccupied, or just fascinated that you have a watch on. Having a watch never bothered me. And plus, it's not rude to look down at your watch during an interview. You need to give yourself a time check. If they scheduled you for a 2 hour interview, and 90 mins have gone by, and they're still telling you about the company...you need to think of ways to speed the interview up. May need to shorten some of the unimportant responses and elaborate on other areas.

The whole "wearing a suit thing". I like to dress nice. I like to put myself out there and look good. With me, it's not forced, so it doesn't translate out that way either. Researching the company is important. What does the company do? Specialize in? If they offer consulting services in non-technical areas, and you're interviewing for a technical position....possibly if your position is axed, there may not be anything else that they can offer you. Short answers are good. Elaborate where you need to. I hate when a yes/no answer would have been fine, but the candidate rambles for minutes on something that you could care less about. If they offer you the job, but you have 2nd thoughts about it, don't say yes. Why? I've been to interviews where the experience and people were horrible, and I couldn't wait to bail. Not going to say yes if they were going to write an empty check out to me.

knownhero

I don't see what the big problem is with suit to an interview.

ChooseLife

networker050184 wrote: »

ChooseLife wrote:

The intervew should be about the knowledge, not the suit.

Knowledge of how to conduct yourself in business situations is pretty important knowledge. If someone doesn't know you should show up to an interview dressed sharp...

I'd challenge the "you should show up to an interview dressed sharp" notion, it's not universal.

devils_haircut wrote: »

The whole "suit or not" question seems to be very region-specific.

Yeah, that may be it. Region + industry + company culture. I am a west-coaster, a Unix engineer, and prefer non-corporate cultures. So a t-shirt with a nerdy quote may well be the expected dress code in this case.

And I would definitely not want to work for a company that deems what a person is wearing more important than what they have to say.