There are a number of mistakes that inexperienced (and
experienced, for that matter) interviewees make. Listed below in no
particular order are the top five that I have encountered while
conducting first-round, on-campus recruiting. They have risen to the top
because of their impact on my decision to place someone into the "no"
pile and their frequency of occurrence.
1. Poorly Organized Resume
The
first thing to keep in mind is that I am a busy person and that when I
am entering the interviewing room, your information will probably not be
fresh in my mind. Don't make it hard for me to find the relevant
information by having a poorly organized resume. Most resumes are full
of useless words and irrelevant facts which hide the data you want me to
see: your strengths, your character, and your intellectual capacity.
2. Bad Breath Effect
First
impressions are key. If you are not well-dressed, have a weak
handshake, don't wear socks, show up late, are too casual, are rude or
impolite, or, yes, have bad breath, you will make a bad first
impression. I simply do not know you well enough to know whether this is
a rarity or your normal character. I may very well assume it is the
latter.
3. Not Answering the Question
If I
am hiring you for an entry-level role in my firm, I need to know that
you can follow instructions and do what you are told. Leadership skills
and creative thought are important, but before you will ever get a
chance to show me these traits, you will have to prove that you can do
the little things well. How do I judge whether you can do this? The best
way is to ask you a specific question, then see if you answer only what
I ask. Beware: if I ask you what your greatest strength and greatest
weakness are, I only want one of each. If you think you are impressing
me by giving me three or four strengths, you have just shot yourself in
the foot.
4. Rambling
You should practice
answering short, fact-based responses to questions. A lot of times when
people get nervous, they tend to drone on and on. Blabbers are poor team
players and high maintenance employees. I will rarely ask a question
that needs more than a one minute response. A question such as, "Tell me
about your summer internship," is not an opportunity to go into
excruciating detail. It is a general question and should be met with a
general response. I will ask a follow-up question if I want to drill
down in a particular area.
5. Not Knowing Yourself Cold
You
must be able to defend every word on your resume and every statement
you say in your interview. Little loses my interest in a candidate
faster than when she is not able to back up what she wrote on her
resume. If you say you are fluent in Spanish, you better be prepared to
conduct your interview in that language. If you mention a research
project that you did during college, you better be able to articulate
what you did and what your conclusions were. If you include a computer
skill on your resume, you better be able to demonstrate some level of
proficiency in it.
Bonus: The #1 Must Have
Here
is the number one "must" that I look for in first-time job seekers when
determining if I am willing to take a chance on them. This might seem
obvious, but if you dismiss it as such, you will miss the point. Your
resume, cover letter and responses during your interview should
reinforce the following point:
I AM INTERESTED IN WORKING IN YOUR PARTICULAR INDUSTRY!
How
do you do this? It is quite simple: give me multiple examples of things
you have done that show me that you are interested in the type of work
that I do. Direct work experience is great, but related research or
academic experience can be equally as good.
Happy job hunting! It is never too early to start adding a little shine to your interviewing skills.
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