Bring
Zen to the interview, dress formal and give clear and meaningful answers!
Here’s a list of some key things to avoid when heading off to your next
interview!
This is a big put off
throughout the entire job application process. Regardless of whether your
last boss was a slave driver or you’re feeling something akin to
post-traumatic stress disorder after years of study, you should never bring
negativity to your meeting with a potential employer. You should always
practice being able to spin a potentially negative situation or experience
into something positive, perhaps a learning curve. In the same breath it is
worth mentioning you should maintain your integrity and not lie about your
experience, or past employment. Trust is intrinsic to any relationship, so
corrupting this straight off the bat is never a good idea.
2. Dress Appropriately
Of course what you wear to an interview is entirely dictated by the industry you are prospecting in. However the general rule of thumb and safe bet is formal clothing. You want to make a good impression and be someone who is clearly looking after yourself. Take a serious approach and appear well groomed and polished. Especially if you are a graduate, you may need to forsake what you believe is trendy fashion for something that will make you fit in.
3. Not Researching the Company
This is a crucial mistake. If you have failed to
do research the one thing that can potentially make it worse is pretending
that you have.
Remember you are
interviewing with their company. It
is incredibly easy to catch out someone who doesn’t know anything about the
business.
If you aren’t sure what to research; start with the team, what they do, the products, who their competitors are, and AT THE VERY LEAST, who you are meeting and where they are located.
Remember; you don’t want
to come across like a know-it-all, do your basic research as listed above,
but reading their website or the external resources available won’t mean you
actually know everything about the organisations, so it’s not a good idea to
act like you do.
4. Forgoing Personal Hygiene
Our recruitment experts
have had some horror stories of people turning up to interviews, reeking of
cigarette smoke or horrendous body odour. Head of Division Stephanie Richardson
recalls on bad interview where the person she was interview had an
overwhelming smell that ruined the interview. She says ‘I understand that
people might be nervous before an interview and feel compelled to have a
quick cigarette, but it isn’t hard to at the very least chew a piece of gum
or spray something on you, so your interviewer is not immediately put off.’
Leave yourself plenty of time to prepare, be mindful of what impression you will give the interviewer and make sure you are ready for an emergency last minute dash if your bus is late or you get stuck in traffic.
Preparing for your next job interview? Need help with
you CV, Cover Letter or need general job seeking advice?
Head to Talent Propeller Jobs!
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