Episode 107: Nine job interview mistakes to avoid

October 9, 2020 Podcast

A big hello to episode 107 of the UK’s number 1 career podcast. And today we explore the topic of interviews, and specifically the small mistakes that people make in a job interview that can have big and bad consequences, as I chat with author Anne Baum. We delve into Anne’s new book and explore how you can make a great impression in a face to face interview. We explore 9 different key mistakes that candidates tend to make, so you can ensure that you aren’t making them. The face-to-face interview stage is the crucial part of the process, slip up here and you won’t be getting the graduate job, so this is an episode that you won’t want to miss! As always, you can find a full transcript and all the links from today in the show notes at www.graduatejobpodcast.com/mistake.

MORE SPECIFICALLY IN THIS EPISODE YOU’LL LEARN ABOUT:

  • Why it is so important to perform well in an interview
  • 9 key mistakes to avoid to ensure that you aren’t rejected
  • Why being overconfident about your achievements is not the recipe for success
  • How it is still crucial to dress smartly for an interview, even in a dress down culture
  • The importance of body language, and what it says about you in an interview
  • Why acting as if you only care about what’s in it for you is not a good look in an interview

SELECTED LINKS INCLUDE:

Transcript- Episode 107: Transcript Nine job interview mistakes to avoid

Announcer: Welcome to the Graduate Job Podcast, your home for weekly information and inspiration to help you get the graduate job of your dreams.

James Curran: Hello and welcome to the Graduate Job Podcast, with your host James Curran. The Graduate Job Podcast is your home for all things related to helping you on your journey to finding that amazing job. Each episode I bring together the best minds in the industry, speaking to leading authors, graduate recruiters and career coaches who bring decades of experience into a byte size show. Put simply, this is the show I wish I had when I graduated.

And a big hello to episode 107 of the UK’s number 1 career podcast. And today I’m joined by author Anne Baum as we explore the topic of interviews, and specifically the small mistakes that people make in a job interview that can have big and bad consequences. We delve into Anne’s new book and explore how you can make a great impression in a face to face interview. We explore 9 different key mistakes that candidates tend to make, so you can ensure that you aren’t making them. The face-to-face interview stage is the crucial part of the process, slip up here and you won’t be getting the graduate job, so this is an episode that you won’t want to miss! As always, you can find a full transcript and all the links from today in the show notes at www.graduatejobpodcast.com/mistake

Before we start today let me tell you about my brilliant new step-by-step online course ‘How to Get a Graduate Job’ which is LIVE!!!!! The first cohort of members are in, we’ve had our first private members webinar, and I have to say, the feedback is they are loving the 8 modules, 23 video tutorials, 14 hours of content, and 20+ handouts. As one of the members said, ‘I just love having all of the information I need to get a graduate job in 1 place’. If you are serious about getting a graduate job, if you want to turbo-charge your job search, if you want to know all the pitfalls and mistakes so that you don’t make them yourself, and if you want to know exactly what you need to do at each stage of the process to get on a graduate scheme, then head to howtogetagraduatejob.com and sign up. It is an investment in yourself which will pay itself back many thousand times over when you get that graduate job of your dreams. So, go to www.howtogetagraduatejob.com and sign up now! Right, on with the show.

James Curran: I’m very pleased to welcome to this show today, all the way from the U.S.A., Anne Corley Baum, author of the new book, Small Mistakes, Big Consequences, for Interviews. Anne, welcome to the Graduate Job Podcast.

Anne Corley Baum: Thank you for having me.

James: Anne, I’ve given you a tiny little brief introduction there, but would you like to introduce yourself properly and tell the listeners a bit more about what it is that you do?

Anne: Sure. My name is Anne Baum, and what I do for my professional work is I work in the health insurance business, and I’ve been really intrigued by leadership and behaviour throughout my career. A few years ago, I decided to share my experience and knowledge through the Small Mistakes, Big Consequences book series so that I could help people learn not only from my mistakes, but also other mistakes I’ve seen get in the way of other people, and do so in an easy-to-understand, easy-to-read format so that everybody can present their best self when they’re interviewing and working.

James: Excellent, and I really enjoyed the book. It’s packed full of great advice just to make sure that you are making your best impression when you do get to the interview stage. Today, what we’re going to do is we’re going to talk through some of the mistakes that are mentioned in the book. All links today, including the link to the book and a full transcript, you’ll be able to find over at the show notes at graduatejobpodcast.com/mistake. Anne, let’s jump straight into it, and let’s maybe cover off mistake number 1 that I’ve seen people make, and it certainly gets them off on a bad foot is the late arriver. Can you take us through why this is such a cardinal sin to make at the beginning of an interview?

Anne: Yes, so the late arriver who’s rushing in either right at the start time of the interview or even past the start time. Unfortunately, the message that that sends to the interviewer is that this is not important to you, that their time is not important, this job interview is not important, and it also shows that you’re not well-prepared for the interview. If you start off on that negative foot, not only are you, as the interviewee, flustered, and uncomfortable, and dishevelled in some sense. But, you’re also starting with a negative first impression, and it’s always best to start with a positive first impression. Being early, practice getting to the site, or if you’re doing an interview now through some sort of video software or video conference, test it beforehand. Make sure you’re prepared so that when you’re showing up, you’re early, you’re organized, and you’re the best version of you.

James: Completely agree, and there’s two sides to it. One, as you mentioned, it just makes a terrible first impression, but also just putting yourself under so much pressure, you’re going to have been stressed on the way there knowing that you’re going to be late, you’re not going to be in the good frame of mind to be having an interview if you’re running in sweating after having parked the car on some double yellow lines, and then running into the building. You’re not going to be able to put your best foot forward for the interview itself.

I’ve been in situations where, for assessment centres, people have turned up late for the start of the assessment centres, and they’ve got excuses, and this was wrong, and that was wrong, but we don’t really care. Your job is to get there on time, and it doesn’t really matter if the tubes aren’t running, and the trains are running late. It’s your responsibility to be there. Excuses don’t really count at that stage. You just have to whether it’s get there the night before, stay over in a hotel just to make sure you’re not leaving anything to chance because it’s your problem. It’s not the interviewer’s problem that you’re running late.

Anne: You’re exactly right, and the other thing I would add is things do happen, so an accident, a storm. If you are on your way and you know that you’re going to be late, call and let them know. It does happen. Don’t assume that they know that where you’re coming from, there’s a problem with traffic, or a problem with the rail lines, or a storm going on. Call them, make sure they still will have time when you arrive, give them a reasonable estimate of your arrival, and just give them the head’s up that something came up. That’s the responsible thing to do when trouble does present itself.

James: Completely, that’s excellent. Listeners, make sure that you are on time, set your alarms, get where you need to be beforehand, and make sure that you aren’t leaving things to the last minute. Let’s move on then to mistake number 2, which you term the overconfident overachiever. Can you take us through what this mistake is and why it’s so important?

Anne: The overconfident overachiever, from my perspective, is the person that shows up as they know everything. It’s important to be confident in yourself when you’re presenting yourself for an interview, but not in an arrogant way. The overconfident overachiever is somebody who is all about them and what they can bring to the company and not really about matching their skill set to what the company is looking for. If I’m the interviewer and I have a position open, I am looking for somebody who can give my company and my area the skill set and the attitude that we need to accomplish our results. If somebody’s coming in and telling me how great they are and how we’re not so great, that’s not going to resonate well and that’s not a team player.

James: Completely. I’ve also seen in interviews where there’s a couple of sides to this. One is people come in and they’ll tell you things about the business that are wrong, and then you’ll maybe correct them that, “Actually, the business doesn’t work like that,” but then they’ll try and they’ll think that they’re right, and it’s like, “No, I work here. I’ve got a better idea about how things work than you do.” Another side is that people come in and also almost demand about where they want to work. They want to work in a particular part of the business, “I’m really interested in this strategy work that you do,” and it’s great to show a preference for what you’re interested in, but you need to just have the recognition that business needs are going to trump your specific desire to work in a particular part of the business, and you need to show that you’re flexible. Otherwise, as you’ve mentioned, you can come across just as very arrogant.

Anne: Exactly, and when you’re interviewing for a role, that’s because you have projects or services that need to be provided to your customers, and when I’m saying you in that regard, I’m speaking as the interviewer, and yes you develop your people, and yes you work to help them achieve, but the main reason I’m looking to fill a role is not for somebody’s career success. It’s because our business needs a skill set and a person who can best deliver that skill set, and career planning and, as an interviewee, your rise to the top would be great, but that’s not why we have the position open.

James: Completely. You do see that a lot in CVs and cover letters. People just tend to talk a lot about what they want from the position. “I’m really excited about this, I’m really excited about this particular aspect,” but as you mentioned, recruiters, they’re not charities. They’re not here to help you fulfil your career aspirations. It’s about what you can do for the business as opposed to what you can get out of the business. Some really, really good points there. Let’s move onto mistake number 3 that people make, and I like this. You term it the “clueless airhead”. What mistakes does a clueless airhead make in interviews?

Anne: This is somebody who is not prepared for the interview. They’ll often ask questions, “What is this job for anyway? What does this company do?” They haven’t done their research, they haven’t looked into the role, and unfortunately, it does not showcase them as an intelligent, valuable, potential asset to the company. The solution, of course, is to be prepared, and this is probably one of the most important themes for any interview, whether it’s being prepared so that you don’t arrive late or being prepared that you’ve done your research on the position, on the company, and come prepared to not only answer questions that are offered to you, but come prepared with good questions to ask back of the interviewers because you will always have that time to do so. This is all about making sure you’re serious about the role and doing your homework.

James: It’s such an important aspect, as you mentioned, that research part about knowing about the company because you’re going to be asked in the interview, “Why do you want to work for us, what interests you about working for us, who are our competitors, how do we operate as a business?” They’re going to ask lots of why questions about the company, so you really do need to have done your research and know about them, because otherwise it just instantly shows that you’re not really motivated to work for them, and that’s not going to stand you in good stead against the other applicants who are going to be motivated. It’s going to immediately just put you at a major disadvantage.

Anne: Absolutely.

James: You talk about mistake number 4, and I’ve seen this across the interview table is the messy dresser, someone who doesn’t really look at their appearance. Talk us through why this is such a no-no in the interview stage.

Anne: The thing about appearance is how it impacts somebody’s perception, and whether we like it or not, perception is reality to the person who is seeing us. This is whether they’re seeing us via video conference or seeing us in person. People are making assumptions instantaneously based on your body language, your appearance, your facial expressions. And only after they have made many assumptions about who you are and how well-qualified you are, do they actually listen to what you’re saying. It’s very important to dress for the part and the image that you want others to see.

Taking that time to make sure that you’ve combed your hair, that your clothing is neat, that it’s well-put-together, that you can move in your clothing if this is an in-person meeting. Practice sitting down in it, standing in it. You don’t want your clothing, any of your accessories to be a distraction. You want them to give that awesome first impression where somebody says, “Wow,” and then they can get through that wow to hear why you have the best brain and talent for the role. You don’t want it to get in the way of your talent and skill set.

James: I like that, and for me, this also goes back to the previous point we made about knowing about the company, because this is going to be different depending on the role you’re going for and the company you’re going for. I’ve been at assessment centres for a management consulting firm where someone turned up in jeans, and if he was applying to an advertising firm or a marketing firm, you could probably get away with that. Everybody might be in jeans. It could be a really sort of dressed down type of firm, but that’s fine. But, it wasn’t like that where I was working. Especially for an interview situation, it was a suit-and-tie sort of place. That just highlighted either that he didn’t understand the business or he didn’t care that that wasn’t the dress code. Either way, it didn’t look good to be eight people there, seven of them looking very smart in business suits, and one person’s wearing jeans. They stood out probably for the wrong reasons there.

Anne: Right, and I think you make a really great point about it didn’t look like they cared, and I think that’s a very important piece of the preparation. Better to be over-dressed in an under-dressed environment than under-dressed in an over-dressed environment. Any time you take the time, as the interviewee, to look your best and show that you took the time to look your best, that means something to the people with whom you’re interviewing. It shows that this matters to you and you’re willing to put in that extra effort to be polished, and prepared, and well-dressed for the interview, and this goes for video or in-person. If you’re at home on a video interview, don’t show up in a t-shirt. Take the time. Put the suit on, put the dress on, look the part you want them to see you playing for them.

James: That’s a brilliant point, and as you mentioned, it’s better to be over-dressed. You can always take off your jacket, you can always undo the tie and put it in your pocket, but you can’t just nip out halfway through the interview and go and buy a jacket or go and get a tie if you haven’t got one. It’s easier to dress down once you’ve dressed up. Let’s move on to mistake number 6 in the book, and you talk about this one as the text talker, verbose verbalizer, or casual conversationist. I have to put my teeth in to say those. Could you talk us through this one, Anne?

Anne: This is all about the words that you are using when you’re in the interview, and it’s really important to be able to clearly communicate with the interviewers, and I’ve seen some interesting methods of communication depending on the person that’s in the room. Some people think that they have to use really big words because that will make them sound smart, and often, if the word is so big, or they haven’t pronounced it correctly, or they use it in the wrong context, what that does is take away from their intelligence. Speaking clearly, concisely, using normal language is really important.

I’ve also seen people go the opposite way, and that’s what I call the text talker, and this is somebody who’s, in their actual words, is saying, “OMG, LOL, TTYL.” It just doesn’t make the person sound smart at all. It’s way too casual, and depending on the age of the person with whom you may be interviewing, they may not even know what you’re talking about if you’re using text abbreviations. It’s really important to focus on speaking clearly, concisely in a way that others can understand: not going too far trying to sound really smart using big words, but also not going too casual and using terminology that just doesn’t make you sound intelligent.

James: Yeah, that’s very true, and if you can get it right though, say if you speak to people that work in the firm and they tell you, when they describe the firm, think about the words and phrases that they use to talk about the firm, it’s a really good way to — if you can replay that language back during the interview situation, then it makes it seem as if you’re already part of the furniture already. You understand that they talk about — do they talk about it being teamwork or do they talk about collaboration? If it’s collaboration, if you can talk about collaboration examples and things like that, they’ll look at you as if you already fit in. When you do speak to people at the firms you want to apply to, then yeah, just a take a real careful note of the language that they used to describe their jobs and the things that they do. It will stand you in good stead.

Anne: That is great advice.

James: Moving on then, and I’ve certainly come across this type of person in interviews, you term him the down-looker. Can you take us through what the down-looker might look like in an interview situation?

Anne: We talked earlier about body language and how that really impacts the way somebody perceives you. If you’re constantly looking down and not making eye contact with the interviewer, it does two things that can really work against you. One, it doesn’t show that you’re confident in yourself and comfortable engaging with another person. The other thing it can do is cause somebody not to feel trust with you. An eye contact is a critical component of building trust and building the perception of confidence from the other person. Looking somebody directly in the eye when you’re speaking to them is the best way to show sincerity. You do have to be careful to not overdo it and look so intently at someone that you have what I call the psycho stare. You have to be careful not to just stare at somebody and not blink. It’s okay to blink, it’s okay to look away, but make that eye contact because that’s a way that you can really engage with somebody.

James: That’s a really good point. Everybody’s nervous, and interviewers expect people to be nervous, so don’t worry about coming across as nervous, but you do have to — even if it’s really difficult, you do have to just push yourself out of that comfort zone so that you can and are making eye contact with people and just showing them that you have that confidence that you’re able to do it, otherwise you are putting yourself at a really big disadvantage. Let’s move on, then, to the next mistake that people make, which is, again, I’ve seen this one in interviewers is the interrupter. What do they do that really puts themselves at a disadvantage?

Anne: It’s pretty easy, based on the name of it, to figure it out. It’s the person who doesn’t even sometimes wait for you to finish the question before they’re jumping in and answering that question. The risk with being an interrupter is two-fold. One, it can be perceived as rude, and it puts the interviewer in an awkward position. The other risk is if you start answering the question before they’ve even finished asking you the question, you can answer the wrong question, and that just shows that you aren’t willing to listen, that you are rude, and also that you’re not trying to engage in what they are trying to say to you. It shows you as somebody who is overly-aggressive or potentially overly-excitable.

James: Completely, and neither of those characteristics are ones that will be listed on the job spec as desirable attributes. Ones definitely to minimize there. Let’s go through a couple more, and there’s one that I’ve seen, and it’s interesting because people do get carried away and maybe err into this one, which is the gushing complimenter. Take us through this one and why this might be seen as a negative in an interview.

Anne: Compliments are a wonderful thing and people really enjoy being complimented, but you must be very careful with how you go about doing so. I’ve had experience with interviewees that all they’re saying is, “Oh, I just love this. It’s great. I can’t wait to work here. It’s an amazing company, you’re an amazing woman, your office is amazing, the shoes you’re wearing are amazing,” and it really doesn’t have any substance. If you’re going to compliment, make the compliment part of an intelligent answer to a question. Build in sincerity to your compliments, and don’t have that be the main purpose of your conversation. Make your answers substantive and have the compliments be few and far between, but sincere when you make them, otherwise they really lose not only their impact, if you’re complimenting everything, but they also take away from what you have to deliver as a candidate for the position. Focus on your skill sets and how you’re a great match for the role, not just gushy compliments during the interview.

James: Yeah, the word that hit the nail in the head for me there was “sincerity”, part of it. They need to be sincere. If you really do love the office, then definitely say it, but don’t be — you don’t have to go overboard and over the top and love every single thing, because when you get to the firm, you’ll find that people maybe aren’t as positive and are more honest about different aspects and you can be too.

Anne: Right.

James: Time is running away with us, Anne, so maybe one final mistake that people make before we move onto the weekly quick-fire questions. Could you take us through the personal shopper? What is a personal shopper and why do people need to watch out to make sure that they aren’t becoming a personal shopper when they get to the interview stage?

Anne: When we began the conversation, we were talking about why a job is posted and what the interviewer is looking for. What we, the interviewers, are looking for, is somebody to do the job that we’re filling in, and we also pay them a salary for that, we have benefits, we have various pieces that come along with the job, but that is secondary to finding the person with the right skill set. When somebody shows up in the very first interview and starts asking about vacation time, and what the benefit structure is, and really is shopping for the benefits, not the right match for the job, that is very much of a turnoff to an interviewer.

When I am looking for somebody for the job, I want somebody who cares about the job, doing it well, and how they will do it well. We’ll give them great benefits, but if that’s what they’re starting with, then I don’t think they’re serious about the role.

James: That’s very true, and yeah, the interview stage, especially with senior people, isn’t the time to be talking about asking the questions of, “How much am I going to get paid, what are the holidays like?” You need to do that research offline and find out before you get to the interview stage. As you said, it doesn’t cast yourself in a good light. We talked earlier about it’s what you can do for the company as opposed what are the things I can get out of the company and how it’s going to benefit me. A really, really good point there for us to finish the main part of the interview on lots of excellent mistakes that hopefully listeners will make sure that they don’t make in the interview stage. Let’s move on to our weekly staple questions. I’m interested in your responses here. Question number 1, what is one book that you would recommend that listeners need to read?

Anne: I have to say they need to read Small Mistakes, Big Consequences, for Interviews. I think it’ll be very helpful to them.

James: Definitely, and that will be linked to in the show notes over at graduatejobpodcast.com/mistake. The next question is what one website or internet resource would you point listeners towards?

Anne: I really like the articles on the ladders.com. They have a lot of great advice about interviewing, especially during virtual times, and I think it’s a very helpful website.

James: I’ve not come across that one, so I will check it out, and link to that in the show notes, so thank you for that one. Finally, what one tip can listeners implement today to help them on their job search?

Anne: The biggest tip I would provide to the listeners is to be prepared. Do your research, and whether it’s from being prepared from your personal appearance to being prepared from understanding the company and the job, that will make a tremendous difference in your success.

James: Excellent. Preparation will, as they say, “Perfect planning prevent poor performance,” so make sure that you are planning properly and preparing properly. Thank you so much for appearing on the Graduate Job Podcast today. What is the best way that listeners can find out about you and the work that you do?

Anne: They can find information about me at vision-accomplished, A-C-C-O-M-P-L-I-S-H-E-D, dot com, and they can email me at abaum@vision-accomplished.com. Thank you so much for having me.

James: Thank you so much appearing on the Graduate Job Podcast.

James: So there you go today, episode 107 in the bag. Many thanks again to Anne for her time and insights. Check out her book Small Mistakes, Big Consequences, for Interviews which you can find in the show notes at www.graduatejobpodcast.com/mistakes. So we’re just over the half-hour mark today with our talk on interviews, and lots today to take in… but… if you want to really get to grips with interviews, if you really want to take your interview game to the next level, if you really want to impress at the interview stage when you apply for a graduate scheme, then you need my course, How to Get a Graduate Job, we have 6 video modules on interviews, we have a module on Interview fundamentals, one on how to answer Why questions, one on answering competency questions, and one on strength-based questions, one on video interviews, and one on telephone interviews. 6 modules, coming in at nearly 4 hours of length, so we go deeeeep into interviews. If you are serious about getting a graduate job, if you know getting on a graduate scheme is what you want, you know it’s going to be tricky, but you want to invest in yourself, and get the best help you can, then this is the course for you. Check it out at https://howtogetagraduatejob.com/ you will be glad that you did.

So, I hope you enjoyed the show today, drop me a note and say hello or book yourself a completely free 30-minute coaching session go to the show notes where you can find the details. Join me next week where I have author Lauren Herring on the show discussing how to take control of your job search. I hope you enjoyed the episode today, but more importantly; I hope you use it and apply it. See you next week.