10 Pet Peeves to Avoid During Job Interviews

Here are some of the most common job interview pet peeves and probable suggestions on how to avert them.

1. Being Late for the Interview: Since, first impression is said to be the last impression, being late for an interview can eliminate the chances of getting selected, although he or she may be highly qualified. Therefore, it is always better to reach half an hour early rather than even a minute late. And if the candidate is unaccustomed with the interview venue, he or she can even go and check the place in advance.

2. Wrong dressing: It is always advisable to appear in formals and be properly groomed for interviews. If the company has an informal set-up and if the candidate is not too certain about what to wear, it’s better to ask the company’s representative, who is communicating with the candidates on behalf of the hiring managers, about the attire preferences. Most of the employers like to have properly dressed and groomed employees for their companies.

3. Resume with More Than One Page: This is one of the most common pet peeve for any interviewer. Since they have to interview lots of applicants and have to go through a lot of resumes, thus, a resume with more than one page can cause much trouble for them. It is better to keep it short and concise in one page to gain positive attention from the hiring managers.

4. Excessive Fragrance Can Be Unpleasant: Getting drenched in too much of strong perfume and smelling too heady can be devastating for the interviewer. Not only good smells, candidates should refrain themselves from smoking and consuming alcohol, in order to avoid those strong smells too.

5. Not Researching About the Company Profile: It is essential that the candidates do a decent amount of research about the company in order to impress the interviewer as there are a lot of candidates looking to occupy the same position as you. The candidates should invest a little time prior to the interview and carefully go through the website of the organization to find out the organization’s history, vision and mission statement. This will absolutely impress the interviewers if they ask anything about company’s profile.

6. Lack of Concentration: Most times, nervousness leads to lack of concentration which results in giving incorrect answers or irrelevant responses to the interviewer’s queries. Many a time, this lack of concentration is perceived as lack of seriousness for the applied job which can make a candidate to be rejected. It is absolutely necessary for the candidate to pay attention to the interviewer and answer concisely to every question being asked.

7. Poor Communication and Use of Slangs: Poor communication can be a turn off for many interviewers. Specifically the language used to converse means a lot in interviews. Some candidates are so used to street slangs that they start speaking them in interviews too, which is not allowed in the professional world.

8. Dishonesty:  Many candidates consider lying as an easy technique to crack a job interview. They think small lies can be used to take shortcut to success. This comprises giving deceptive information, exaggerating achievements, even overstating prior job responsibilities and experiences. But the truth is, most of the recruiters can make these out with their experiences and background checks of applicants. So, it’s always better to be truthful in interviews.

9. Speaking Ill of One’s Former Boss/Organization: An applicant should never complain about their former supervisor or organization. Speaking negative about the previous job will definitely be a blunder as most of the recruiters hate this. Rather, a candidate should give some other cause as a reason of leaving earlier job.

10. Overconfidence: It’s always praiseworthy to reflect confidence in your attitude and be competent enough to sell your skills, expertise and talents to prospective recruiters. But the candidate has to be very careful about the margin in between confidence and overconfidence. So while recounting prior achievements, the candidate should preferably always mention that it was a team that achieved rather than focusing more on his or her individual performances.