Have you ever hired someone? Sometimes the fictional stories don’t even come close to what happens in the “real world” of hiring. In 20+ years as a career adviser many stories stand out. In an effort to capture some of those ideas we recently filmed Rick, our fictional and very troublesome candidate. Stay tuned for the humorous analogy in this video. You won’t want to miss Rick’s interview mistakes.
For now let’s go over some of the most complete if not common interview mistakes made by candidates both in person and over the phone:
1. Tell the Right Stories – so many people are simply over-counseled and over-coached on interview stories. But what happens is that however well-meaning they are they tell stories that take to long or do not apply to the interview. Instead, know your audience and only tell stories that fit that situation.
2. Data Doesn’t Equal Readiness – well-meaning and well-intending type people burn off articles on the web, gather financial and industry data and bring it to an interview. But they don’t often use the material or even read what they are supposed to have researched. Remember preparing for an interview gathers data from multiple sources: People, Online Data, Financial Data, Ad Hoc Data and more.
3. Preparation Means Rehearsing – how you will handle objections to your candidacy or even rejection means you must rehearse on video, by phone or in person. This is a lot of extra effort but in almost every case it has been worth it for our clients. Preparation also means you need to develop questions and interact with the data you have accumulated to form opinions and ideas.
4. They Don’t Over Prepare – some interviews require you to have written 30-60-90 plans for your potential employment. Recently, a client was asked hours before their interview to bring in a PowerPoint and give an hour lecture. She did it too and ultimately won the job! Preparing for an interview is hard and you may do more work than you would ever believe but not use all that you have done. Yes, overdo it even if you do not use all your “good stuff” and it will be worth it.
Look out for our how not to star – “Rick” and please, don’t be “Rick” in an interview!
Image Credit: instantshift.com