Job Interview: Comprehensive List of Do’s and Don’ts

Writing a great resume and cover letter is just the first step to impress your potential employer. According to Business to Community, the average time spent by recruiters looking at a resume is 5 to 7 seconds. The real show is where you have to convince the judging panel about all the positive things you mentioned in your resume as well as your great personality in person – That is the job interview!

The job interview is a discussion when your potential employer assesses your compatibility to the job and the company, and it plays a fundamental role in deciding whether you will get your dream job. You always want the best job that you can get, the job that you can enjoy, that challenges you and that plays your strengths to the maximum. Why don’t you follow us on this list of Do’s and Don’ts in a job interview to create the best impression possible?

 

Job interview Do’s

We would like to categorize things you should do for a job interview into two categories: The preparation Do’s and The During-the-interview Do’s.

The preparation Do’s

The preparation Do’s are things that you should prepare/ do before going to a job interview, they are:

• Research information about the position, the company and the industry that you are applying for: Doing this extensive research not only prepares you very well for the job interview but also gives you a chance to self-assess if the job is a good personal fit for you.
• Work on your self-confidence if you are often nervous during important events. You never want to show up on a job interview with a terrified look and answer questions that pour at you in a frightened mumble, your chance of getting the job is close to zero. You can change that by simply using your mental monologue to tell yourself something positive, some simple affirmations like “ I can do it” or “I will remember to look at the interviewers and keep breathing” might work like a charm.
• Prepare all the required papers for the interview and keep them neatly in a clear folder. That could include your resume, identification, an application, letter(s) of reference and a copy of your portfolio (if any).
• Prepare suitable outfit for a job interview. The best thing you can do to make sure that you will wear the right clothes to the interview is to ask round, look up information about office dressing style of the company that you expect to work for and dress accordingly.  The undercover recruiter website has listed an interesting stats from  Come Recommended and Classes & Careers  that when meeting new people, the way that person dresses and acts makes up to 55% of the impact. It is also important that you maintain good personal hygiene: clean hair, nails trimmed and clean and unwrinkled clothes.

The during-the-interview Do’s

This section is dedicated for things that you should do during the interview to impress the panel and get the job of your dream.

• Take your time when answering a question, make sure that you understand the question correctly, take time to think if you need. When answering any question, you should try to give a detailed answer with 3 to 4 different points backed by examples.
• Sell your strength but not overly do it. Be positive about yourself and your experience. It is better if you show to be objective about both your strengths and your weaknesses. Talk about your weaknesses but it should be about what have you done or are doing to address them. This will show your employers that you are a confident, mature and down-to-earth person. Being humble and understand what you are talking about is a much better marketing strategy than overly boasting about oneself.
• Focus on the values that you can bring to the company: Explain how you can do the job better, one good tip for the answer is that you have the fresh look of an outsider and you can see possible missing details that people who are in it for a very long time cannot. The other idea can be is to align the role that you are interviewing for with your skill set to emphasize how suitable you are for the position.

Job interview Don’ts

Here are some of the things that you should strictly avoid doing in a job interview.

• Arrive at the interview late. Arriving late in any kinds of events, especially a job interview shows that you do not have enough respect for the person/ people that you intent to meet. It shows that you are not well-prepared and creates a very bad first impression toward your employers.
• Criticize former employers and colleagues. No matter how bad your former employers or colleagues did to you, it is a taboo to say negative things about them. Trust me, it can only mark you down as a complainer and indiscreet in your new potential employer. These are not desired qualities in any company’s hiring list.
• Focus only on your salary and your benefits. The details on your salary, benefits, vacation times and bonuses should only be discussed after you receive the offer. If they are the only things that you focus on in the first job interview, The interviewer will be left with an impression that you want this job is just for the paycheck and nothing else.. Who wants to hire somebody who only cares about his/her own benefits? It is a very undesirable characteristic of an employee.
• Let your nerve get to you too much. It is normal that you can be nervous during a job interview, but do not let it show too much. It can affect your performance as well as make you perceived as insufficient. You can use some breath techniques, practise in front of a mirror and remember it is not a life-threatening situation.

These are our most highlighted do’s and don’ts regarding job interviews. The most important thing to have a successful job interview is how you demonstrate your past skills and successes to convince an employer to hire you. To do that, good preparation is the key. Do you have any interesting experience regarding job interviews? Do you have any further question about job interview? Please do not hesitate to share with us.