My experience has been that the best and most qualified candidates can innocently fall into a trap with the bloopers below. These are all real life stories and the interviewer can start rejecting you mentally.
1] Asking at the beginning of the Interview, whether the company has a Saturday off and about leave policies/ late working hours.
Interviewer assumes: This candidate’s commitment levels to go the extra mile seems doubtful.
2] Making a general comment like ‘Men are more capable than women’.
Interviewer thinks: Judgmental?
3] Wearing a strong perfume.
Some interviewers can get a headache 🙂
4] Making a comment like ‘Performance linked incentives are not attractive because the targets are high’.
Interviewer thinks: This guy is not confident of delivering results.
5] Coming across as too desperate by body language and tone of voice.
Interviewer thinks: There must be something wrong; has he/she been kicked out of his job?
6] Asking the interviewer “What is the job profile?”.
Interviewer thinks: You seem to have come for a walk in the garden. What about the BASIC homework?
7] Receiving a phone call while in an interview.
Interviewer thinks: Lack of focus, seriousness and courtesy. Irritating.
Please avoid these at any cost!!
Any thoughts?
Best of luck!
Sarabjeet Sachar
Seasoned Career Coach, Founder & CEO, Aspiration (Interview coaching)