15 Common Mistakes Most People Make on Their First Interview

15 Common Mistakes Most People Make on Their First Interview There can be various reasons by which you can be rejected in interviews. It may be the incompetency or lack of appropriate qualifications for the job. But if you possess all the knowledge and the skills required for the particular designation, you may be lacking somewhere else. You may be unwillingly committing some etiquette mistakes during the interview which should be avoided. Now, let us discuss few of the mistakes: 1. Lack of Preparation and Practice: If you have not done your homework properly, it is more likely that you will fail to impress the interviewers. You should be aware of your strengths and the reasons of matching them with the requirements of the employers. In the modern age of information, you should not fail to learn and update yourself about the company with which you are willing to work. A minimum research about the company and its activities are required to recognize your skills that match those activities. You can also practice your interviews well before the final day. Role play can be done with your friends, neighbors, mentors and anyone who can provide you with constructive criticism. 2. Too Much Talking: You should focus on dialogues with the interviewer and not the monologues. If you keep on talking about yourself, a certain time will come when the other side will not feel any interest. If you want to fill the silence or want to convert your answers to questions, it may create negative impact on the interviewers. Besides, irrelevant points may pop up if you talk much during the interview. So, it is always advisable to limit your conversation to one or two minutes at a time. 3. Downplay Accomplishments: When the employers are calling you for the interview, they are already impressed with your resume. The interview is the platform to prove that they were not wrong. If you are too modest or self deprecating in nature, you should work on that. 4. Make Up Answers: If you are not aware of a particular answer, just be up front that you do not know. Making up answers in the interview will not serve your purpose. Sometimes the interviewers may provide particular information and provide opportunity to learn them. This process can easily demonstrate that how easily and quickly you can grasp new concepts. 5. Bad Handshake: Yes, a bad handshake can fail to impress the interviewers. It proves that you dont know how you should present yourself. Therefore, your hand movement should be bold and confident so that it can reveal your personality properly. 6. Nervous Habits: All your nervous habits are to be avoided during the interview. Some candidates may twirl their hair, tap their foot, or pick their cuticles when they feel nervous. All these activities should not appear in front of the interviewers. For controlling these habits, mock interviews can be very helpful. 7. Avoid Eye Contact: Eye contact should never be avoided as body language can be considered as one of the very important factors during an interview. Your eye contact and posture should appear as if you are interested and confident about the job. Looking down at the floor and not maintaining the eye contact will create a negative effect. 8. Run Out of Questions: You should have questions about the company where you are applying. It will prove that you are interested in joining the particular company. It is very normal to have curiosity about the overall work culture, the specific team for which you are being interviewed. So, you should come up with various questions regarding them. You can prepare some questions well beforehand or can ask some spontaneous questions. 9. Zero Failure: A person can’t be successful without failures in his life. Therefore, you should not say that you never had failures. When it is time that you reveal your weaknesses, you should reveal them strategically. Show that you have learnt from your past mistakes and have enhanced yourself. 10. Relaxed Approach: You should never be too relaxed in your approach. Until you have landed your job, it will not be wise to be too relaxed with the recruiters. Make yourself comfortable but never be too relaxed to reach at the hangout mode with your recruiters. You should always remember that you are being judged from when you have entered the room till you leave the interview room. 11. Distraction by Phones or Tablets: You should not get distracted by your tablets or phones. You should turn off all your electronic gadgets for focusing entirely on your interview. The recruiter should feel that he/she is the only important person for you during the interview. 12. Unnecessary Apologize: If you apologize for anything like your appearance or your answers, it may provide you with a weak appearance. You should definitely apologize in situations where you have accidentally elbowed someone, but there is no need to apologize if you do not know a particular answer or you do not agree with some particular points with the recruiters. 13. Inappropriate Dress: You should remember that you are dressing up for your interview and not for your friend’s birthday party. Your dress should be professional and appropriate according to the interview. You can well imagine the feelings of the recruiters if you come up with shaggy beard, uncombed hair and dirty t-shirt. 14. Highly Rehearsed Answers: It should not appear to the hiring managers that you have rehearsed your answers. Sometimes the answers may appear to be direct from the guide books or the manuals for the interviews. If the recruiters ask about your weaknesses, your answers should not be ‘perfectionism’ or ‘working too hard’. These answers can never be successful in impressing the interviewers. 15. Never Ask about Salary: Yes, this is also a very common mistake during your first interview. We are all interested to get paid but bringing up that topic during the interview will not be wise on your part. It shows that you are interested about the specific figure of the salary and not about the job. The proper etiquette, confident behavior, proper eye contact and posture with good preparation can help you to crack the interview with ease. About the Author: George Taylor is a well known debt specialist who provides the debt settlement reviews for the newbie in this industry. In this article, he warns about some common mistakes during the first interview.