Job interviews can be intimidating, no matter what level you are in your field. There’s a lot of pressure involved, as you’re faced with yet another situation where you have to make a positive impression on a prospective employer—with the added complication of having to speak practically on the fly. Unfortunately, it’s very easy to mess up under this situation. We’re here to inform you of some of the most common interview mistakes that could be damaging your job interview success and how you can avoid them.
1. Revealing Too Much About Your Location
Remote work has yet to really catch on in today’s business climate. As such, the majority of employers are looking for someone who lives close enough to the company to commute on a regular basis. Needless to say, someone who lives too far away from headquarters to commute a reasonable distance or needs time to move across the country may not get chosen over the other candidates.
It’s never worth it to lie on your resume about where you live just so you can land a certain position, nor is it worth it to try to haggle your way into a job by admitting you live too far away but your skills are so valuable they should tweak the position’s requirements just for you. Employers can see your location on your executive LinkedIn profile, anyway.
2. Lack of Post-Interview Communication
Your correspondence with the interviewer never ends once the interview is over, even if you don’t get the job. It’s important to consider the time the company has already invested in you, and respond accordingly. Be sure to send along a formal word of thanks to your prospective employer for the time they’ve spent on the hiring process, if only for the sake of maintaining a good impression. We know you’re probably extremely busy, but you’ll want to take the time to sit down and follow up with the company after you interview.
Failing to give your thanks may leave a bad taste in an employer’s mouth, giving them pause as to whether to keep in further touch with you. As you may know, people in your industry talk, and that bad taste may spread to other executives and companies in your field. You can always turn to a cover letter writing service for help with your thank you letter, if you aren’t sure what to say. Your efforts will be appreciated, even if you don’t land the job! The company may keep you in mind when it comes to other openings, or pass your information along to another company who could use someone with your credentials.
3. Excessive Jargon
It’s a well-known fact if you’re going to be involved within a specific industry you have to know what you’re talking about. Some jargon is just going to be part of daily business conversation. However, you shouldn’t use so much industry speak that those around you will need a dictionary to figure out what you’re talking about! There’s such a thing as too much specialized language, even among people in your industry. While your coworkers may be able to understand what you’re saying, it’s possible that your interviewer works in another area in the company (like human resources) and isn’t as fluent. You can rely on the best resume writing services to help you tweak your resume and cover letter so that anyone in the company can understand what skills you can add to their executive team.
There are many other ways you can help you land and succeed during your first interview. You can always turn to us for help with this or any other step of your job hunting process. And as always, reach out to us any time for job hunting assistance, executive LinkedIn profile assistance or answers to your questions!
By Erin Kennedy, MCD, CMRW, CPRW, BS/HR, a Certified Professional & Executive Resume Writer/Career Consultant, and the President of Professional Resume Services, Inc. She has achieved international recognition following nominations and wins of the prestigious T.O.R.I. (Toast of the Resume Industry) Award. Find Erin at http://exclusive-executive-resumes.com.