Over the years we have entertained many questions from candidates about how to improve their chances in a job interview. The funny thing is that when competing at a high level against other well-qualified candidates, sometimes it’s the little things that keep candidates from coming out on top. It’s almost like competing in gymnastics at the Olympics. Even a super performance by a world-class athlete won’t win against a near-perfect performance. The difference between gold and silver can boil down to a small glitch.
Fortunately, in interviewing, the bar isn’t quite as high as when competing in the Olympics. Yet the outcome can be just as significant. We’ve written extensively about some of these issues in other posts but realized it would be a good idea to provide a list of easily avoidable issues that require very little explanation. In no particular order:
- Sloppy personal appearance
- Inappropriate clothing choices for the interview
- Immature language such as “dude,” “bro,” and “sexy.”
- Poor eye contact
- Inappropriate content shared on Social Media
- Not sending a thank you note
- Sending a thank you note that reads like a form letter
- Mistakes in your thank you note
- Having no voicemail set up on your phone
- Having a voicemail that won’t accept messages
A small mistake like one of these here or there won’t likely kill your chances (especially during an initial interview). But an accumulation of these things, particularly during a follow-up interview where the stakes are higher, can be quite damaging.