50 Worst of the Worst (and Most Common) Job Interview Mistakes

U.S. News and World Report
Karen Burns, Wednesday March 10, 2010

You may have heard the horror stories--job hunters who take phone calls or text during an interview, or bring out a sandwich and start chomping, or brush their hair, or worse. You wouldn't do any of those things, would you? Of course not.

But there are tons of other job interview no-no's you may not have thought of. Or that you've forgotten. The job hunting trail is long and arduous, and a little refresher course can't hurt. So for your edification and enjoyment, here are 50 (yes, 50!) of the worst and most common job interview mistakes:

1. Arriving late.
2. Arriving too early.
3. Lighting up a cigarette, or smelling like a cigarette.
4. Bad-mouthing your last boss.
5. Lying about your skills/experience/knowledge.
6. Wearing the wrong (for this workplace!) clothes.
7. Forgetting the name of the person you're interviewing with.
8. Wearing a ton of perfume or aftershave.
9. Wearing sunglasses.
10. Wearing a Bluetooth earpiece.
11. Failing to research the employer in advance.
12. Failing to demonstrate enthusiasm.
13. Inquiring about benefits too soon.
14. Talking about salary requirements too soon.
15. Being unable to explain how your strengths and abilities apply to the job in question.
16. Failing to make a strong case for why you are the best person for this job.
17. Forgetting to bring a copy of your resume and/or portfolio.
18. Failing to remember what you wrote on your own resume.
19. Asking too many questions.
20. Asking no questions at all.
21. Being unprepared to answer the standard questions.
22. Failing to listen carefully to what the interviewer is saying.
23. Talking more than half the time.
24. Interrupting your interviewer.
25. Neglecting to match the communication style of your interviewer.
26. Yawning.
27. Slouching.
28. Bringing along a friend, or your mother.
29. Chewing gum, tobacco, your pen, your hair.
30. Laughing, giggling, whistling, humming, lip-smacking.
31. Saying "you know," "like," "I guess," and "um."
32. Name-dropping or bragging or sounding like a know-it-all.
33. Asking to use the bathroom.
34. Being falsely or exaggeratedly modest.
35. Shaking hands too weakly, or too firmly.
36. Failing to make eye contact (or making continuous eye contact).
37. Taking a seat before your interviewer does.
38. Becoming angry or defensive.
39. Complaining that you were kept waiting.
40. Complaining about anything!
41. Speaking rudely to the receptionist.
42. Letting your nervousness show.
43. Overexplaining why you lost your last job.
44. Being too familiar and jokey.
45. Sounding desperate.
46. Checking the time.
47. Oversharing.
48. Sounding rehearsed.
49. Leaving your cell phone on.
50. Failing to ask for the job.

10 Ways to Be Liked in Your Job Interview

by Jonathan Littman and Marc Hershon

No matter your resume and talents, if you mess up a job interview you won't get that position. In today's tough economy you need every possible edge. As authors of the new book, "I Hate People! Kick Loose from the Overbearing and Underhanded Jerks at Work and Get What you Want Out of Your Job," we see it as a simple equation: You want to be liked -- not hated.

Here are 10 simple things to do that will dramatically increase your chances: from wearing the right expression, to knowing what not to say, to never ever breaking a sweat.

1. Don't be a "smiley face."
Excessive smiling in a job interview is seen for what it is -- nervousness and a lack of confidence. A smiley-face person exudes phoniness, which will quickly be picked up by the interviewer. Instead be thoughtful and pleasant. Smile when there's something to smile about. Do a practice run in front of a mirror or friend.

2. Don't be a small-talker.
Your job is to be knowledgeable about the company for which you're interviewing. Random facts about last night's episode of "Dancing with the Stars" or your favorite blog will not get you the job. Never feel you have to fill an interview with small talk. Find ways to talk about serious subjects related to the industry or company. Pockets of silence are better than padding an interview with random babble.

3. Don't sweat.
You can lose a job by wearing an undershirt or simply a little too much clothing. Sweaty palms or beads on your forehead will not impress. You are not applying to be a personal trainer. Sweat will be seen as a sign of weakness and nervousness. Do a practice run with your job interview outfit in front of friends. The job interview is one place you definitely don't want to be hot.

4. Don't be a road block.
Interviewers are seeking candidates eager to take on challenging projects and jobs. Hesitance and a nay-saying mentality will be as visible as a red tie -- and seen as a negative. Practice saying "yes" to questions about your interest in tasks and work that might normally give you pause.

5. Don't be petty.
Asking the location of the lunchroom or meeting room will clue the interviewer into your lack of preparation and initiative. Prepare. Don't ask questions about routine elements or functions of a company: where stuff is, the size of your cube, and company policy on coffee breaks.

6. Don't be a liar.
Studies show that employees lie frequently in the workplace. Lying won't get you a job. In a job interview even a slight exaggeration is lying. Don't. Never stretch your resume or embellish accomplishments. There's a difference between speaking with a measured confidence and engaging in BS. One lie can ruin your entire interview, and the skilled interviewer will spot the lie and show you the door.

7. Don't be a bad comedian.
Humor tends to be very subjective, and while it may be tempting to lead your interview with a joke you've got to be careful about your material. You probably will know nothing about the sensibilities of your interviewer, let alone what makes them laugh. On the other hand, nothing disarms the tension of a job interview like a little laughter, so you can probably score at least a courtesy chuckle mentioning that it's "perfect weather for a job interview"!

8. Don't be high-maintenance.
If you start talking about the ideal office temperature, the perfect chair for your tricky back, and how the water cooler needs to be filled with imported mineral water, chances are you'll be shown a polite smile and the door, regardless of your qualifications. Nobody hiring today is going to be looking for someone who's going to be finicky about their workspace.

9. Don't be a time-waster.
At every job interview, the prospective hire is given the chance to ask questions. Make yours intelligent, to the point, and watch the person across the desk for visual cues whether you've asked enough. Ask too many questions about off-target matters and you'll be thought of as someone destined to waste the company's resources with insignificant and time-wasting matters.

10. Don't be a switchblade.
Normally the switchblade is thought of a backstabber, often taking credit for someone else's work. In an interview setting, the switchblade can't help but "trash talk" his former employer. If you make it seem like your former workplace was hell on Earth, the person interviewing you might be tempted to call them to find out who was the real devil.

Copyright 2009 Jonathan Littman and Marc Hershon, authors of "I Hate People!: Kick Loose from the Overbearing and Underhanded Jerks at Work and Get What You Want Out of Your Job"

Jonathan Littman is the author of "I Hate People!" and numerous works of nonfiction, including "The Fugitive Game," "The Watchman," and "The Beautiful Game." He is a columnist for Yahoo! Sports.

Marc Hershon is the coauthor of "I Hate People!" and a branding expert who helped to create the names for the BlackBerry, Swiffer, and many other influential products.

5 common interview questions and how to answer them

by Marci Alboher, Working the New Economy, on Fri Jun 12, 2009

Several people wrote to me saying that whether an interview is on the phone or in person, there were several questions that they anticipate with dread. I’ve been collecting those questions and talking to some pros about how best to answer them. Here are the top five, with suggested answers. Of course, there are no right or wrong answers, only ways of thinking about answers that will get you to the next stage of the process:

What’s your greatest weakness?

It’s an interview cliche, but it still gets asked. The key is to come up with something that is truthful, yet doesn’t impact your ability to do the job, according to career coach and blogger, Miriam Salpeter. More important than what you identify as a weakness is the part about how you’ve overcome it. Salpeter offers this example: A computer programmer might say, “Speaking in front of very large crowds really scares me, but I’ve been working on becoming a better public speaker. I’ve joined Toastmasters, and I stand up in front of my mirrror, pretending there is a crowd.” It's a good one because public speaking is something most people are afraid of, and it is also not likely to be essential to a job as a programmer. One thing you should never say, says Salpeter, is that you are a perfectionist because no one wants to work with a perfectionist. If you want to know why, read this spot-on post by Penelope Trunk.

So tell me about yourself? (Also posed as “Why do you think you’re the person for this job?” “Why should we hire you?” “What distinguishes you from other candidates?”)

This is not an invitation to recite your biography. It is an opportunity to draw out the parts of your story that best sell you for the position. So if you were born and raised in Boston and are passionate about the city, that might a good topic for conversation in an interview for a marketing position with the Boston Red Sox. But it wouldn’t necessarily be worth mentioning if you were talking about a job in international banking. If you’re fluent in three languages, have worked overseas, and have parents who hail from outside the U.S., then those facts would be good ones to highlight in the interview for the international banking job.

Talk about a time you failed and how you recovered.

Since we all mess up from time to time, the important thing is that you choose something where you can demonstrate what you’ve learned from the experience. A classic example here would be a time that you took on too much responsibility or agreed to do something on an unreasonable timetable, according to career coach and resume writer, Chandlee Bryan. Your recovery could be as simple as the fact that you now feel comfortable raising concerns about what you can deliver on a given schedule.

What changes would you make to our company if you came on board?

This one can set you up to stumble in a variety of ways, according to Ford R. Myers, author of the new book, “Get the Job You Want Even When No One is Hiring.” "No matter how comfortable you feel in this situation, you are still an outsider, and don't know the inside story,” warns Myers. “Even if your suggestions are good, you might make them look like idiots, if they don’t see things your way. And if you say something that doesn’t align with the company’s culture, then you look like an idiot.” Myers recommends saying something like this: “I wouldn’t be a very good doctor if I gave my diagnosis before examining the patient. If I were hired, I’d take a very good look at what’s going on, speak to a lot of people. And after examining the entire situation, I would come to you with a proposal for your input, and collaboratively we would come up with a solution.”

Why are you returning to a field or a company you left?

The key with this one is to present your time away as a learning experience and focus on what you know now that you didn't understand before, says Chandlee Bryan. Say you were in banking, helping to evaluate companies for mergers and acquisitions and went for a stint to a startup. You’ll now be able to say that you understand the start-up mentality from more than just a balance street perspective. You might want to add that the time away helped you understand why you are more suited to working in a large organization than in a small one, or some other observation about the difference in cultures and why the one you left is a better fit for you.

For examples of more challenging interview questions along with sample answers, spend some time on Glassdoor.com’s interview section where people post real questions -- as well as other details about interview formats -- from real interviews. To gain full access to the interview section, you need to post information about an interview you went on. The site offers a range of questions -- from basic ones like the ones above, to some that will appeal to anyone who enjoyed studying for the SATs. This was apparently a question in an interview for an account manager Microsoft interview: “One train leaves Los Angeles at 15mph heading for New York. Another train leaves from New York at 20mph heading for Los Angeles on the same track. If a bird, flying at 25mph, leaves from Los Angeles at the same time as the train and flies back and forth between the two trains until they collide, how far will the bird have traveled?”

Passive Job Seeker Recruitment

Guess what? All the good candidates are working. Luckily though, you’re not limited to just the 4-5 percent of Americans who are currently unemployed. Which is good, since only 20 percent of the unemployed are actively seeking jobs. The rest of the unemployed are truly unemployable. So where do you turn? Passive candidates.

Passive candidates are those individuals gainfully employed by your competitors. They are likely loyal, happy experienced employees that are not necessarily looking to change companies and would need a solid reason to leave. And if you get their attention, you’ll have to work fast. They’re not willing to spend much time in the interview and hiring process (though they may take their sweet time making a decision).

Why specifically target passive candidates in the first place? Why not keep with your traditional recruiting through mediums such as classified listings and job postings, and assume it will reach the best candidates? First of all, 80 percent of any company’s recruiting budget is spent on traditional activities – meaning there are a lot of companies reaching out to candidates in the same fashion. Each minute of every day there are about 294,000 recruiters logged into online job boards grabbing active candidates and battling for the ever shrinking labor pool. Those who are in the market for a job may or may not notice those ads and apply with your company.

Those who aren’t in the market – passive candidates – aren’t looking and are thus completely unaware of your presence in these traditional outlets. It’s similar to being in the market for a new car. All of a sudden you start looking and noticing cars on the road. If you are not in the market for a new car, you’re not “aware” of advertising. The same goes with job hunting. If you’re in the market for a new job – you’re aware. Reaching passive candidates takes a different approach.

The first step is having a quality recruiter who will be able to make a positive and lasting impression. You need someone who not only understands your industry and what competitors are offering, but also has a keen understanding of what the passive candidate wants. A good recruiter for passive candidates needs to have the ability to sell the position, and outsell their current employer. Part of this is the ability to build strong relationships so the candidate not only remembers you and your company, but also trusts you and will refer others to you in the future.

Speaking of referrals, this is one of the best sources for passive candidates. Who do your internal associates know? What about your vendors and customers? Chances are someone you know has a business or personal relationship with the ideal candidate for your company. Establish an incentive program for referrals and see your candidate pool expand.

Another great recruiting method is encouraging your employees to attend networking events and association meetings. While picking up sales leads, have them keep their eyes open for potential associates for your open roles. This builds direct contacts in your industry or one very closely related, and breaks the ice of unfamiliarity. Remember that even event speakers and experts are not off limits for recruitment. While you’re at it, don’t be afraid to go after the employees of your competitors. Fact is, they’re doing the very same thing. Finally, utilize online networking sources such as LinkedIn or Pulse.

You know who to target and where to find them, but how do you reach them? Approach it with the knowledge that they’re not looking to move. Be sure to avoid asking why they’re interested in working for your company – they’re not. Do discovery first. What would potentially motivate them to move? What professional needs do they have that are not being met? What are their future goals? Then sell the opportunity based on how your position and the company culture fulfill those initiatives.

Next, be flexible. You want this person but he or she does not have to give you the time of day. Lose the tailored process, avoid assessments and applications, and bend over backwards to schedule convenient interview times. Now is not the time for reference checks either. Confidentiality is of utmost importance if you want a chance at securing this candidate.

Once you decide you want them, make an offer quickly. Encourage their potential manager and peers to make follow-up calls. The decision to change jobs when they’re not unhappy is a difficult one. Help make their decision to leave easier. Follow these practices, and the quality of your new hires will improve.

The source of this article is Pro Staff - Special Advertising Supplement to Workƒorce MANAGEMENT

Managers’ Survey: Interviewees Flunking Etiquette 101

The Find: 59 percent of hiring managers say that job candidates’ manners have deteriorated in recent years.

The Source: A recent survey from Vault.

The Takeaway: With a plethora of sources of advice for interviewees, it seems like, by now, every job seeker should know the interview etiquette basics. But when Vault surveyed over 150 hiring managers, they uncovered a multitude of interview sins. Even that most covered principle of job hunting–dress the part– is often overlooked (or misinterpreted). A full 87 percent of hiring managers have had candidates show up dressed inappropriately. But hiring managers encounter more extreme behavior problems as well:

26 percent have had interviewees answer their cell phones during the interview
43 percent have had candidates use profanity
19 percent have had job seekers show up with a child in tow

It may seem sort of depressing that these etiquette basics need to be gone over again, but it is heartening for businesspeople who have their interview etiquette down cold to be reminded that all those carefully pressed cuffs and polite thank you emails may, in fact, make you stand out.

By Jessica Stillman

Want Your Boss to See Your MySpace Page?

by Melanie London, Vault.com

The era of the social networking website is clearly upon us. An entire generation of people doesn't seem to think twice about sharing personal information and photos with the plugged-in planet. When it comes to employment, though, your willingness to share may cost you.

According to Vault.com's Social Networking Websites Survey, 44% of employers use sites like MySpace and Facebook to check out job candidates, and 39% have looked up the profile of a current employee. Profiles that reveal questionable behavior or attitudes can be harmful to job seekers, as 82% of employers say that something they perceive as negative on a profile would affect their hiring decisions. Despite these revealing statistics, only 57% of people with profiles take security measures, such as using the website's privacy controls or editing their profiles while in the midst of a job search.

As long as it's more important to you to land that dream job than to provide the world with photographic evidence of your win in last year's beer pong championship, remember these words: "This profile is set to private." If you're actively searching for a job, or if your resume is posted on an employment web site, be sure to utilize the privacy controls of any social networking sites you use.

The First Impression
Do you really want your online profile to make an impression before you can? It's becoming more and more common for hiring managers to use social networking web sites as a tool to whittle down the resume pile. If an HR exec logs on only to find coarse language and salacious shots, well, there's a good bet your resume will end up in the reject pile. Yes, it's fun to share borderline-scandalous profile content with friends, but why a potential employer? If it's NSFW ("not safe for work"), then it's NSF your non-private profile.

Personal Preferences
Revealing your affiliations and likes/dislikes can leave you open to someone else's biases. From your political party to even seemingly harmless information like your favorite movies or the last book you've read, these stated preferences could mean the difference between you and someone else getting the job. Isn't it safer to just keep this information private? You may feel that you wouldn't want to work for a company where someone would judge you based on such things, but in a close race, it may be easier for a hiring manager to align with a fellow oboe enthusiast than a candidate with whom he or she has no common interests. Get the job first; then reveal your love of Celine Dion.

Postings from Friends
Social networking site profiles are all about "friends." How many do you have? Who knows who? And what is everyone doing at every possible moment? Ask yourself, "Is it safe to let potential employers see what my friends are posting to my profile?" In high school, people judged you by who you hung out with; sad as it is, the same goes for social networking web sites.

Picture and Screen Name
So you've taken this all to heart, and you're about to set your profile to private -- great job! But don't neglect your photo and screen name. Resist the urge to choose a too-cutesy name and/or an excessively silly or revealing picture to represent yourself to the world at large. No matter how tempting it may be to call yourself Divalicious08, it doesn't exactly give off an aura of professionalism.

Negotiating a Better Package When You Start Work

© A & C Black Publishers Ltd 2006

GETTING STARTED

When you start a new job, you have a unique opportunity to position yourself as a valuable asset in the organization and to set your level of compensation accordingly. To achieve this you need to establish an appropriate asking price. On one hand, you don’t want to oversell yourself and price yourself out of the market. On the other, you need to avoid selling yourself short, for it is likely that your compensation upon hiring won’t change significantly for a while, unless you are quite assertive and work your way upward with early promotions.

There are no hard and fast rules about how or when to conduct your negotiation. Every situation is different and each employer has a different set of thresholds. Understanding the context in which your negotiation is going to take place and being sensitive to the culture of the organization is therefore essential.

Having said that, there are some practical steps you can take to position yourself sensibly.

FAQS

I am in the process of applying for a new job. How should I prepare for the negotiation on the package?
You need to do your homework before entering the negotiation so you’re supported by accurate, current information. This means familiarizing yourself with the company itself, as well as the range of salary and benefit options that are being offered. You may be able to tinker with the combination of benefits, if not the salary itself. Don’t assume you’ll be offered more than your former salary, especially if you’re competing with someone who is equally qualified but willing to work for less. If the salary offered is less than you had hoped for, you can discuss the benefits package and request an early salary review.

I feel extremely uncomfortable talking about how much I’m worth. What can I do to make this easier?
Many people dislike the negotiation phase of finding a new job. Here are some simple steps to make this easier.
~Try and avoid discussing your package until you have been offered the position.
~Prepare in advance to advocate in a convincing way for the package you want; it’s important that you believe you are worth the price you’re asking and can demonstrate your assertions with facts.
~When you start negotiating, make sure you have in mind the minimum salary you are prepared to accept. (Don’t reveal this figure, though!)
~Try and elicit the salary information first. If you are offered a range, go high or even slightly above the top end. If you’re offered a specific figure, assume it falls in mid-range and try to push it up.
~If you are asked to name a figure, don’t lie, but offer a range within which you would be prepared to negotiate.
~If your negotiation is successful, ask for the agreed terms and conditions to be confirmed in writing—before you resign from your current position.

I’m applying for a job that is a dream come true, and I don’t want to put off my prospective employer by asking for too much. How can I safely position my worth?
You can put off a prospective employer by pitching too high or too low, so it’s important to get your level right. Study the want ads to get a feel for the market rate, and draw information from your professional network. Some listings on the Web will help you, too; some of these are indicated below.

MAKING IT HAPPEN

Position Yourself
In applying for a job, you’re effectively a salesperson promoting a product, and it’s up to you to demonstrate that the product is valuable, high-quality, and superior to anything a competitor can offer. Potential employers, or buyers, are looking for the best value for their money, so will be driving the deal in the opposite direction. If you’ve positioned yourself well, they won’t want to risk losing you, however, and might well be prepared to settle at the top of the market rather than the bottom.

Leave the Salary Discussions As Late As Possible
It is preferable to leave salary discussions until you are offered the job, but this is not always possible. Many recruiters ask for salary expectations and details of current salary early in the process. Some even screen people out on this basis. If this is the case, you may need to spend some time researching the question of salary at the application stage or before the first interview. Think carefully about your aspirations and be absolutely sure of the career step you envision for yourself, the experience you would like to gain, and the context in which you would like to work.

If you are forced to answer a question about your salary expectations at the beginning of your interaction, have a figure in mind at the higher end of the scale. You can always supplement this with a request for a particular package of benefits.

Consult the Right Sources
In deciding on an appropriate salary level here are a number of pointers that can help you settle on a figure.
~ Look at the range of packages offered for similar positions in ads.
~ Ask for advice from people in your professional and personal network.
~ Ask your mentor, if you have one, to advise you—or use his or her own network to access the information.
~ Professional and executive "headhunter" companies will have ideas and figures for you.
~ Go to some of the Web-based salary information services.

Consider the Package, Not Just the Salary
Some employers have fixed-scale salaries, in which case there is little room for negotiation. You may find, however, that the total package of pay and benefits raises the value of the salary to an acceptable level. For instance, you may be offered excellent medical coverage, an unusually good pension plan, a company car, and significant bonus potential. You may be able to negotiate a cash equivalent in place of a benefit, particularly in a smaller organization that has some flexibility. When bonuses are mentioned ask how the bonus is paid so you’re absolutely clear on the terms and conditions attached to it. Some companies spread the payments over several years as an incentive to stay with the business. Get the details of the way the company delivers on promised benefits, and decide on balance whether the package is attractive or not.

It is worth remembering that all benefits are subject to federal and, in some cases, state income tax, even a company car. See what the company may be able to offer as a way to reduce your exposure to taxation. For example, a company that has a "fleet" of cars may be able to offer you a car without it being considered a taxable benefit. Likewise, through careful planning, you can reduce your taxable income through bigger tax deferred contributions to your individual retirement plan (IRP) or through a "deferred compensation" plan. Doing so, however, means learning to live with less cash now in exchange for more being put into savings, where tax is deferred until you withdraw the money, presumably when you are in a much lower tax bracket.

Explore the Boundaries
Job ads commonly list salary ranges to give applicants an idea of the boundaries of the negotiation. You can be sure, however, that the negotiation will start at base level. If you find that the company isn’t responding to your sales pitch, consider negotiating an early pay review instead: for instance, if you meet or exceed certain performance, sales, or other criteria during your first six months of employment, you’ll get a specified raise. Make sure that the criteria are clearly established and are included in your contract of employment.

Some employers state that the salary is negotiable. The onus is then on you to move in with an offer. Again, try and defer discussion until the end of the recruitment process, and be sure that you’re up to date on the going rate for equivalent jobs in your industry.

Stay Calm
Project a calm and assertive demeanor during pay negotiations; your goal is to be professional and self-confident. You don’t want to appear to be arrogant, overeager, or, conversely, too timid. Giving any such impression can diminish your opportunities.

COMMON MISTAKES

Not Doing Your Research
Just asking for a lot of money will not be enough to convince your prospective employer of your premium value. You will have to supply the company with ample reasons to support your demands. If you don’t have a rational argument, you look ill-prepared and unprofessional. Time spent on research is always well spent. It allows you to argue your case logically and professionally.

Bluffing
Don’t bluff in your negotiation and try to play off fictitious job offers against the real one you’re hoping to get. Employers generally don’t respond to this kind of pressure, and instead of receiving a speedy offer you’re likely to be left with nothing.

Being Too Interested in the Package
Behaving as if you’re more interested in your package than in the job is a mistake. Every employer knows that you want a fair package, but you need to demonstrate that your financial concerns are balanced with a genuine desire for the job.

Top Ten Tips for Job Seekers to Ace Phone Interviews

Many job seekers have a misconception that phone interviews are easy. There
isn’t the added anxiety of choosing the right shoes or tie, getting stuck in traffic, or
having enough copies of your resume handy. But just because there aren’t these
worries to deal with, phone interviews shouldn’t be taken lightly—they are often
challenging in their own way. In fact, bombing on the phone often means there
will be no chance to stress about pinstripes. Job candidates won’t get to the next
step unless they effectively prepare for and conquer the phone interview.

Because there are more jobs available—and many qualified candidates hoping to
take the spot—HR professionals and hiring managers are still inundated with
resumes. Phone interviews are becoming more and more prevalent because they
give employers the opportunity to screen prospects to see if candidates sound as
good as they look on paper—before committing to a face-to-face meeting.

What can job seekers do to help ensure that they succeed in making a great first
impression over the phone? The following are ten tips to acing your next phone
interview:

1. Be old fashioned and find a land line.
Unless it is absolutely unavoidable, do not conduct phone interviews from a cell
phone. Wireless service is too unreliable and can result in dropped calls, echoing,
interference, and background noise. Regardless of your choice of phone, you
should make sure the interviewer can hear you clearly. You don’t want a good
interview spoiled by a bad connection.
2. Think “free.”
You want to take the call in an area where you can speak freely, away from
distractions. If you call from work, make sure you are able to speak without
restraint. You don’t want to give shortened or code answers because you’re afraid
your boss or coworkers might overhear. If you’re at home, be sure to avoid
disruptions. Turn off the TV, send the kids to the neighbors and deactivate the
call-waiting feature on your phone.
3. Be prepared.
Have your resume and the job description at the ready. It’s easier to recall and
access information when it is in front of you.
4. Do your homework.
Research the company the same as if you were preparing for a face-to-face
interview. Search the web for information about the organization, its founders,
products and services. Read what the industry press is saying. Find out what the
company does, what stage of growth it’s in, and what kind of buzz it’s getting.
5. Stand up and smile!
By standing, you are literally and figuratively “on your feet.” Standing and smiling
mentally prepare you for interview mode. You will speak more clearly and be more
attentive. It puts you in the right frame of mind and increases your energy level.
6. Let the interviewer lead.
While it is important to remain an active participant in the conversation, don’t
dominate the dialogue. The hiring manager most likely has only 20 or 30 minutes
set aside to assess your competencies and compare you to other candidates. Don’t
be passive, but let the interviewer guide you through the process.
7. Ask thoughtful questions.
It makes sense to prepare some targeted questions ahead of time to ask during
the interview. The questions should be about the position, your assignments or
about the company’s culture or structure—information that can’t be found via a
web search.
8. Demonstrate your passion.
How do you feel about your career, your industry or this job? If you love it, let
them know! Convey your energy and enthusiasm. Don’t get stuck in a monotone
diatribe.
9. Don’t bore the gatekeeper.
Most phone interviews are conducted by a member of HR who doesn’t want to hear
the technical intricacies of the software you developed or the minor details of the
M&A you helped push through. The phone interviewer wants to know if you
communicate well and if you’ll fit within the company culture. These initial
interviews provide a chance to let your interpersonal skills—not your technical
skills—shine.
10. Nix the tics.
Speech tics and stallers, such as “um,” “er,” “like” and “ya know” are even more
glaring during phone interviews when there isn’t anything else on which the
interviewer can concentrate. Remind yourself to speak slowly, concisely and
carefully to avoid these conversation faux pas.

During a phone interview, you have a chance to make an impact quickly. People
don’t often realize the power of their voice. But on a phone interview, that is all
the interviewer has to go by. If you are unprepared you won’t get your foot in the
door for that next interview. Following these ten tips will help you ace your next
phone interview and be well on your way to securing your next position.

Compliments of Winter, Wyman

Five Ways to Say "I'm Unprofessional"

When you're looking for a job or internship, particularly in a tough market like this one, there's nothing worse than leaving a prospective employer with some sort of bad impression. Unfortunately, though, there are many ways you can do just that, often without even knowing it.

In most job-filling situations, the employer has the luxury of choosing from several well-qualified applicants, all of whom could probably do the job. It is then that the little things, like the common but often unrecognized mistakes described here, almost always come into play. Make sure you avoid them, so they don't cost you a shot at the job.

1. Using a Cutesy Email Address for Correspondence

Example: cutiepie@domain.com, or -- far worse -- something like sexkitten@domain.com.

You Might Think: It's a clever, memorable email address everyone will get a kick out of.

The Employer Will Probably Think: I can't believe someone would actually list this email address on her resume, let alone use it to correspond with me. Will she do the same thing on the job if I hire her? Yikes!

2. Putting a Silly Message on Your Answering Machine

Example: A is for academics, B is for beer -- and one of those reasons is why we're not here. So leave a message, OK?

You Might Think: Mine is the funniest answering machine message this side of the Mississippi. My friends will love it.

The Employer Will Probably Think: Good lord, this person probably lives in Animal House. And I just can't risk interviewing, let alone hiring, someone like Bluto or Flounder. Sorry, Charlie. Click.

3. Sending Your Resume and Cover Letter Without Proofreading

You Might Think: Everybody makes mistakes, even employers. So if there's a mistake or two on my resume, no big deal. The employer probably won't even notice, much less care.

The Employer Will Probably Think: Everybody makes mistakes, even employers. But making more than one minor mistake on a resume or in a cover letter is unacceptable, and often, even one is too many. How do I know this person will proofread the letters he writes to shareholders? What if he someday leaves a zero or two off one of our financial statements? I better put this resume aside and look for someone who's more accurate and thorough.

4. Winging Your Interviews Instead of Preparing Thoroughly

You Might Think: I'm good at thinking on my feet, and if I get stuck, I'll just BS my way through, like I've done on many an essay exam. Besides, they can't expect me to know everything about the company.

The Employer Will Probably Think: This person clearly knows nothing about the company, nor has she made any effort to learn more about us and what we do. She must not really care whether or not she gets the job. I want someone who cares. Oh well, maybe the next person will be better.

5. Failing to Send Thank-You Notes After Interviews

You Might Think: A thank-you note? You're kidding, right? Do people even do that sort of thing anymore?

The Employer Will Probably Think: This person has no follow-up skills, not to mention common courtesy. He could have at least dropped me a quick email note, like this other person did. I think I'll invite this candidate for the second round of interviews instead. The other guy must not really want the position.

by Peter Vogt - MonsterTRAK Career Coach

Watch for Interview Warning Signs

Hindsight may be better than 20/20, but if you pay attention during an interview, you might be able to head off a bad fit.
By LIZ RYAN

I got a call from my friend Candace, and she was in low spirits. She had just returned to Wisconsin after moving to Florida to take a job. She took the job, she hated it, she lasted six months, she quit, and she moved back. "I should have known, " she said. "I should have picked up on the signs during the interview. There are always signs, aren't there?"

"I'm torn, " I told her. "If I tell you 'Yes, there are always signs' then you'll feel bad. If I say 'No, sometimes things just get weird after you're hired,' then you'll think the universe is capricious and you won't feel like you have any better odds of finding the right situation the next time around."

"Forget about my feelings!" she cried. "What do you really think?"

"I think you should tell me what you saw or heard in the interview process that you now feel you should have taken more seriously," I told her. "Then we can talk about what that sign might have meant, and what you could do differently in your upcoming job search."

The Red Flag

"O.K.," said Candace. "Well, there was only one sign, really. I was applying for a marketing communications job. I've always done a lot of writing and editing, and as you know, I have a Master's degree and I consider myself a really good writer. So there was one point in the last interview where my manager indicated that he was very interested in me and he was considering making me an offer. At that point he said: ‘You're an adequate writer, and I could make you better.'"

"GAAACK!" I said."

"That was a big sign I missed, wasn't it?" Candace asked.

"Well, " I told her, "the thing is that hindsight is 20/20. Hindsight is better than 20/20—it's LASIK. Through rear-facing glasses, it seems obvious that your ex-boss had issues."

"Right, well, he turned out to be a total control-freak and a guy who's impossible to please," she said. "That's why I left. Am I a complete idiot for missing that red flag?"

A Sick Ticket

"It's so easy to overlook those bizarre statements in the frenzy of the interview process," I reassured her. "Look, Candace, I've missed every sign in the book. I hired a guy in a human resources role who said in the interview that every 10 minutes, he asks himself: 'Am I having fun in my work?' I should have asked him a few questions about that. You mean literally, every 10 minutes? Who does that? It turned out that the guy was using his company cell phone to call some offshore gambling line every 10 minutes."

O.K., back to your ex-boss. I'm an HR person and not a psychologist, but I'd call this guy a Sick Ticket. What kind of boss tells the person he's about to hire: 'You are adequate, but I could make you better?' That's totally passive-aggressive. It means that he wants to test you before hiring you, to make sure you're O.K. with being insulted. He wouldn't want to hire a person who would say something in his own defense."

So I should have said something," Candace said.

"Hindsight is LASIK," I repeated. "Now listen. Let's say that you or any other candidate had said: 'Excuse me? You think I'm an adequate writer, but you want to hire me? I'm terribly sorry. I want to work for a company that I think is outstanding and that thinks I'm outstanding, too." Then your boss would have known that that person wasn't going to put up with his leadership style, if you want to call it that."

"And when he said he could make me a better writer that a signal that he didn't just want to be my boss, but he saw himself as superior to me, too. I mean, he's not even a writer,” Candace said.

The Little Weird Thing

"Well, it's just such a hostile thing to say," I added. "Certainly if you hire someone right out of school, it's fine to say: 'We hope that I, as your manager, and lots of other people here will give you all sorts of professional training and mentoring.' That's great. But when you say to a seasoned professional, 'You're adequate and I can make you better,' it's like you're telling her that only with your expert guidance can she rise above her current state of mediocrity. That says a lot. The guy wanted someone under him who didn't have a lot of confidence. Too bad he hired you."

"Yeah, too bad for both of us," said Candace. "Well, now I know for next time."

"But next time the little weird thing in the interview, if there is one, will be different," I told her. "You don't have to react to it in the moment, and you don't even have to dope it out by yourself. After every interview, call a friend—me or someone else. Walk through the whole interview. A second pair of ears, a few hours after the fact, will help you figure out what means what and how to process all the information you've taken in. It can be a lot to digest on your own."

Deconstructing the Interview

"Especially when you've already talked yourself into the job," Candace added. "I'm going to have my red-flag radar on full alert on my next job hunt."

"The good news is that you'll never be sucked into that particular vortex again," I said. "Now that you've worked in the snake pit and survived, you have more confidence. You wouldn't sit still for a prospective manager telling you you're adequate, not in this lifetime anyway."

And this is true for all of you out there. Deconstruct the interview with someone, because if you don't see the signs, your friend might.

BusinessWeek Online, September 2007

Six Must-Ask Interview Questions

Interviewing can be a gut-wrenching process. Most books on how to interview list hundreds of questions you need to be ready to answer, but few talk about the questions you need to ask.

Take more control at your next interview by asking some pointed questions of your own. Here are six must-ask questions and why you should know the answers.

1. What happened to the person who previously did this job? (If a new position: How has this job been performed in the past?)

Why You Need to Ask: You need to know any problems or past history associated with this position. For instance, was your predecessor fired, or was he promoted? Is this a temporary position or brand-new? The answer will tell you about management's expectations and how the company is gearing to grow.

2. Why did you choose to work here? What keeps you here?

Why You Need to Ask: Although you may like this company, you're an outsider. You need to find out what an insider has to say about working there. Who better to ask than your interviewer? This also forces the interviewer to step out of their official corporate role and answer personally as an employee and potential coworker.

3. What is the first problem the person you hire must attend to?

Why You Need to Ask: You need to be on the same page as your new manager, as well as be clear on what the initial expectations are and that you can deliver. What you don't want is to allow yourself to be misled about the job’s requirements and end up overwhelmed and over your head after the first week on the job.

4. What can you tell me about the individual to whom I would report?

Why You Need to Ask: It doesn't matter how wonderful the company might be; your time will be spent working for a specific manager. You need to find out who this person is and what kind of manager he is -- earlier rather than later, before personality clashes develop. If you're an independent type used to working through solutions on your own, for instance, you'll chafe when you find you're being supervised by a micromanager.

5. What are the company's five-year sales and profit projections?

Why You Need to Ask: You need to know about the future of the company you plan to spend several years of your life working for. It doesn't have to be this exact question. For example, you might want to ask about the company's future plans for new products and services or any planned market expansion. Of course, you've done your own research, but nothing can beat an insider’s observations and insights. This also shows you've done your homework and are serious about this company.

6. What's our next step?

Why You Need to Ask: This is your closing and the most important question to ask at the end of the interview. You need to know what happens after this point. Many books advise asking for the job now, but most people may feel too intimidated to bluntly do so. And with more candidates already scheduled for interviews, they're not likely to make you an offer yet. You may also need to do some additional research on the company, making it too early to ask for the job.

A good compromise: Take the lead and set a plan for follow-up. You'll also be able to gauge their enthusiasm when they answer. Don't forget to ask for your interviewer’s direct phone number and the best time to call.

What to Remember

As a job seeker, the key to a good interview is to find out as much about your potential employer as possible. Asking these six questions will not only make you appear more committed as a candidate, but will also give you better insight into both the challenges and opportunities that may lie ahead for you.

by Joe Turner
Monster Contributing Writer