7 job interview mistakes
Hello! My name is Vladislav Noskovets, I am a CPO in Product Star and career consultant. For more than 6 years I have been working in managerial positions, and no matter how much I interview candidates for completely different positions, everyone makes about the same mistakes. Let’s take a look at the 7 most common mistakes during an online interview.
1. Not preparing for an interview
This is the most common mistake newbies make. Be sure to study the vacancy and information about the company in detail: the product, the mission and values of the company, the number of employees, who your future leader or CEO of the company is, financial indicators (is the company growing from year to year), etc.
You can also study the company’s product in more depth regarding your future tasks in order to offer ideas for product improvement and business growth at the interview.
2. Lack of self-presentation
Once, at one of the interviews, the girl talked about herself for 25 minutes. I didn’t interrupt her on purpose, I was already wondering how long it would take to answer such a simple question: tell us about yourself?!
No need to retell your resume, and even more so all your life, starting from school … If the employer is interested in something, he will clarify with you. Focus the attention of the interlocutor on the most important.
Your story about yourself should not exceed 5 minutes.
Predominantly talk about your last job and briefly about your background in general.
Tailor the entire story to the company and its vacancy. Tell us about the key achievements and skills that will be as close as possible to the tasks at the new place of work.
At the end, tell us why you are interested in this vacancy and why you are the best candidate.
3. Don’t ask questions
If you do not ask your questions to the employer at the end of the interview, then he will have questions and he will think that you are not interested in the vacancy or are ready to work anywhere.
Even at the stage of preparing for the interview, you should have a list of questions, depending on the interviewer, they will be different. For example: we ask HR about various voluntary medical insurance, working conditions, employment format, etc. And the hiring manager – about your tasks, company plans, etc.
What to ask the employer at the interview wrote in the article: What questions to ask the employer at the interview?
4. Do not turn on the webcam
Even in 2023, sometimes candidates don’t turn on their webcam during interviews where eye contact is very important. A potential employer wants to see his future employee in person and understand who he will entrust part of his business to.
And here I also include the poor quality of communication during a call, which also spoils the impression, especially when a person tries to solve a communication problem part of the time.
5. Long answer questions
I value my own and other people’s time, so I always answer briefly and to the point, where no details are required. And I want to take an employee to my team who adheres to the same approach, and not for 10-15 minutes answering one simple question.
Already at the interview, I look at how a person communicates, and how organized he approaches the meeting, whether he knows how to structure his thoughts and not go into unnecessary details.
6. Being late or not showing up for an interview
Nobody likes dishonest employees. If you are late for our first meeting, what will happen next?
Yes, there are force majeure, no one is insured, but if you understand that you are likely to be late, then warn about this in advance or reschedule the meeting. There is nothing wrong.
7. Worry and nervous
An interview for a candidate is always stressful, but it is important to look and feel confident in the eyes of a future employer. To feel more confident, you can rehearse the interview with a more experienced friend or career consultant.
Prepare for the meeting:
Google answers to typical questions for your position.
Open your resume, theses for a story about yourself and the vacancy itself.
Prepare a place for the call so that you are comfortable (the room is bright and quiet, ask the “home” people not to disturb you, turn off notifications on your phone and pour yourself some water).
Take a piece of paper and a pen to write down important information.
Do self-evaluation of your interviews.
Record interviews on a voice recorder, listen to them, see where you answered incorrectly, where you hesitated and work on your mistakes in order to become better next time.
I wish you all the best in your interviews and your dream job! What mistakes did you make during interviews?
Vladislav Noskovets
CPO at ProductStar, Product/Project Management, EdTech and Career Mentor
