Job interview advice recruiters wish they could tell you
Updated 2024-06-15. Originally published 2010-10-31 on VocationVillage.com
When I worked in recruiting in the software development industry, job seekers would say things in job interviews that would immediately rule them out for consideration. I don’t mean things that revealed a genuinely poor fit, and it was better that the candidate found a different job that was a better match. I mean things that the candidate probably would not have said if they realized they were being rejected for jobs for reasons that would have been fixable if they only knew those were the reasons for the decision.
I wanted to give feedback, but my company's HR and legal departments forbade me from doing so. All I could say was, "We hired a candidate whose qualifications were a better fit with the position." Fear of legal liability muzzles recruiters and hiring managers. So here is the job interview advice that they wish job seekers knew:
Prepare for job interviews
These days, job interviews are like gold, so you should treat them seriously. This means you have to prepare for all interviews. Preparation means researching the company, the position, and how your accomplishments and characteristics are a good fit for both. If a recruiter calls you and says that he or she "just wants to chat," recognize that this "chatting" is really a screening interview. If you don't feel prepared or you are in a terrible place to talk (like the grocery store), schedule a different time to talk. You never get a second chance to make a good impression, so do your best to do well the first time.
All contact counts
All contact with the organization counts as a job interview. This includes …
Conversations with human resource employees or administrative professionals who are helping to schedule your appointment.
Small talk with the receptionist or employers when you are sitting in a waiting room.
Any social "getting to know you" events with current employees of the organization.
In one situation, it also included the taxi driver who picked up a candidate from the airport. The candidates didn't realize that the employer hired the taxi driver for these recruiting trips, so some candidates made the mistake of saying negative things about the company while on the ride to their interview. The taxi driver relayed all this material to the hiring manager. When I tell this story, some people get furious or outraged because they think the employer violated the candidate's privacy. That may be the case, but my goal is to tell you how these processes work.
You can tell your career coach anything (but the same is not true of hiring managers!)
Hiring managers or recruiters are not your career coach. With your career coach, you can be completely honest about your personality and preferences. You can work with your career counselor to identify the best work environments and jobs for you. But with a hiring manager or recruiter, if you admit you don’t get along well with bosses or you have trouble meeting deadlines, you probably won’t land the job. This is because an organizational decision maker needs to find the best candidate for the opening and it is too risky to hire someone with known challenges in getting the job done. While I don't condone lying in a job interview, I don't recommend compulsive self-disclosure, either.
Don't admit you want career advancement next month
Hiring someone can be a time consuming, energy draining process. Most hiring managers hope that if they select a great candidate, they won't have to replace that person within a year. When the hiring manager asks about your career goals, it isn't a strategic response to say that you would like to do this job for a few months, and then move up. The only exception to this is if the company has a formal promotion track with a short timeframe.
Prove you're a team player
Job candidates underestimate how much hiring managers care about interpersonal and communication skills. Most of all, hiring managers want to find employees who can get along with other people. This means that when you are preparing responses to potential questions, include material that shows previous success in working as part of a team. Achieving results congruent with an organization's or manager's business objectives is terrific, and being able to do so while preserving relationships is even better.
Attitude counts
If a hiring manager has to choose between a functionally brilliant candidate with mediocre motivation and enthusiasm or a candidate with average functional skill but exceptional motivation and enthusiasm, the highly motivated and enthusiastic candidate is much more likely to be the candidate of choice. This is because the employer can teach skills, but attitude is very difficult to change. Don't be afraid to let your genuine passion for the job shine through. If you are just interviewing for something because it is a survivor job until the hiring market improves, try to find something about the job that excites you, and focus on that.
Timing matters
You should ask challenging questions about the job opportunity and the company to decide if the position is right for you, but be careful not to do this too soon before the hiring manager has chosen you. If you are still one of 12 candidates and you launch into interrogation mode like an MBA student conducting a case study, it will seem premature. Also, use good timing about when to ask about benefits. First round interviews are not the time to ask about weeks of vacation or employee share of health care costs when the hiring manager is still trying to figure out whether to advance you to the next round of interviewing. Due diligence is essential, but be smart about when you do it.
Positivity is persuasive
When you are talking about your career history, my most important piece of job interview advice is, “Be positive.” Even if the interviewer asks for your biggest failure or your worst boss or anything else that is negative, spin it so that you come across as a person who is agreeable, who learns from mistakes, and who recovers from setbacks. Discipline yourself not to go on and on about how horrible your last boss was or what a bunch of losers were on your last team. It doesn't take much negativity before the hiring manager will be too afraid to hire you.
“So, what's your greatest weakness?”
Please think of something reflective to say when the employer asks about your greatest weakness. Two responses that are stale are, "I'm a perfectionist," and, "I work too hard," responses. Even if these things are true, hiring managers don't want to hear these answers for the thousandth time. Dig deeper to find something unique to say, and make sure you can explain how you are overcoming this weakness so that it doesn't raise a red flag for the interviewer.
Calm your anxiety
If you are worried that your nerves might get the best of you, here's an article I wrote about calming your job interview anxiety.
Conclusion
This job interview advice might seem like common sense to many readers, but the anxiety of interviewing can cause candidates to interview basics. I hope this job interview advice helps you to land the next job you want!
Did you have more questions about job interviewing? Please send me your question, and I may respond in a future article.
