Life
No matter how much you may prep for a job interview — not to mention, perhaps you have social anxiety and interviews ~really~ make you nervous — some things can still go wrong. But then again, perhaps you can prevent certain things from going wrong in the first place. Luckily, Jobvite discovered the top interviewing dealbreakers, and as you'll see below, they're pretty preventable.
Yes, everyone has a bad interview day now and then — I once interviewed for a job and they said I'd get the position under one condition: That I never again wear the perfume I had on. I had forgotten to wear deodorant, so sprayed some perfume on right before I entered the interview! Plus, they were TV writers, so it ended up being a funny interview mistake and they probably even put it into a TV script (so they should probably thank me). But back to the below interview dealbreakers that you can, and should, avoid.
"You've made it to the interview — congrats," Rachel Bitte, Chief People Officer at Jobvite, tells Bustle. "But with several rounds of being your 'best self' ahead, interviews today are more like a marathon than a sprint. To start, prepare, prepare, prepare. There's no such thing as being too ready for an interview. Remind yourself of what the company is looking for, and map your previous experience and skills to that list. But don't forget that evaluating them is just as important. Absorb the office vibe, get a sense of the company culture, and a better sense of the role's responsibilities, and take note if you click well with the interviewers. If it's a perfect fit, say so — recruiters love to hear why you're excited about their company." Makes sense, right?
Here are the top five interview deal-breakers that Jobvite discovered through their online survey of 831 recruiters in the U.S., conducted by Zogby Analytics. The question was: "Which of the following would automatically disqualify a candidate during an interview?" Here's what they found out.
1
Being Rude To The Receptionist Or Support Staff
Yep, being rude to the receptionist or other support staff was the #1 interview deal-breaker, at 86 percent. If you're rude to anyone at the company, the hiring manager will probably assume that's your natural disposition and see it as a dealbreaker.
2
Checking Your Phone
OK, so everyone still seems to be glued to their phones these days — it's like having all your friends right in your pocket, at the touch of a button. But, when you're at a job interview, try to resist the urge to check how many likes your Facebook status is getting or see how your latest pic is doing on Instagram. Believe it or not, your phone will still be there when your interview's over, though a job offer may not be. At 71 percent, checking your phone was the second biggest interview dealbreaker.
3
Showing Up Late
True, maybe you're late for everything, it's just you, but showing up late to your big interview is ~not~ the way to go. This one came in at 58 percent, and that's 58 percent too much. For instance, even if your bus or train was late, it doesn't matter. All the job recruiter is seeing is, you are late, and they may think that's a telltale characteristic of yours, that you'll be late for the job day-after-day if they hire you.
4
Having Bad Hygiene
Bad hygiene was another top interview dealbreaker at 52 percent. Remember my perfume example above? I tried to avoid a bad hygiene situation and it backfired! (Luckily, the hiring managers were comedy writers, so it was a bit different, but...) For plenty of job interviews these days you don't have to dress formally, but hygiene is still important regardless of how corporate the job is.
5
Interrupting The Interviewer
When your interviewer asks you a question, perhaps you can't wait to answer, and that answer makes you think of a bunch of other conversation topics. Great! However, though you may want to keep talking, if you interrupt the interviewer, it could come across as rude. Jobvite's survey found that 39 percent of recruiters would consider this a dealbreaker, so it's best to be mindful.
According to the above interviewing dealbreakers, it seems that they can easily be avoided. When in doubt, you can also have a friend help you with the above and do a mock interview with you. Now that you know what not to do, happy interviewing!
