A wise person once commented “There is a time and place for everything.” This is a great question when buying a car, not so much when you are being interviewed for your dream job. In many years of my recruiting experience, I have seen even the most experienced falter and lose out just when they seemed certain to land a job.
Here are some pitfalls to avoid during interviews
There is enough literature to go around on the topic of preparation — luck is when preparation meets opportunity. Or, there are no secrets to success for it is the result of preparation, hard work and learning from failure. Ironically, this is one pitfall that trouble talented people the most given several among them lack humility.
Candidates walk into the interview hoping to talk their way out of it. You’d be surprised how many fail to provide a clear and concise response to level 1 questions. Here are some of them. What were the reasons for prior job changes? What is your experience with company X? What were the reasons for the break in employment? Get your story straight and prepare with another person to articulate it. Don’t make-it-up on-the go. If you hesitate on these, Level 2 questions will only make it worse – What qualities of your leader you do not want to emulate? Describe a situation that brought out the worst in you. Why should we hire you? Who do you think has more practice in an interview – you as candidate or the interviewer?
As Benjamin Franklin commented, “By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.”
Earlier in the year, I was coaching a senior executive whose position was eliminated and was given a 12-week notice. After initial conversations, he casually commented about his efforts to look for alternate jobs by reaching out to recruiters who had “viewed” his LinkedIn profile. He was emailing them to inquire if they needed any more information to consider him for a job. Really?
In another recent example, during an interview, the candidate started the discussion by happily professing his admiration for what the interviewer had accomplished and how inspired the candidate was even though they had not met previously. All these compliments made possible by the simple act of viewing interviewer’s profile on the previous night.
In all these instances, even if the candidate had the right intentions, their excitement and what followed made a hash of the situation. Someone famous once said, “Character is the ability to carry out a good resolution long after the excitement of the moment has passed.”
Get a grip on your emotions and don’t let them sell you short.
In today’s time, roti (pay), kapda (job title) aur makaan (work location) are essential but not sufficient conditions for successful living. Overemphasising “kitna deti hai” and not going into the other aspects of the role, for example, organization culture, future growth opportunities, or competitor landscape, is likely to limit your chances at landing that job. Begin by observing interviewers and whether they encourage divergent views. Find out how decisions are made and what happens when there is a viewpoint different than that of the leader? Why is the position open? Or, one of my favourites — how do you measure success?
These are by no means an exhaustive list of candidate bloopers. It gives me no pleasure to say that there have been (and will continue in the future) missteps that limit candidates from landing positions.
(Prashant Bhatnagar is
vice-president of Sapient India)
