Why People Fail Interviews Top 13 Mistakes - Career Sidekick

Why People Fail Interviews Top 13 Mistakes - Career Sidekick Why People Fail Interviews: Top 13 Mistakes Interview Preparation / https://www.edenscott.com/blog There are 13 common reasons why people fail interviews from not showing the personality traits that employers want to see, to not asking the right types of questions at the end of the interview.A lot of job seekers come to me saying, “I keep failing interviews,” but they aren’t sure what to do differently (or whether theres anything they CAN do differently).Trust me there is. And Im going to share everything in this article.Lets get startedIf You Keep Failing at Job Interviews, Its NOT Your ResumeI hear a lot of job seekers saying, Im not getting hired in my interviews, it must just be that I dont have the experience they want on my resume.This is not it.If the employer invited you to interview, they liked your resume.Once youre in the interview, its up to you to impress them with HOW you describe your experience, what type of attitude you show them, what questions you ask them at the end, etc.Your resume has one job: To get you invited to inter view. If it did that, then your resume is working.Now lets move on to some possible reasons that might be costing you job offers in your interviews.These are the top reasons that people fail job interviews13 Common Reasons Why People Fail Job Interviews:1. You didnt research the job and company very muchDont underestimate this step.Employers want to hire someone whos thorough and hard-working; no matter what job youre interviewing for.And the first way to show them you work hard and dont cut corners is by walking into the interview knowing about their job and company.Try to know more than anyone else theyve interviewed.Study the job description and make note of the key responsibilities.Research the company, too.Know how they make money, who their clients/customers are, who their top competitors are, how big they are (100 employees, thousands of employees, etc.), and more.Try to imagine what some other job seeker out there is doing, and then do twice as much. This is how you stand ou t.This is pure effort. You dont need talent to do this. You just need to put in the work.And employers do notice when youve done that extra research.Your level of confidence when answering interview questions like, Why did you apply here? or What do you know about us? is just completely different when youve actually done thorough research. Your interviewer will pick up on this and love it.2. You didnt ask them very many questionsEmployers want to hire someone who is looking for specific things in their job search and knows what they want.Otherwise, theyre going to be afraid youll get bored, not like the job, leave as soon as you find something better, etc.And how can you know their job is a good fit if you dont ask any questions?So not asking enough questions is a huge red flag to employers and will make them worry that you dont really care what type of job you end up with, youre desperate and just want any job, or youre trying to do the bare minimum to get hired.And all of these ar e reasons why youre failing interviews potentially.You should ask at least one or two questions to each person you meet with. If you want to know what questions to ask, we have a detailed guide on the best questions to ask the interviewer here.3. You didnt send emails thanking each person you met withThis is another way to show youre a hard-worker who takes the extra steps to go above and beyond whats required, rather than someone who cuts corners or waits to be asked to do something.And which type of person do you think employers are hiring?Id recommend sending a thank you email to each person you met with face-to-face in an interview. Send it the following day at lunchtime, or the evening after the interview when you arrive home.You can use this step-by-step guide with samples if you arent sure what to send.4. You gave inconsistent answers, lied, or didnt seem trust-worthyIts important to be authentic and admit when you dont know something, and then show youre willing to learn it. Credit for this idea goes to a reader on LinkedIn who gave this response when I asked for under-rated interview tips.Saying no is better than giving some long-winded answer.Its okay once or twice in an interview to say, Im not sure or no, Ive never done that before, but Id love to learn it.This is so much better than trying to lie or give a long-winded, confusing answer. Hiring managers are smart. They know when youre doing this.And if they dont feel they can trust you, they wont hire you.So next time youre tempted to lie in an interview, remember that being upfront and honest can win you a LOT of likability points with the hiring manager, and can sometimes get you hired!Feeling pressure to say yes to every question or act like you know everything is a common reason why people fail to get hired in their job interviews.Hiring managers do NOT expect you to be able to say youve done every single thing they ask about.In fact, a good interviewer will ask some things you dont know. How el se can they find your limits?Keep this in mind in your next interview.5. You couldnt explain what youre looking for in your job search right nowThis is something a lot of job seekers dont realize, or just really underestimate.Employers always want someone who is targeting specific things in their job hunt.If you dont sound like youve thought about what you want to do next in your career, employers will be worried youll change your mind and leave, not enjoy the job and get bored, etc.So if you want more job offers, show employers you know what you want to do!And if youre unemployed, be ready to explain why you left your previous role. Here are 20 good sample answers.Also, make sure youve prepared a good answer for tell me about yourself. This is often the first thing they ask and is a way for you to tell your story while also bringing them up to speed on what youre looking for right now. (Thats how I recommend ending your answer to tell me about yourself.)6. You couldnt explain why y ou want their specific jobAfter showing them that you know what youre looking for in your job hunt, be ready to explain how their specific job fits into that!This is where doing your research helps. Review the job description thoroughly so you can name responsibilities that youre looking forward to doing and building skills with.Employers love to ask questions like, why did you apply for this position? to check whether you have specific reasons for applying.And you arent going to get very many job offers by saying you just need a job, or you have bills, or youre unemployed and need to find work.Ive talked to so many job seekers who dont get this, or who are frustrated by this when I explain it.They say, I just need a job. Why do I need to act like their job is special?The truth is: If you dont care about their job, theyll probably find someone who does. This is a likely reason why people fail interviews and dont get hired.Id recommend thinking more about what you DO want to be doing , and then only applying just for that type of job.Narrow your job search. Apply for fewer types of jobs, but better-fitting ones.And I dont just mean jobs youre qualified for, but jobs you actually want! Thats what I mean when I say better-fitting.Youll get more job offers when you can explain exactly why you applied.7. You didnt show excitement/enthusiasmHiring managers want someone whos going to come in and be positive, energetic, and excited about the work.Its okay if youre not the loudest, most energetic person. Im not either.But you need to turn it up a little bit and show SOME enthusiasm.If they tell you about a part of the job that sounds interesting, say so! Try to say, Thats great. That sounds really interesting at least once or twice in an interview where youre learning about the job duties.Youre joining their team, and they want someone whos going to be energetic, excited, and care about the work.8. You were too humbleDont forget that your job in an interview is to sell yourself.While its good to be humble and honest, you always dont want to be too shy about telling them what youre great at and what youll do for them.Talk about past accomplishments. Talk about what youre best at. What are you an expert in?What have coworkers come to YOU for help with in the past?Have you trained anyone else? Has your boss asked for your help on a subject in the past?What have you spent the most time doing in your career?If you just graduated, what did you focus on in your studies?Youre an expert in these things, so act like. Employers want to hire someone who has expert skills and can come in and help them right away. Dont be shy to show this.To start, prepare a good answer for whats your greatest accomplishment?Pick something recent if possible, that demonstrates a skill set that will also be useful in this job.Think about how youd answer questions like these, too:What are you best at?Why should we hire you?9. You didnt make it about THEMAlong with showing them yo ur expertise, make sure you clearly show how those skills will help them in this job.This is something most job seekers dont do, and is a big reason why many people fail interviews.Most job seekers think the interview is all about themselves. The key to getting more job offers is to make your answers about the employer, too.Talk about how your skills fit into their job.How will your past accomplishments set you up for success in the tasks youll be doing for them?If you dont study the job description carefully, you cant do any of this.So if youre not doing this while preparing, its probably why you keep failing interviews.If you want examples of what good interview answers sound like, read this article.10. You didnt seem coachableHiring managers dont want to hire someone who seems stubborn or unwilling to learn to do things their way no matter how talented you are.Each company does things a bit differently, and they expect you to learn how they operate (even if you did this exact job in the past).So always show that youre open-minded and willing to adapt to new ideas.Every manager has had that employee whos talented but just refuses to follow the companys way of doing things, and its not fun for them. They dont want to hire another person like that.11. Your body language or appearance werent greatPeople judge each other visually before anything else. Within a fraction of a second, the hiring manager is gathering their first impression by looking at your facial expression and body language.So its worth dressing well for your interviews and making sure you have confident body language throughout the interview.Practice having good posture both sitting down and walking/standing.Maintain eye contact when talking and listening. (Most people find it harder to do while talking).Dont cross your arms or take a defensive posture when you sit down. Try to sit open and relaxed.Also, avoid tapping your hands or feet or doing anything else that will distract the interviewer. For more help with this, we have a full article here on how to show confidence in job interviews. (Including an image of what a defensive posture looks like, and how to avoid it when sitting down in the interview).These may seem like small details but the impression you give off visually is often just as important as the words youre saying.If youre saying the right things but not going into your interviews with an appearance that backs it up, it could be a reason why youre failing interviews.12. You didnt build rapport with the hiring managerAs you go through the job interview, dont forget youre talking to a real person.This hiring manager is deciding who to bring onto their team and work with every day for the near future.So building a personal connection matters.If they ask you something about yourself, try to ask them a question in return. (For example if they ask whether you played any sports in college, you can answer and say, what about you?)Also try to look around their offic e when you sit down and see if theres anything you can use in a conversation later. For example, do they have photos of their children playing sports, etc.?I had a discussion about this on LinkedIn recently when I asked people for their favorite job interview tip to stand out:Hiring managers will remember you for this.Dont take the conversation totally off-track if theyre trying to discuss the job with you, but do learn one or two things about them and show youre interested in getting to know them as a person before the end of the interview.13. Your skills werent quite what they neededNow weve gone through 12 likely reasons why people fail job interviews. And finally yes, its also possible that they invited you to interview and then realized your background just isnt quite what they need.It does happen.But quite often, its something else. Its one of those other 12 factors we looked at above.So if you keep failing in your interviews, look at the pieces you CAN control. Dont just bla me it on bad luck, or on your resume (which you now know is probably not the problem if you read the start of this article).Theres a lot you can control and change to start getting job offers instead of failing in your interviews.I had a job seeker who recently ordered my Job Interview Cheat Sheet and then wrote to me saying:Before buying this guide, I had no idea how to really do an interview. My friends were just saying, Do your best as its out of your control.I think a lot of people believe this thats its out of your control. And theyre wrong.He went on to say:Within ten to fifteen minutes, I have realized that I have been doing interviews all wrong the whole time. I was too fixated on simply answering the questions from the interviewers about myself. Now I know to relate my strengths to the job duties and show them how I would help them perform the duties. The no, but method also helped me answer some skill-related questions. Your bonus sections assisted me build a positive min dset for any upcoming interviews so I can prepare and do the best for them.This article isnt a plug for my Job Interview Cheat Sheet. Thats not why I wrote it. However, I think this illustrates the point Im trying to make here that you CAN change things and stop failing your interviews.It IS in your control.I hope this article is able to convince you of that.The people who tell you its all luck or theres nothing you can change dont know what theyre talking about.So keep trying, keep going. Youre just one good interview away.But do change something if you keep getting rejected and failing in your interviews. The steps above are where to begin.