5 Mistakes That Will Instantly Kill Your Job Interview

On the day of the interview you may notice that candidates who were interviewed before you stayed longer in the interview room and it only took you five minutes in there. In case, you are wondering there are mistakes that easily kill your interview and as a job seeker you need to be aware of what they are.

Speaking to Ms Carolyne Kariuki, a recruitment manager at Corporate Staffing Services, she mentioned the following:

1. Lateness

I find candidates arriving for my interviews an hour late and are not even apologetic; and those that are concerned give too many excuses which I can already tell are lies. So how can you tackle this? Ms Karikui advises that, “We all sometimes find ourselves getting late especially now with this weather traffic has slowed down, so just call the interviewer and inform them you are going to be late and also clearly explain why you are going to be late.” She adds that, “This kind of mistake is enough reason for me to decide that the interview is done.”

2. Bad attitude

You manage to get there on time, you are well dressed but you do not look any bit interested with the interview. You look bored and the interviewer has to ask leading questions. “I find this very irritating and unfortunately it leaves me no choice but to dismiss the candidate as soon as I can“, Says Carolyne. She also adds that, “Other candidates are very arrogant, some take over the interview and as an interviewer you are left with no choice but finalize with the interview as quick as you can.”

3. Rudeness

Unfortunately a huge number of candidates have this problem and the sad part is that they are not even aware of it. “I cannot count the number of candidates I have for example asked ‘what their day-to-day activities are’ and they instead asked me to check on their CV – that it’s all indicated there. Why did I ask you to come over for the interview then, I would have just gone through your CV.”

4. Going round in circles when asked a question

Well this mostly happens because of showing up for interviews without doing research about the role you applied for thus you have zero ideas on what it entails.“As a rule, before attending any interview, you are supposed to do a background research on the role you are interviewing for. You can also go a step further and find out what the company does and how you can marry the experience you have with that.”

5. Lying about your experience

Among many other reasons, the solo purpose of an interview is to confirm that the experience you put on the CV is truthful and also gauging the candidate on how they can use the experience they possess for the position they are interviewing for.

Ms Carolyne confirms that, “Before calling candidates for interviews, we thoroughly scrutinize their CVs and if there happens to be a reason that makes us question information given on the CV, we do that, so information on education background, dates and referees should match with what you say and what is on the CV”. Lying will get the interviewer kicking you out of the interview room before you even get a chance to thank them for giving you the chance to interview with them.

A candidate messing up during interviews is sometimes not intentional; it could be that they do not know how to behave during an interview or how to tackle different interview questions not sounding rude. Make Google your friend, when invited for an interview you can quickly check what is expected of you and I promise you will not be kicked out of that room before you have had a chance to present your case.

Book a slot with our Interview Coach today to have a sit-down and prepare for your next interview here.

22 Comments

  1. I have been interviewed by Wanjiru before,she is a great lady…taught me alot especially about editing my CV.As for this piece ,kudos…with such guidance I will be getting a job soon.

  2. Kudos to Wanjiru Chabeda for educating interviewees on how to approach interviews instead of waiting to kick them out before they even have the chance to be interviewed.

  3. Wonderful job.Ihave always referred to your notes whenever need arises.Keep guys .Good job.

  4. I really dont like interviewers this is because they look much for job experience while one has internship experience I sometime wonder where do they want as to get that job experience.they should give pole chances.

  5. I attended an interview and was told to have proceeded to the next stage,unfortunately the recruiter has never contacted me til today.What might the the posible reasons and why was is necessary to mail back on the progress?

  6. Very very useful tips! True….. The candidate may not even be aware of the mistakes they are making. Thank you so much!

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