Interview :: Beware of these Mistakes

We've all experienced it. That sinking feeling that occurs when the job interview that was going so well suddenly goes off track. Maybe it's the expression on the hiring manager's face, or the awkward pause that ensues, but there is little doubt when it happens. Common interview mistakes, of course, include bad mouthing your former employer, failing to adequately research the company or the position and just plain talking too much. Careerbuilder.com, a job posting site, publishes an annual list of interview blunders, including asking the hiring manager for a ride home or flushing the toilet during a phone interview. Thanks to the rise of social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter, dumb interview moves are taking on a new character. The urge to share everything about one's life with friends and strangers via cyberspace is invading the very private atmosphere of the recruiter's office. Moreover, the need to stand out in the information cacophony of the Web has increased the pressure to seem unique and special. "We've been socialized to assume that we have to stand out in some way, and we're encouraged to be bold," says Roy Cohen, author of "The Wall Street Professional's Survival Guide" and a New York City-based career coach. "But that is not necessarily what people are looking for in candidates to bring on board. They want people who fit in."

 Oversharing has now become an occupational hazard of the job hunt. Here are 5 examples of when too much information was, well, really too much information: "I'm in anger management because I hit a former co-worker." "I've had candidates share with me their anger management problems, views on gender, age, and other things that can be damaging in an interview," says Shilonda Downing, owner of Virtual Work Team, which helps business owners find remote workers. "One candidate recently mentioned that he was going through anger management for hitting a co-worker in corporate America, and that is why he would like to work from home going forward." Major character flaws, particularly when they are of the physical-harm variety, shouldn't be brought up in an interview. Bringing up disagreements with colleagues or managers as a reason for leaving a former employer doesn't bode well that you'll be reliable and reasonable in a new position--even if it is a remote one. "Mentioning this is typically deemed as someone who is unable to handle situations professionally and without violence,"
 Downing says. Unless you're required to disclose that you're undergoing some kind of psychological treatment, find an honest way to work around it. "Oh, that's because I just took a Xanax." "I interviewed someone who swore she'd be great at the job, but she was talking incredibly slowly," says Chenofsky Singer, the career management coach. "A single word would take forever. I wanted to pull them out of her mouth." Concerned that the applicant might be suffering from a legitimate medical issue like low blood sugar, Chenofsky Singer asked if this was the candidate's typical rate of speaking. "'Oh, yes,' she replied, 'I take a Xanax before a meeting or a presentation because I get so nervous. I don't think I'm doing poorly, do you?'" Having some nerves before an interview is normal, but before medicating, be sure of the effects on your personality and disposition. "More than trying to pick on her individual interviewing style at the time, I was concerned that there was something I should know," Chenofsky Singer says, which served as a distraction from a discussion of her qualifications. "Just a little itch." "I was recruiting for a sales director position for my employer," says Dany Bourjolly Smith, who's a recruiter with a professional services firm selling to C-level executives. "I was thrilled to have this candidate in for a live interview based on his resume. During the interview, he was saying all of the right things. Suddenly, he takes his right hand and sticks it inside his sock and shoe and begins scratching under his heel furiously." Bourjolly Smith described the itching as "aggressive," and the candidate continued it while he was talking and answering questions unfazed. "At the end of the interview, I did my best to be subtle and not shake his hand. This amounted to an awkward bump of elbows. He definitely noticed that I didn't shake his hand." [More from FINS: Top Ten Ways to Blow a Job Interview] For a client-facing position like the one this candidate was interviewing for, but really, for any position at all, behaving in a strange and unprofessional manner--particularly when it's hygiene-related--is a big red flag.
 "Naturally, I declined him for the position," Bourjolly Smith says. "If he would behave like that in front of a recruiter, I can only imagine what he would do in front of our clients during a sales meeting." "I locked a mentally ill patient in a room to teach him a lesson." "A few years ago, I was hired by a nonprofit that provided services for the homeless, the majority of whom were developmentally disabled, to find them a facilities director," says Bruce Hurwitz, author of "A Hooker's Guide to Getting a Job: Parables from the Real World of Career Counseling and Executive Recruiting." Hurwitz prescreened one well-qualified candidate who didn't raise any red flags, and sent the applicant forward to his clients for a full interview. When asked for examples of how he had interacted with people with psychiatric issues, "he told my client that there was a person living at his facility who refused to stay out of the library. "One day, the candidate waited for the man to enter the library and locked him in. The man called him numerous times begging to be let out of the room. He refused until the man was about to soil himself. When he promised never to enter the library again, my candidate released him." When asked for real-life examples of your skills and expertise, it is best to refrain from bringing up wild, controversial examples, like ones of abusing people to keep them in line, particularly when they're developmentally challenged. "The sad part? My candidate actually thought he was telling the client positive things about his judgment, and had no idea why they didn't want him," Hurwitz says. "Oh, he was killed in a drug deal." "I had a woman do an excellent interview," says Holly Wolf, who's currently the chief marketing officer with Conestoga Bank in Pennsylvania, but was formerly responsible for hiring staff for an emergency clinic. At the end of the interview, when she asked why the woman wanted to be a nurse, she explained that she had gone back to school after her husband passed away, and she wanted to serve as a good role model for her young girls. "She was about 33 so that was an incredible accomplishment," Wolf says, "so I said, 'I'm sure your husband is proud of you and what an excellent role model you are for your daughters.' She looked at me and said, 'He really wasn't a good role model for our children.
 He was killed in a drug deal that went bad.'" Bringing up losses of friends or family members in an interview can be a touchy subject. Bringing up the illicit and illegal dealings of your late friend or family member is an example of taking it too far. It can be acceptable if you're careful to bring it up in a casual way, and without so much detail that it makes someone uncomfortable. Despite it being an excellent interview, the candidate tainted it by sharing more than was necessary.

Job Resume :: Expert Advice

Resume is the most important document in any job search. But what if you're submitting resume after resume and receiving no results at all -- not even a call? Your resume may be fatally flawed. How can a resume betray a job seeker? It's not just typos or poor formatting. "The biggest flaw for a resume is when it fails to showcase a person's accomplishments, contributions and results, and instead spouts a job description of each position he's held," says Lauren Milligan, founder of ResuMayDay, a resume-writing and career-coaching firm based near Chicago, Use these three tips to make sure your resume doesn't betray you.

 1. Think Big Whatever jobs you've held -be it as an assistant or a CEO -think beyond the everyday tasks of your position. "People get bogged down in the day-to-day details of their jobs, but when it comes to your resume, you've got to get out of the clutter and ask yourself, 'What does this work mean?'" Milligan says. If a manager is hiring for an administrative assistant, he already knows what an admin does and doesn't want to see a resume that says an applicant can type and answer a phone. "You have to go beyond that to point out your specific strengths," Milligan says. Start by having big-picture conversations about what you do and how it serves the organization as a whole. "If you're in a support position, consider how successful the person you support is and how you help her do her job better,"

 Milligan says. "What role do you have in her successes? Those are your accomplishments."

 2. Be Clear Focusing on your accomplishments rather than your specific responsibilities will help keep your resume concise. "There's a huge difference between a resume and the Great American Novel," says Milligan. "The resumes I'm most proud of summed up a 25-year career in a single page." She urges job seekers to remember that resumes are typically skimmed for a mere six to eight seconds. "Make sure you're identifying the companies you worked for, how long you were there and if you earned a promotion," she says. "Those are things that people look for immediately." Also, if your job title is long and vague, tighten it up so that people immediately understand what you've done. For example, "Marketing Manager" is much more accessible than "Global Identity Architect." Given the time you have to catch a recruiter's eye, a focused, accomplishment-driven resume is the way to go. "If you are loaded up on peripheral stuff, it's too hard for a hiring manager to find your story," Milligan says.
 3. Get Real What if you come up blank when trying to think about how you've helped build the big picture for your employer? "A couple of times I've talked to people who insisted they just did their jobs and there's nothing special about them that jumps out," Milligan says. She's asked them outright if they're in the right position. "It's a difficult question to ask, but these people may be chasing the wrong job," she says. She counsels clients that if they cannot speak about what they've done in terms of enhancing the position or the company, "You may be just punching a clock -- and you and your employer deserve more." Look for other opportunities in which you can contribute and grow professionally. You'll enjoy a more rewarding career and have a more successful resume.

Interview :: First Step to success in Your job

For the long-term unemployed or those workers looking for a change, getting an interview in today's market may feel like a win in itself. But once you're in the door, interviewers often put you through an obstacle course of deceptive questions with double meanings or hidden agendas. Do you know how to read the subtext? "On the other side of the desk, hiring managers spend countless long hours interviewing candidate after candidate," says Joyce Lain Kennedy, a nationally syndicated careers columnist and author of Job Interviews For Dummies. "A tricky question may be used as a time management tool to quickly eliminate a less qualified candidate." Kennedy says that even if job hunters have rehearsed anticipated topics, an unexpected question may jar loose an authentic answer that exposes hidden problems. She outlines the top 10 most common questions designed to trick you.


  No. 1: Why have you been out of work so long, and how many others were laid off? This question may also be followed by the more direct, "Why were you laid off?" Kennedy says it is an attempt to figure out if there's something wrong with you that your former company or that other potential employers have already discovered. The interviewer may be trying to determine if themes of recession and budget cuts were used to dump second-string employees, including you. Rather than answering the question directly and chancing an emotional response or misinterpretation, Kennedy advises punting. Respond: "I don't know the reason. I was an excellent employee who gave more than a day's work for a day's pay."

No. 2: If employed, how do you manage time for interviews? "The real question is whether you are lying to and short-changing your current employer while looking for other work," says Kennedy. The interviewer may wonder: If you're cheating on your current boss, why wouldn't you later cheat on me? She suggests placing the emphasis on why you're interested in this position by saying you're taking personal time and that you only interview for positions that are a terrific match. If further interviews are suggested, Kennedy advises mentioning that the search is confidential and asking to schedule follow-ups outside of normal working hours.



 No. 3: How did you prepare for this interview? The intention of this question is to decipher how much you really care about the job or if you're simply going through the motions or winging it. Kennedy says the best way to answer is by saying, "I very much want this job, and of course researched it starting with the company website." Beyond explaining how you've done your homework, show it. Reveal your knowledge of the industry, company or department by asking informed questions and commenting on recent developments. 
No. 4: Do you know anyone who works for us? This one really is a tricky question, says Kennedy, because most interviewees expect that knowing someone on the inside is always a good thing. "Nothing beats having a friend deliver your resume to a hiring manager, but that transaction presumes the friend is well thought of in the company," she says. Because the interviewer will likely associate the friend's characteristics and reputation with your merits, she recommends only mentioning someone by name if you're certain of their positive standing in the organization. 

No. 5: Where would you really like to work? "The real agenda for this question is assurance that you aren't applying to every job opening in sight," says Kennedy. She advises never mentioning another company by name or another job title because you want to highlight all the reasons you're perfect for this job and that you'll give it all of your attention if achieved. A good response would be: "This is where I want to work, and this job is what I want to do." [Also see: In-Demand Careers Through 2018] No. 6: What bugs you about coworkers or bosses? Don't fall into this trap. Kennedy says you always want to present yourself as optimistic and action-oriented, and hiring managers may use this question to tease out whether you'll have trouble working with others or could drag down workplace morale and productivity. "Develop a poor memory for past irritations," she advises. Reflect for a few seconds, and then say you can't recall anything in particular. Go on to compliment former bosses for being knowledgeable and fair and commend past coworkers for their ability and attitude. It will reveal your positive outlook and self-control and how you'll handle the social dynamics in this position. 
No. 7: Can you describe how you solved a work or school problem? Kennedy says that, really, no one should be too taken aback by this, as it's one of the most basic interview questions and should always be anticipated. However, all too often interviewees either can't come up with something on the spot or miss the opportunity to highlight their best skills and attributes. Kennedy says what the interviewer really wants is insight into how your mind works. Have an answer ready, like how you solved time management issues in order to take on a special assignment or complicated project, that showcases an achievement. 

No. 8: Can you describe a work or school instance in which you messed up? This one is a minefield. "One question within the question is whether you learn from your mistakes or keep repeating the same errors," says Kennedy. Similarly, the interviewer may be trying to glean whether you're too self-important or not self-aware enough to take responsibility for your failings. Perhaps even more problematic, if you answer this question by providing a list of all your negative traits or major misdeeds, then you're practically spelling out your insecurities and guaranteeing you won't get the job. So you don't want to skirt the question or make yourself look bad. "Briefly mention a single small, well-intentioned goof and follow up with an important lesson learned from the experience," she advises. 
No. 9: How does this position compare with others you're applying for? "The intent is to gather intel on the competitive job market or get a handle on what it will take to bring you on board," says Kennedy. There are two directions to take: Coy or calculated. "You can choose a generic strategy and say you don't interview and tell, and respect the privacy of any organization where you interview," she notes. Or you could try to make yourself appear in demand by confirming you've received another competitive offer, which may up the bidding for your services. Always bring the focus back to this position, by asking: "Have I found my destination here?"
 No. 10: If you won the lottery, would you still work? Admittedly, this one's a little silly. Even so, it's another opportunity to underscore your motivation and work ethic. Kennedy advises acknowledging that you'd be thrilled to win the lottery but would still look for meaningful work because meeting challenges and achieving make you happy. And say it with a straight face. If at any point in an interview you're uncertain or caught off guard, don't panic, Kennedy warns. Deflect a question by saying you'd like to mull it over and come back to it, or by being honest that you don't know the answer and, as a careful worker, would prefer not to guess. "If you've otherwise done a good job of answering questions and confidently explained why you're a great match for the position," she says, "the interviewer probably won't consider your lack of specifics on a single topic to be a deal breaker."