Don’t Make These Ten Interview Mistakes

 

After all your hard work perfecting your resume and writing an on the mark cover letter the last thing you want to do is bungle the interview.  Here are ten common interview pitfalls. Be aware of them and you won’t fall in!

 

Not Dressing the part

Remember you are making a strong impression on your interviewer before a single word comes out of your mouth. Even if the job or workplace is on the casual side that doesn’t mean you come into the interview wearing jeans and a sweatshirt.  Come in looking like a professional. Whether the interview is formal or casual, here are a few tips from the balance careers

 

Coming late

Plan your route and check expected traffic conditions the day before your interview and plan to arrive fifteen minutes early.  That way if there are any unforeseen problems you’ve given yourself some buffer time. If something does come up that makes it impossible for you to arrive on time get in touch with someone at the location and let them know.

 

Forgetting your phone is the enemy

As soon as you arrive at the interview turn your phone off. If it rings, if you play with it, if you are distracted by it, you are letting the interviewer know exactly where your priorities lie.

 

Ignoring your homework

Prior to the interview you should have researched the company in detail, read their website, perused all their social media sites. Have a fact or statistic about the company in your pocket to bring out when the opportunity arises.

 

Being dishonest

Ignore the impulse to embellish your skills and experiences. First off, honesty is always the best policy. Second if you are not caught in the lie during the interview (a few probing questions is all it will take) it will come back to haunt you should you get the job.

 

Failing to listen

No matter how nervous or distracted you may feel, it imperative you give the interviewer your full attention. You do not want them to have to repeat what they’re saying.

 

Jumping ahead

There is a time to talk about benefits and salary, but that is not at the beginning or  middle of the interview.

 

Not tooting your own horn

You don’t want to sound overly confident in an interview (or appear overly nervous) but you do want to convey your strong attributes. Be able to explain how your experiences and strengths will benefit the company. Make they understand you believe yourself the best person for this job and why before you leave the interview.

 

An inability to answer standard interview questions

Tell me about yourself. Where do you see yourself in five years? What are your greatest strengths/weaknesses? There are standard questions you will hear at every interview. Be prepared to answer them. Here’s a list of the 27 most common interview questions and answers from Inc.

 

Not asking for the job

Of course you want the job, you came to the interview dressed for success and prepared with all the right answers but the last thing you need to do is ask for it. That doesn’t mean ending with, Will you please give me this job? Rather summarize your discussion, ask if there’s anything else they need, and express your interest in the position again. Here are ten examples from US News

Live True To Your Core

Find Success With A Focused Even Mindset

As a basketball player, John Wooden was the first player to be named All-American three times. Motivated to share his love of the game and vision for success, he moved on to become one of the most beloved, respected coaches in the history of sports. As head basketball coach at the University of California in Los Angeles, Wooden won ten NCAA national championships over 12 years (including an incredible 7 in a row). He was named national coach of the year six times. Over his twenty nine year career John Wooden’s vision for achieving success and his skills at motivating and inspiring others went way beyond the sports area creating renown in the fields of personal success and organizational leadership.

 

Success in one thing creates success in other things

John Wooden’s lessons about leadership start with, Good values attract good people.” And, “Love is the most powerful four letter word.” The reason John Wooden was so inspiring was because he didn’t just coach his teams and his players on basketball, he coached them on life. Just as if any of us want to achieve true success, we cannot solely focus on our careers. We need to focus on our lives and the lives of those around us. And what each of us can do to make the world better.

Emotion is your enemy

Wooden’s fourth leadership rule states, “Emotion is your enemy.” What that means is, if you get carried away too far with either the good things that happen or the bad you will be carried away from your goal. Winning a game is great, but if you imagine you’ve reached your final goal you won’t put in the effort required to get to the championships. Everyone loses sometimes, but if you get lost in pits of self pity and stop putting in the effort to improve you will never win. That’s why you don’t want to let the peaks get too high or the valleys too low.

 

Criticism doesn’t have to be hard to take

Whether you’re starting a new job or are a seasoned manager you will at some point – maybe many points, be on the receiving end of criticism of some sort. Most often the criticism is constructive, meant to help you improve some aspect of your job. It might be difficult to listen to, but taken from the right perspective those words of advice will teach you and help you get ahead.

It’s not personal

No matter how prepared you think you are, you cannot know everything going into a new job. There will be procedures you are unfamiliar with and you may end up on the receiving end of criticism. It’s important to recognize, that just because someone is criticizing you that is not a reason to get your back up. Close down your defences and open up your ears.  It’s not personal. It’s not about you, it’s about what you’re doing or not doing. Someone is taking the time to explain how you can do something better or point out what isn’t working.

Use it to improve

Treat that criticism as advice. Instead of getting angry about it, learn from it. Absorb it and put what you were told into practice

Ask questions

Sometimes you may not understand the point or intent of the criticism. You might be inclined to just gloss over it and let it pass rather than following up for more, but that will not help you improve. So if someone says, “Don’t do X like that.” Ask, “Could you please show me how to do it better?”

Treat the person addressing you with respect. Don’t try to blow them off or argue with them. Take the advice.

Remember the day will come when you will be required to offer some constructive criticism to the next person down the line. Life is a series of give and take. So give and take well.

Revising the Salary on That Job Offer

You have a job offer and you are seriously considering taking the job, but before you make any sort of commitment you’d like to see if you can increase the salary they are offering.

 

Make a phone call

 

Before the date you’re supposed to respond to them call the employer and tell them:

 

I am interested in this position and I based on my experience and expertise I believe can bring X and Y to your company. I am wondering if you are set on the salary you offered or if there’s an opportunity to enhance it.

 

All it took was a phone call

If they agree immediately thank them and let them know you will get back to them by the deadline.  If you think they might be open to giving you even more you can say:

 

Thank you. I appreciate that. It will help me with my decision. Would you also consider X

 

If they aren’t willing to go any higher then you can let them know you will respond by the agreed upon date. If they accept your proposal, you can either accept on the spot or say you’ll let them know on the agreed upon date.

 

Maybe yes maybe no

Instead of answering you right away, they might say they will get back to you. In that case ask for a date when you can either all them back or expect their call.

 

If they ask you what you have in mind you can ask them what they think is possible or else give them a salary range more in line with what you’re looking for.

 

Depending on their answer you can either accept right away or let them know you will respond on the agreed upon date.

 

No room for improvement

If they say no, you still may be able to improve the offer in some other way. You can say:

 

Instead of X would you consider Y

 

Remember they have chosen you. They like you and they believe you will be a good fit for their organization. Salary /contract negotiations are part of the process. If you never ask you will never know what the answer might have been!

How Much of Luck is Based on Luck?

Ever feel like some people are just plain luckier than you? Like success bumps into them while they were sitting around sipping a soda at the ice cream bar, while it keeps walking by you?

 

While it may be true that very occasionally success will unexpectedly cross someone’s path, for the most part, a lucky break happens after years of hard work, commitment and practice. Look into the background of an overnight success and you’ll often find it was ten years in the making.

 

Preparation

In the book, Have Space Suit –Will Travel Robert Heinlein writes, “There’s no such thing as luck. There is only adequate or inadequate preparation to cope with a statistical universe.”

 

Oftentimes we’ll attribute the success of others to luck because we’re not willing to admit to ourselves that we have not put in the effort required to achieve the degree of success we say we want to achieve.

 

Create your own luck

If you don’t put in the effort required, if you are not prepared, then even if a lucky opportunity presents itself you won’t be equipped to make anything of it. Your “luck” is largely in your hands. If you make a conscious effort to improve a little bit every day, to learn a little more, become a little better, you can be sure that eventually you’ll find yourself in the right place at the right time with lady luck pulling up a stool and offering to buy you a soda.

 

As Seneca says, “Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.”

 

Not Happy With Your Current Job?

Destination Success!

Everyone wants success. Some people talk about it, some people dream about it, some people take definite, concrete steps toward achieving it.

 

It’s all well and good to want success and having a big house and a nice car are pretty good motivators for working toward it, but those types of goals don’t always sustain people through the long hard days, the inevitable failures and the mornings when they simply don’t want to get out of bed. The thing that does sustain is purpose. Solid reasons for wanting to achieve that success.

 

Three questions to help you find your purpose

 

In order to help you define that purpose, ask yourself these three questions:

1. What can this success do for others?
2. How will success change my life?
3. How can my success leave the world a better place?

 

Put others first

 

Most of us don’t just want success for ourselves, we want it to help others, our families people less fortunate than ourselves. Remembering the impact we can have on others is often a greater motivator than thinking about the impact we have on ourselves.

 

Live for the experiences

 

Success brings things other than the ability to afford material possessions. It brings the ability to enjoy experiences. Experiences like travel and more time. By working hard in the shorter term, successful people provide themselves with extra time to devote to other things later on.

 

This wonderful world we all live on is not solely here for any one of us. When people achieve the success they’re after and they’ve helped out family, they invariably look around and see circumstances of others and want to do more. Thinking about the impact you can have on the world outside of your immediate surrounds make your purpose even stronger.

 

Start each week by looking at the answers to these questions and you’ll be well on your way to that success you’re after.

 

Motivating Yourself When You’re Feeling Unmotivated

All of us deal with stress sometimes and sometimes stress is good. It pushes us forward, in a way it can give us sustenance– but that’s only in short bursts. Prolonged stress is another thing altogether.  Lost motivation

 

Prolonged stress leads to illness. It drains our motivation as effectively as a leak in a balloon. When you feel the heavy weight of stress bearing down on you, there are a few simple things you can do to bring yourself back to center.

 

Remember you are not meant to be “on” 2/7

With smart phones and texting and emails and the thousand other ways we have to stay in touch with each other, we sometimes forget about the importance of taking a break. If you don’t turn off regularly you will burn out.

 

Make time for things that make you happy. Maybe that’s volunteering in a pet shelter, maybe it’s spending a whole day with a good book, maybe it’s making a great deal. Joyful times, whether they be moments or hours can beat open the door for more motivation.

 

Acknowledge your worries

Sometimes we tell others what we’re worried about, but a lot of the time we keep our worries to ourselves. If you have someone you feel like you can confide in, that’s great, but even if you don’t you can still release some of your stresses by writing them down.

 

Once you’ve got them out in the open on a piece of paper, take them on, one at a time. Maybe there’s a project you’re procrastinating on. If that’s the case then give yourself defined steps for getting it done. Putting an action plan in motion is motivating.

 

If you realize there’s nothing you can do to alleviate the problem, for instance if you’re worrying about someone in your family and there’s nothing you can do then give yourself permission to let it go. Worry won’t change the situation. Letting go of worries you’ve been carrying around gives motivation space to return.

 

Remember the power of your breath

When we’re stressed out we forget how centering it is to simply stop what we’re doing and breath. Take one minute away from whatever it is that’s got you all wound up and take breathe deeply.

 

Get outside

Ever notice how a short walk can totally change your perception? The solution to a problem you’ve been mulling over for hours suddenly seems so crystal clear when you take it for a walk or a run. Sometimes the simplest things can be the greatest motivators.

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