Five Ways to Ruin Your Interview Experience

1. Sounds

Let’s start with sounds – the noises in the space. A real turnoff for me is when someone I’m interviewing doesn’t listen to the full question – and instead interrupts to make their idea heard as soon as possible. Maybe they feel like chiming in as quickly as they can with their voice suggests they’re really in-the-know, but I personally find it demonstrative of their lacking imagination – not believing there could be “more” to the question. And often, there is. I also find sounds from phones or watches highly distracting – and even more so if the interviewee acknowledges them while they’re supposed to be focused in talking with the interviewer. All buzzes and pings should be turned off before the interview.

But, if you want to sour your interview experience, be sure to interject before the interviewer has finished their question. And leave your phone and watch on.

2. Negativity

Another turnoff to a potential employer would be being negative about a problem they have – either one they’ve discussed with you, or maybe one you’ve seen in news stories or social media posts about the company. The reality is, there are likely plenty of people offering gloomy outlooks on that issue. What the employer really needs is someone who can seriously acknowledge the issue but begin to paint a picture of a solution or improvement.

If you want to sour your interview experience, be sure to jump on the negativity bandwagon regarding that company’s toughest problems.

3. Excuses, excuses

You may be asked about a skill you don’t yet have, or about a reason you don’t know something obvious about the company. Saying you didn’t get around to researching it because you had a busy schedule, or that you don’t have a skill because your past employer didn’t offer relevant training are not responses that show you’re considering your own autonomy and potential. Better options would include acknowledging the lack of knowledge as a mistake on your part, for not having done your homework. Or acknowledging the skill you’re missing as a crucial one for tasks you know will be important at the company.

If you want to sour your interview experience, be sure to make it clear that gaps in your understanding or skillset are not your fault and that you don’t see why you’re being asked about them anyway.

4. Vague about problem-solving

If an interviewer asks how you would handle a tough scenario, this is a gift – a chance to demonstrate your ability to comprehend a problem and deliver a real solution, perhaps based on something you’ve encountered before in school or in a previous job. Responding convincingly requires taking a moment to paint a picture with a few specifics. The opposite approach is to hurriedly answer in vague generalities that kind of “cover” the matter but don’t really help your potential employer see which tools you’d call on.It’d be better to pause a brief moment and consider specific actions you’d take – on your own, with others, using certain tools or platforms – than to rush to an answer, just to move to the next question.

If you want to sour your interview experience, don’t take the opportunities to answer queries you get about tough scenarios – and how you’d handle them – as the gifts that they are. Instead, rush through to get done.

5. No thanks

Interviewers are often doing their work of evaluating candidates amid very busy schedules, especially if their teams are down one person – the role they might hire you for – and if they’re covering related work.

Thus, the time they take to meet you is precious. And more broadly, most busy and productive teams really value their time every day. Not showing that you know this – either by going on and on in answers that don’t add value, or by not thanking the interviewer for their time – won’t make you an appealing prospective colleague for all the days of collaborative work to come.

If you want to sour your interview experience, be sure to use as much time as possible to answer questions, providing vague and unhelpful anecdotes. And don’t bother thanking the interviewer for their time.

About Meagan

Meagan is the Communications Director for the Science family of journals, where she oversees efforts to support accurate communication of Science family journal content among reporters worldwide. In this role, she’s been able to help innovate how to do science communication in response to key issues, including related to science integrity and science policy. Prior to joining AAAS in 2013, she served as a senior writer at a catastrophe risk modeling company in Boston, where she worked with more than 65 Ph.D.-level scientists and engineers.

Previously, she was a senior writer and editor at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. Meagan holds a Bachelor’s degree in Biology and Spanish from Gettysburg College, and a Master’s degree in Science Writing from The Johns Hopkins University. In 2008, Meagan received a Fulbright Scholarship to work with researchers at the University of Valencia in Spain as they studied the cause of morbillivirus resurgence among dolphins in the Mediterranean.

For more information, visit: Prepped and Polished.com.

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