In the current environment where thousands of employees are laid off on an almost weekly basis, you ... [+]
If you don’t treat your job search like it’s your new job and a top priority, you’ll be less competitive. There is no excuse to enter an interview unprepared when you're in between roles. I’ve seen many intelligent, experienced job seekers act as if they’re entitled to getting the job offer just because they have 20-plus years of experience and think they’re the best, most qualified candidate. Arrogantly winging the interview without preparation or a strategy will lead to failure.
You must be prepared, know all about the company and clearly understand what's required from the job description. Your rèsumè, LinkedIn Profile and social media footprints must be clean and tight. An interviewer doesn’t have the patience for someone who is pompous, can’t directly answer straightforward questions, has an attitude and acts condescendingly.
In the current environment where thousands of employees are laid off almost weekly, you must bring your A-game to the interview. There is no room for self-inflicted errors. With a white-collar recession displacing nearly 100,000 tech professionals and thousands more in other sectors, you will be up against tough competition in the job hunt. Additionally, the companies letting go of staff are not inclined to hire anyone new unless they are a fantastic fit for a highly specialized role that most people don't possess the requisite skills and experience.
Turnoffs
You may be great at what you do, but the hiring manager will take a hard pass when you come across as an arrogant, rockstar jerk. When so many other talented people in the job market desperately seek a new job, there is no reason to settle for someone who will be challenging to work with for the next three to five years.
Human resources and managers immediately pick up on the fact that you didn’t do your homework. They’ll ask questions such as, “Why do you want to work here? What do you know about our company, corporate mission and products and services?” If you are incapable of providing answers to these types of reasonably straightforward questions, the interviewers will be aggravated that you didn’t bother to do any research on the firm and assume you don’t really care about the company and just want any job you can get. It’s understandable that you want and need a job, but when there are many other qualified candidates who strongly desire to work at the organization, it's too easy for HR to move on to a candidate who has an affinity for the place.
It's infuriating to interviewers when you don’t have an elevator pitch, concisely and succinctly selling the hiring personnel within 30-plus seconds on why you’re a perfect fit for the role. Without a well-thought-out pitch, you end up rambling, going back to talking about jobs held in high school, talking in circles and not offering the specifics of your most recent responsibilities, prior roles, accomplishments and tying in how your skills, education, experience and other factors make you the right fit for the job. To make matters worse, if you forget to bring copies of your rèsumè to an in-person meeting; your rèsumè has spelling and grammatical errors; your LinkedIn profile is naked, devoid of any substantive data about what you’ve done in your career; you’re playing hard to get or are difficult when it comes to setting up a meeting, you’ll get passed over.
Get Your Act Together And Don’t Be A Jerk
It’s awkward, but you must make eye contact in person or on a video call. When you fidget, make jerky movements and come across as distracted, it's a red flag that something is wrong. If your background looks like a mess, your room is poorly lit, the sound quality is terrible and your technology is glitchy, the supervisor will think that you have no attention to detail and are disorganized and lazy.
We all run into roadblocks. If you are running late for an interview, immediately inform the interviewer and offer an estimated arrival time. When you show up late without acknowledging that you made the manager wait around for 15 or more minutes, it’s perceived as rude and inconsiderate and shows you have no regard for other people’s time.
The interview kiss of death is when you have a pompous attitude and talk down to people. Word will get back to the boss when you treat the security guards, when entering the building, and receptionists rudely. If you’re demeaning to anyone throughout the process, you will not be invited back for another round of interviews. No one wants to hire and work with a megalomaniac who thinks they know everything.
Be Your Genuine Self And Not A Corporate, Jargon-Spewing Drone
Over the last 25 years, I’ve seen many interviewees change the way they talk and act in an interview. Instead of bringing their genuine and authentic self to the meeting, they come across as a dull, corporate drone, robotically answering questions in a monotone voice. What always surprised me was that many of these people have wonderful personalities, are gregarious, happy and have a great sense of humor. Instead of bringing their stellar qualities to the table, they’ve received bad career advice to play it “cool,” be hyper serious and not show too much of themselves.
On the other side of the spectrum, I’ve interviewed and received feedback from hiring managers that the candidate was rude, dismissive, abrasive and condescending. Sometimes, senior-level professionals think they need to demonstrate that they are in charge. They assert themselves, talking up how important they are and, perhaps inadvertently, making the hiring personnel feel like they are beneath them within the corporate caste system.
There will be times when you are out of pocket and not available to return a phone call or email. If you pull back from communications for a few weeks or ghost the interviewer, they will not chase after you in this current job market.
Be Careful When Negotiating Your Salary
Everyone wants to be paid well. However, you need to read the room. If there is an oversupply of suitable and appropriate applicants, it's harder for you to negotiate your salary, bonus, stock options, benefits, corporate title and preferred work style, such as a remote option.
You don’t have to cave into the first offer, but being overly aggressive in negotiations in this specific period could backfire. The hiring professionals may not count you out; however, they’ll likely place you on hold and see if they can find another applicant who is more reasonable in their requirements.
The Small Things That Can Count You Out
There are minor taboos that you can easily run afoul of. For example, by submitting your rèsumè and asking a recruiter to share it and also people at the firm, they’ll be frustrated as the recruiter will want a placement fee and the internal employees a referral bonus. The friction and drama created are a turnoff. Similarly, if you spray and pray your rèsumè to several job listings at the company, you won't be taken too seriously.
What may be the worst thing to do is lambast your former boss, co-workers and management team. It's okay to agree to disagree with people you work with; however, it's ill-mannered to disparage folks behind their backs to strangers. The interviewers and hiring managers will rightfully think that if the interviewee badmouths their former colleagues, the person will most likely say negative things about their employers when they leave for another firm.
Time To Reassess And Improve The Situation
If you keep interviewing, are not called back for further conversations and haven’t received any offers, it’s time to take a self-assessment of your actions. Be honest with yourself. Think critically about how you present yourself. Are you bringing the anger and resentment of being laid off to the interview? Do you get mad when the topic comes up about your past employer, and you talk negatively about them?
Coming across as bitter, resentful, distrustful and wounded is a turnoff. In fairness, you may have worked in a toxic environment with gossiping co-workers and corporate backstabbers. The issue is that the new company doesn’t know if the problem is you or the employer. When HR has many rèsumès to choose from, they’ll steer clear of a person who may potentially bring drama to the company. It's not worth it for them to take the chance on you. If you act like a resentful malcontent, with so many people seeking new jobs, hiring personnel will take a hard pass and move on to someone with a nicer disposition that fits in with the corporate culture.
Keep in mind that hiring managers, recruiters and human resource professionals desire positive, motivated, enthusiastic, confident and good-natured people. It's a clichè, but true. Given a choice, we all want to work with smart, capable people who possess a good attitude, are a positive influence and won’t bring any unnecessary baggage to the company.
