13 errors that will lead to failure in an interview in the US

You found an interesting vacancy, submitted an online application, completed a telephone interview - and now all you need to do is charm your future boss during the interview. But one wrong move can lead to failure. Huffington Post interviewed hiring managers about common mistakes that candidates make during interviews.

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1. Pretend you have no flaws

“One of the biggest mistakes that I think people make in the employment process is refusing to admit that they are not perfect. No one is perfect, not one of the candidates, not one of the team members, not even me.

When I ask the question, “What is your greatest weakness?”, I am not trying to catch you and force you to talk about your greatest weaknesses. I'm trying to see if you accept that you don't have all the answers and are really willing to be honest and open,” says John Hayes, a marketer at Authority Hacker.

2. Bad feedback about your past employer

“Negative feedback on past places of work, as a rule, negatively describes the candidate. The recruiter cannot objectively judge the essence of the story, and therefore is inclined to believe that the candidate speaks about his negative attitude, and does not talk about the difficult situation he has encountered.

I've had candidates say "it was a mistake to go there" or "I didn't get along with my boss" or "I didn't like the company culture" and didn't explain anything else. I recommend talking about facts and leaving emotions. For example, say: “my manager changed three times during the year, and the requirements for my work changed along with him.” So, your dissatisfaction with working in the company sounds more significant,” says Miki Feldman Simon, founder of IamBackatWork.

3. Do not check the website of the company where you submit your resume

“I conducted several interviews with people who had not even checked the company’s website. This is unacceptable in this day and age. I asked their opinion about our site, and they could not answer this question. I'd say it's a basic skill, look at a website and form your own opinion on it, even if you're not an expert," says Mark Crenn, founder of Coastal Creative

4. Forgot to say thank you

“We had a candidate for an entry-level position who was a great fit on his resume—great cover letter, solid experience. But as we began the hiring process, and exchanged emails and then conducted interviews, we noticed one thing. The candidate never thanked anyone, he didn’t even indicate “thank you” in his letters. This has dampened our interest in considering this candidate for our agency,” says Amy Hyde, COO of Outspoken Media.

5. Transition to informal communication

“Video interviews are becoming more common, and in my experience, candidates often don't take them seriously - or forget that everything they do is being seen on camera. I was interviewing a candidate for a technical position when, halfway through the interview, he raised his glass of beer and took a sip and then answered my question. He behaved extremely carelessly. To my question “Is this beer?”, he answered “Yes, IPA.” Yes, the interview took place at 16:00, but this is not an informal conversation. After that, I finished the interview,” said Alison Daly, founder of Recruiting Innovation.

6. Communicate like a newbie

“One of the candidates asked the following during an interview: “I know that during a telephone conversation with your company’s recruiters, I agreed to a salary of $70 thousand. But because of my bills, and the upcoming wedding, this won't be enough for me. Could you pay me $85 thousand if you decide to hire me? This man was quite young and did not know how to negotiate salary. Ideally, he could negotiate the salary issue up front or formulate a counteroffer later, and not link it to personal reasons for wanting a higher salary,” says Sukhyot Basi, CEO of Bank Yogi.

7. The borderline between confidence and arrogance

“In my practice, there was a candidate who did not give me the opportunity to ask questions to check his qualifications. Instead, he told me about the company and my background, talked at length about all the great things he had done, and ended his 15-minute monologue with a question about when he could start work. He seemed arrogant, and I ended the interview without trying to get any additional information about the candidate. Whether a candidate is a confident person or not, he must appear so in the interview in order to pass the interview successfully. But if that line crosses the line of arrogance, then the deal will fail,” says Chris Hughes, senior manager of content marketing at ProjectManager.com.

8. Combining multiple jobs

“We were looking for an information technology engineer for a large project. We found a brilliant candidate who was literally a genius. He went through four rounds of interviews, solved several difficult problems, and passed a four-hour test while drinking only two cups of coffee and eating a bag of Cheetos, all the while being watched by four other people. He was a brilliant candidate with all the necessary skills. But during the final interview with our client, he announced that he wanted to stay at his current job and expected to work full time in our company. He was absolutely sure that four hours of sleep would be enough for him to combine two jobs. He thought it was a good idea to pay off his mortgage faster. I asked him not to talk about this at meetings with the client, we would come up with a convenient way for everyone after the meeting. But he decided to talk about his scheme at a meeting with the client,” says Igor Shcherbinin, recruitment director at DistantJob Remote Placement Agency.

9. Take a friend (or your mom) for an interview

“You should not take your parents or loved ones with you to the interview. I was surprised when one of the candidates came to the interview with his mother. And it wasn't a college graduate applying for a junior position, but even if he was, it would still look strange. If someone, for some reason, wants to accompany you, then ask them to wait outside or in a nearby cafe until you finish, says John Brodsky, manager of Finder.com.

10. Do not ask questions

“At the end of the interview, most employers ask the interviewee if he has any questions. If they answer “no,” that tells me they are not interested in the job opportunity. This also tells me that they didn't take the time to do their research before hiring us. Lack of research suggests that the candidate is potentially lazy. Most companies have websites and pages on social networks. It is not at all difficult to obtain information and formulate a few sample questions. It is important for the employer to see the candidate’s interest in the company and the vacancy. No one wants to hire an employee who plans to leave within the first year of employment,” says Jason Carney, director of human resources at WorkSmart Systems.

11. Lie about your dating

“I once interviewed a candidate who said she was good friends with a co-worker and talked a lot about her family and how much she loved them. But when I asked the employee for a recommendation, he replied that they were just acquaintances. Then, I clarified the information with the previous employer, who replied that the candidate often lies, and this is one of her negative traits,” said Sharon Kasasli, head of the PR department at Blonde 2.0.

12. Rude to the receptionist

“I like to ask junior team members what they think about candidates I'm considering for a position. Some candidates don't realize that talking to more junior staff members is part of the hiring process. I always want to know how a candidate behaves in a more relaxed, informal setting. Does he treat junior employees as non-essential or with respect?” says Alexander Lowry, professor of finance at Gordon College.

13. Staff harassment

“I had a candidate who called the front desk a dozen times, trying to get a conversation with other employees of the company. When he didn't get what he wanted, he kept calling again and again. Sometimes he would hang up when the person he had previously spoken to answered, as if he was trying to trick the receptionist. Naturally, we didn’t hire him,” says Brianna Rooney, founder and CEO of Techees.

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