Table of Contents
1. Use language that is too informal
It’s crucial to keep in mind that you’re interviewing for a job, not a new best friend. An excessive amount of familiarity might be harmful. By making you appear unprofessional, you decrease your chances.
Poor Phrase:
“I’m sure you guys are aware that the job market is in the dumps right now. It’s been one heck of an uphill battle for me for the past year.”
Perfect Phrase:
“Unfortunately, as I am sure you are aware, the job market is still tight, and there is a great deal of heavy competition for the same jobs.”
2. Using ambiguous words
Words like “a lot,” “various/multiple,” and “a great deal of” are ambiguous and fail to provide the necessary information to the interviewer.
Poor Phrase
“I have had a lot of experience with various lines of multiple products. I am proud of the results I’ve had in saving the company a great deal of money.”
Perfect Phrase
“With over eight years experience working in the paper industry and primarily selling photo paper, I consider myself an expert on the subject and have saved my clients as much as 20 percent on orders over $5000.”
3. Use of pronouns incorrectly
When pronouns are misused, it can be quite confusing and words can be misconstrued. This is especially important when employing the pronouns “we,” “I,” and “you.”
Poor Phrase:
“We were behind on our project, and we decided that we would stay and finish the job rather than miss our deadline. We pulled it together, and we were able to meet our deadline.”
Perfect Phrase:
“I worked with a team of designers to bring a project in on time. We each took responsibility for a particular area.We worked closely, but at the same Getting Ready for the Interviewtime we were completely disconnected from one another. This seemed to work because my four counterparts and I managed to pull the project together on time.”
4. Answering the question with too few words.
Many interviewers have a pet issue about not getting enough information. When a candidate responds to a question with one or two words,
Poor Phrase:
“Yes, I have had experience in that area.”
Perfect Phrase:
“I have over 10 years working with biotech testing. If you were to ask any of my coworkers, they would tell you that I hold the record for the least number of mistakes when using testing equipment.”
5. Over-communicating and failing to get to the point
If you don’t prepare for the interview, you’ll be prone to rambling and veering off topic. “Your responses should be no more than two to three minutes long,” says one rule of thumb.
