Free Resume Advice For Job Seekers

Here’s an interesting, very funny and unbelievable read that I’d like to share with you all. This article was featured in HR Leader’s e-newsletter in November 2009 (source: http://www.humanresourcesmagazine.com.au/articles/D0/0C0651D0.asp?Type=61&Category=873)in).

What’s the most unusual thing a candidate did in a job interview? Fall asleep? Disappear? Bring his/her mom? A CareerBuilder.com survey of the most outrageous interview mistakes candidates have made, according to more than 3000 hiring managers and HR professionals in the US, listed the top ten job interview blunders as:

1. Candidate answered cell phone and asked the interviewer to leave her own office because it was a “private” conversation.

2. Candidate told the interviewer he wouldn’t be able to stay with the job long because he thought he might get an inheritance if his uncle died - and his uncle wasn’t “looking too good”.

3. Candidate asked the interviewer for a ride home after the interview.

4. Candidate smelled his armpits on the way to the interview room.

5. Candidate said she could not provide a writing sample because all of her writing had been for the CIA and it was “classified”.

6. Candidate told the interviewer he was fired for beating up his last boss.

7. When applicant was offered food before the interview, he declined saying he didn’t want to line his stomach with grease before going out drinking.

8. A candidate for an accounting position said she was a “people person” not a “numbers person”.

9. Candidate flushed the toilet while talking to interviewer during phone interview.

10. Candidate took out a hair brush and brushed her hair.

In addition to the most unusual blunders, employers were also asked about the most common and detrimental mistakes candidates have made during an interview. More than half (51 per cent) of hiring managers cited dressing inappropriately as the most detrimental mistake a candidate can make in an interview. Speaking negatively about a current or previous employer came in second at 49 per cent and appearing disinterested ranked third at 48 per cent. Other mistakes included appearing arrogant (44 per cent), not providing specific answers (30 per cent) and not asking good questions (29 per cent).

Cheers,

Annie Cerone

Keep the following three rules in mind during the job interview process. These rules have been researched and statistically validated.

1. Apply the ‘50/50’ rule: Listen for 50% of the time and talk for the rest. Research has shown that applicants who apply this rule have been the most successful in getting to the next stage of the interview process or being offered the position.

2. Apply the ‘2-minute’ rule: Talk for only 2 minutes at any one time. The key when talking and answering questions during the job interview is to keep your answers concise and to the point. Try not to waffle or go off on a tangent. When providing examples of what you have done in the past or what you would do in the future when faced with a certain situation, give one, at the most two clearly defined examples.

3. Apply the ‘now-focused’ rule: Stay present oriented, do not think about the future or past. It is easy to be thinking about what might happen – the ‘what if’ thoughts that enter your mind that have not happened. It is pointless to be thinking about anything else but the present moment you are in. Ironically, if you are thinking about ‘what if’ thoughts, your subconscious will bring you those things you are thinking about. Interrupting your negative thought patterns is one of the most powerful secrets used by highly successful people. Staying in the ‘now’ during the interview will help your mindset stay positive.

Remember, it’s all about marketing you!

Cheers,

Annie cerone