Reasons Why People Fail to Make a Good Impression at a Job Interview

Why do some people fail to impress employers at job interviews? How can they turn bad habits around? This article will explore these questions.

Punctuality
If a job interview is scheduled for 9:30am, employers will expect candidates to arrive at least 15 minutes prior to the job interview. Candidates should find out in advance where the exact location is and endeavor to do a practice drive to the location, not just at 8:00pm when traffic will be calmer, but around the time of the interview. The reason for this is so that delays caused by rush hour can be counted into the travel time.

Candidates who arrive late for a job interview already have a strike against them. It is very unprofessional tobe late. The employer will doubt your interest in the company and the job if you are not punctual. If for any reason there is a genuinely good reason why you cannot arrive on time, due to a traffic accident, then call ahead of time and ask whether the job interview can be re’scheduled for a more opportune time. The employer’s
time will not be wasted, and they will also appreciate this common courtesy.

Bad appearance
Unkempt hair, an unshaven face and clothes that have not been ironed will send out all the wrong messages to the employer. They will base a lot of their impression of a person’s character and capability on their outward appearance. If they meet with an unprofessional, disheveled appearance, they will want to quickly move ahead to the next candidate. The same applies for people who have a lot of body piercing and tattoos. Whatever a person’s tastes in this regard, they need to be kept to themselves and covered up during a job interview, not be put out on display.

Complaining attitude
A job interview is not the time to start complaining to the employer about previous colleagues or the manager.
It is highly unprofessional, as well as inappropriate. It is simply not the time or the place to air past grievances. They are best left at home.

Failing to ask for the job
A very basic thing that many people fail to do at job interviews is to close properly. One thing employers want to see is a willingness to actually obtain the job. If a candidate sails through the job interview but then fails to actually ask for the job or at least hint that they want it, what has the candidate really achieved?

It is puzzling why people forget to do this. It should be their objective to find out more. They can do this by coming out and saying they are keen to have the job and to ask when it would be a good time to call and find out if the job is theirs. Employers will be expecting to hear this. It will close the interview in the correct manner and allow the candidate to check back in and see if they were successful.

Answering their mobile phone
It is not unheard of for job candidates to go into a job interview and to allow themselves to be distracted by their phone. They should have their mobile phone switched off so that they can focus exclusively on the job interview. People who have their phone on and actually answer it if it rings are showing great disrespect to the employer. Their focus should not wander at such an important time.

Lying
Employers hate to be in a room with a job applicant who is lying to them to their face. They are easy to spot and can often be caught out. If they are lying at their job interview, the employer may wonder what else they have lied about and just decide that they are not worth the risk to the company.

Job candidates are not all so obvious in their annoying habits at their job interviews, but they must do all they can to avoid doing anything that will make employers look upon their job application. Many of the above suggestions are basic and avoiding them can help to make all the difference in whether the job applicant is successful or not.