Job Interview Responses - Top 11 Don’ts

Determine to be liked in the interview and then carefully execute your strategies like a captain leading his troops to the war front to attain real success at your job interview.

“Success is a progression of small steps, one building on another eventually creating monumental momentum”

Being liked during a job interview is a very important strategy to gather enough points/ scores and get a job earlier than those with more expertise or professional knowledge than you.You must develop excellent interview responses and avoid bad responses.

Interviewers are also human. They respond to their emotional urge in liking you when you display certain qualities, chief of which are trust and high confidence level when responding to interview questions.

More importantly, you should not goof during your job interview by exhibiting any of these traits:

1.    Don’t smile too much: During a job interview, it can be misinterpreted for a sign of nervousness or lack of confidence. However, you should smile when there is an occasion for it but not sheepishly.

2.    Don’t ask petty questions: In job interviews, it is important that you display professionalism and deep interest in the job itself. Asking questions about ‘lunch time’, ‘coffee breaks’… can create an unserious person perception.

3.    Don’t sweat: Wearing too much clothing to job interviews can make you sweat unusually coupled with the tension of the interview itself. Any trickle of sweat, especially in an aerated place, can be seen as weakness or nervousness.

4.    Don’t say too much ‘NO’: Avoid hesitating or saying ‘no’. You are expected to show eagerness to take on new tasks and projects. 

5.    Don’t use humor wrongly: As much as a little giggle might help lighten up your mood, you should be aware of the level of sensitivity of your interviewers before you say anything funny.

6.    Don’t lie: Once you lose their trust, you’ve lost the job. Moreover, you should begin to appreciate your own qualities, skills, talents and abilities – that way, you‘d only need to promote yourself without lying in your job interview responses.

7.    Don’t talk too little: Talk too little – they’d think you don’t know much ! So, as much as you are not expected to drift away into irrelevant information about the job, you should exhibit high knowledge of your industry or the company. 

Your first task is to be very knowledgeable about the industry and the second is about the company.

8.    Don’t say “Em … you know what I mean”

9.    Don’t use “Right! ….”

10.  Don’t use slangs

11.  Don’t say “As in ….like…”

In summary, be your real self when responding to job interviews questions. If your real self is not good enough, then go and develop yourself.