Skip to footer

6 job interview mistakes to avoid

Although the economy seems to be showing signs of improvement, there are still more applicants for every job opening than there are available positions. In a survey, HR professionals outlined six interview mistakes that can instantly kill the possibility of receiving an offer.

5. Checking your cell phone

Nothing says “I would rather be somewhere else” more than casually glancing at your cell phone in the middle of a conversation with someone. Many of us check our phones so many times during the day that it becomes habitual and we start to do it subconsciously.

But in an interview setting, this subtle motion just screams “I’m really not that interested in talking to you about this job.” As hard as it is to believe, in our survey, 11 percent of HR professionals have seen interviewees receive a call or text message during the interview, and some even answer it.

Instead of opening yourself up to the possibility of this interview hazard, leave your cell phone in the car – or even at home. At the very least, keep it turned off (not on vibrate, which can distract you) in your purse or pocket. This will eliminate a potential distraction and allow you to give your full attention to the interviewer.

5 of 6
Mark Sappenfield
Editor

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

Subscribe to insightful journalism

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.