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Avoid 10 Common Mistakes to Stand Out in Employer's Minds, cont'd.

Article from the National Business Employment Weekly by Phyllis Brust

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To determine whether you’re interviewing in the middle of the pack, review the following 10 traits that exemplify mediocre job-search behavior:

1. You can’t translate the questions being asked. Think for example, about the reason interviewers want to know why you selected your alma mater or career field. They want to hear how you make decisions. When answering this type of question, be sure the interviewer understands your thought processes. "Because my mother went there" or "it’s the family business" aren’t effective answers, even it true.
   
   Questions about your weaknesses are designed to see how you evaluate yourself. By giving a canned answer, such as "I have trouble saying no" or "I work too hard," you’ll sound insincere. Both are cliches, and the career-guidance book that suggested them have been since read by too many people on both sides of the table. A better approach is to answer with a former weakness. That is, cite a problem you had in the past, then discuss what you did to eliminate it. That way you appear both insightful and disciplined.
   
   It’s traditional for interviewers to ask questions about strengths and weaknesses. Behavioral interviewing presents a different style of questioning. In this approach, an employer identifies the qualities it seeks, and then asks candidates to cite specific cases when they used those qualities. (e.g., "Give me an example if when you went beyond a job’s description.) With either approach, preparation is key to offering an effective answer.
    

2. You fail to consider what the organization wants in an employee. Many candidates can’t identify pertinent criteria for jobs, even when given position descriptions. If you don’t know the type of employee the company seeks, you’re in trouble. At most firms, flexibility, vision and leadership skills are highly sought. While these talents are important, remember to define and prove that you have the skills to do the job well before tackling other characteristics.
    

3. When asked why you should be hired, you cite only values. There’s no better way of being mediocre. If you’re asked to describe your greatest strength, never answer that you’re "loyal and honest." Your dog also has those qualities, but no company would hire him for a marketing position.
   
   Test yourself: If a stranger hearing only your answer to this question couldn’t discern the type of job you’re interviewing for, then you’ve responded poorly. To have values is wonderful, but you must prove that you’ll excel in the job.
   
   Try offering two skills for every value. Skills should include actual tasks or work, such as an expertise in certain software, forecasting tools or marketing analysis. Values are an orientation toward work: fair, hard-working, consensus-building, dedicated and caring. Although skills may factor into those qualities, explicitly state that you have the expertise to do the job. For a consulting position, for example, give examples of your analytical and communication skills and ability to work as part of a team. If the job is in senior management, you can state the value first, but only if it reflects leadership and vision.
   
   You can identify relevant skills by reading a job description (both what’s written and what’s stated between the lines). Don’t worry about giving a common answer, since you’ll avoid mediocrity by citing unique examples from personal experience.
   
   Attorney Kathy Phillips could have talked about her passion for family law and her hard-working nature. But by giving specific examples, such as a persuasive argument she wrote, her knowledge of a specialty area and her award from the bar association, she became a much stronger candidate.
    

4. When replying to the icebreaker, "Tell me about yourself," you start where you were born and continue chronologically. This question translates to, "Why should I hire you?" and "Why are you truly unique?" It should be answered in a soft-sell way that refers to your attributes and special qualities, not your junior-class trip across country.
    

5. You didn’t research the company. Wanting to work for XYZ Co. because they’re a "fine" firm without substantiating your response will draw a yawn from interviewers. They’ve heard that answer 100 times (second in frequency only to "wanting to help people" as a career goal). Both sound like nails on a blackboard to hiring managers.
    

6. You haven’t a clue why you should be hired. Think about the impact you’d have on the organization, then prove it based on your accomplishments. A lack of preparation may arise from the convoluted thinking that since you need a job, you should be considered seriously for any open position. Perhaps you’ve forgotten that other candidates also need jobs and may be better qualified.
    

7. You didn’t prepare for a weak interviewer. You must learn to convey your hiring message regardless of the questions asked. Suppose an interviewer isn’t effective at eliciting good responses. When you’re asked at the end of the meeting if you have any questions, preface them by briefly summarizing why you’re the best choice for the job. If you don’t have the required level of experience, this is a great chance to compensate by stating your unique talents.
    

8. You confuse interviewing with psychotherapy, friendship or a gig at a comedy club. Interviewing isn’t a confessional. A recruiter with a financial-services firm recalls a candidate for a customer-service job who admitted that she actually wanted to leave the corporate world to become a creative writer. Another candidate seeking a marketing job thought that by making others laugh, he was interviewing well. But interviewers found him frustrating because they saw a glimmer of talent that the candidate couldn’t capitalize on. In the end, he never made anyone’s final list.
    

9. You forgot that your ability to fit the company’s culture is important. If you’re stiff and anxious, you’ll bury your personality. And if you seem extremely worried, sweat profusely, speak in a monotone and avoid eye contact, you may be perceived as having something to hide.
   
   To overcome your anxiety, practice interviewing with friends and family. Remember that interviewers are human and have interviewed for jobs themselves at least once. Smile, maintain eye contact and remember that if you make a mistake or get off track, you can always ask, "Do you mind if I start again?" If you need to, ask for clarification of a question, since being long-winded is another sign of mediocrity.
    

10. You fail to exude confidence. Don’t be pompous or obnoxious, but project self-confidence even when describing obstacles, weak spots or failures. By doing so, you can turn a weakness into a non-issue. To apologize is to call attention to the problem, which is a red flag for any interviewer.
    
    If you question whether you’re being too self-centered, you aren’t. If you don’t cite your accomplishments, how will interviewers learn about you?

Finally, realize that candidates who know how to market themselves usually land jobs over more talented competitors who can’t describe how they’ll help the company. Once you understand the unique contributions you can make to an organization in the context of the open job, you’ll be way ahead of other candidates and far from mediocrity.
 

Dr. Brust is director of career development and placement at Muhlenburg College in Allentown, PA., and president of Career Tactics, a career counseling firm in Narberth, PA.
 

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