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10 Mistakes Employers Make During Job Interviews

hotjobs.yahoo.com — Hiring is one of the hardest parts of managing a team. A lot is riding on the initial meeting, and if you're nervous or ill-prepared -- or both -- it can make you do strange things. The following mistakes are all too common, but they're easy to avoid with some advance preparation

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  • crazydiode, on 10/11/2007, -11/+8What about something from the candidate point of view ?
  • captinherb, on 10/11/2007, -2/+71Feel free to ask: "Wow, you're exotic looking, was your dad a G.I.?"
  • silverchrysalis, on 10/11/2007, -1/+27"You don't have any allergies that would prevent you from putting that slice of cheese on that sesame seed bun?"
    • Carsonauto, on 10/11/2007, -4/+1HA!
    • grumpyrain, on 10/11/2007, -0/+15. You Ask Leading Questions

      Watch out for questions that telegraph to the applicant the answer you're looking for.
  • MeanGeno, on 10/11/2007, -9/+8The #1 thing that pisses me off is when they ask:

    "How many IT certifications do you have?"

    Like certifications are worth anything. Do you know how many loosers dont know *****, but yet they get hired because they "studied really hard" for their A+???

    /IT Pro with 12 years off experience with B.S. degree in IT
    • cr4ft, on 10/11/2007, -0/+14Yeah, I know what you're saying dude.

      It's like those people who refer to themselves as "IT Pro's" and feel the need to point out all their accomplishments and years of experience.

      You know the kind of idiots I'm talking about?
      • aboyd, on 10/11/2007, -2/+6Your response is amusing, but the OP does have a point that he's trying to make. He wants to show that certs are not the only way a person can be qualified. Yet there are many who think that's the only way.

        I recently interviewed for a job at a big Internet company. I met 5 members of the team, and sailed through short interviews with each. Then I met the VP. He took something I was very proud of, and trashed it. I told him that about 3 years ago I had used my life savings to fund my own startup. Although the startup is now sorta hibernating, I still feel it speaks volumes about me -- I am a self-starter, I am willing to take risks, I have learned a huge amount outside of the Web itself (such as financing, marketing, managing clients, and so on). I felt it gave me good perspective that would be valuable to a company. However, he cut me off before I could even start. He said, "Wait, you had a pile of money and free time? Why didn't you GO BACK TO SCHOOL?" I was taken aback, as it was my time & money. He was insistent. "You could have earned multiple certifications! Why did you fail to do that? Don't you have any interest in learning?" At that point, I was pretty much done with the interview. It was stunning. He honestly could not imagine why anyone with cash would ever do anything EXCEPT buy some certs. To him, the challenge I took upon myself (starting up my own company) was utterly inane. He couldn't imagine ever doing it. So, I couldn't imagine ever working for him.
    • phunlee, on 10/11/2007, -2/+10you spelled "losers" wrong and used "off" incorrectly.

      That's gotta sting, too, huh?
    • jweinraub, on 10/11/2007, -0/+7What about losers that never bothered to learn how to spell?
    • Phatrician, on 10/11/2007, -0/+4Wow. You can't spell, and you're HUMBLE too? What a catch you must be.
  • cr4ft, on 10/11/2007, -1/+6It'd be nice if they produced a list next to it for the candidate as well.

    The biggest mistake candidates do is talk too much about themselves and how they'll benefit instead of the company they're working for.

    For example, you'll run into people who say things like:

    "I think if I got the job at your company I'd not only get the experience I need but the benefits I receive will advance my career."

    The employer doesn't give a ***** about how the job will help YOU, they want to hear about how it'll help them, so you _should_ say something like:

    "The experience I'll bring to your company and your organization will not only help you make money, I'll also help arouse enthusiasm in all the projects that you'll require me and my fellow co-workers to do."

    I can write much more on this, but you get the people. Just remember, contrary to popular belief, the interview is never really about YOU.
    • Rikkochet, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2I dunno, man. If I was interviewing and a candidate said anything remotely like that my ***** detectors would be roaring and I'd be a lot more critical of everything they said or claimed to achieve than actually feeling them out for their fit to the team...
      I think a lot of it boils down to *WHO* is doing the interview. If you're interviewing someone that YOU will be working with day to day, you're far more concerned with how they will mesh socially in your department rather than how they answer a few challenge questions.
      Someone who is not necessarily educated in every facet of what they'll need can be taught. An ***** is just bad for the company.
      • kyrios1, on 10/11/2007, -0/+0So rather than have someone who wants to work to help the company you would rather have somoene who is completely self interested and possibly backstabbing/trying to get your job working for you?
  • MeanGeno, on 10/11/2007, -3/+0Sorry about the spelling mistakes. English is my second language.
    • Rikkochet, on 10/11/2007, -0/+3Don't apologize. That is not the way of the internet. You must retort with snarky comments directly attacking those who made snarky comments.
    • filefly, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1Pardon my shotgun; I'm from West Virginia.
    • vSuperLuminal, on 10/11/2007, -0/+0Don't feel bad MeanGeno. The only people who attack others' spelling on the internet are total losers who have never been right about anything and/or who have never won anything and/or who aren't particularly intelligent themselves. Or, it could be that they disagree with what you are communicating and don't have a good counter argument so they use any little chance they get to "stick it to the man" so to speak. They spend lots of time on sites like this waiting for their moment to be "right" or to "win" or to appear "intelligent". Just smile, nod and move along when you encounter these types. For the most part they are simply simple-mindend teenagers. Remember how excited you were in elementary school (primary school) when the teacher would ask to raise your hand if you know how to spell a certain word and you knew how to spell it. Remember how you just couldn't wait to raise your hand and show the rest of the class how "smart" you were. Same thing here.
  • RDHerm, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1811) Asking generic, stupid questions.

    Where do you see yourself in five years? What would you say is your greatest weakness? etc. I'm fairly certain that no one has ever give an honest answer to those questions in the history of those questions being asked.
    • crazydiode, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2exactly. If i knew what i would be in five years, i would be a soothsayer not a java developer.... last time i replied "making money". i got the job...
      • inactionman, on 10/11/2007, -1/+0I asked a guy yesterday what his biggest weakness was and he said he was really pushy. So we didn't hire him. It's the commonest interview question. It's worth having a decent stock answer like "I'm a perfectionist" or "Sometimes i make bad coffee"
  • Elliuotatar, on 10/11/2007, -0/+5When I first got started in the industry, I applied for a job as an artist at a game developer in Boston whose name I don't recall, and when I called them to do the interview, they sounded hostile and the first question out of their mouth was "Do you use pirated software?". This got me flustered, as I'd never had an interview start off THAT way before, and I told them I didn't and they called me a liar and said they didn't think I was right for their company and that was the end of the interview.
  • tetsuo316, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1Pardon me if I don't take advice on how to hire people from a company that's seeing its personnel flee like rats from a sinking ship...

    http://valleywag.com/tech/yahoo/10-down-16-to-go-271911.php
  • zonk3r, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1So what mistake(s) are you making when you can't seem to get an interview in the first place?
    • blueskydiver76, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1Get your resume redone and print it with something better than a dot matrix and get some nice paper instead of college ruled.
  • p51d007, on 10/11/2007, -3/+3from the article, #4 about the tattoos.......I wouldn't hire anyone who had a visible tattoo. In our line of work, you wouldn't
    even rate an interview, unless it was for warehouse work. I could care less how "good" you are at your job, have a visible
    tattoo that cannot be covered by a dress shirt, don't bother. Same goes for ear rings, tongue rings etc... Just not appropriate
    in my line of work.
    • DforSpiD, on 10/11/2007, -0/+3What line of work is this that's so high above everyone else?
    • BTime, on 10/11/2007, -1/+1Which would exclude many of our soldiers who tend to get tattoo's while serving abroad. Not only are you an asshat, but also un-american.
    • brockpetrie, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1I work in advertising, where our employees we need to interact with Fortune 500 clients daily (even hourly some days). I can honestly say that tattoos have never been a cause of problems.

      But if you'd rather the B- guy with no tats versus the A+ guy with the screaming eagles on his forearms, be my guest. Then at least I'll have a chance to hire him.
  • DforSpiD, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1I think i'm going to put a link to this on my resume
  • MasterThief117, on 10/11/2007, -0/+3Dammit, you are supposed to hide articles like these, until most of us diggers can get good jobs.
  • thebuggman, on 10/11/2007, -1/+1I didn't see "blatantly lie to candidates about describing job" or "lie about the amount overtime that will be required on a weekly basis".
    I could have saved myself some time with my last job if they had used those.

    Managers/Human Resource people: Forget all the nonsense you "learned" in that $49.99 business college, be honest, be forthcoming and tell it straight.
  • TheCount, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1Wow, I've had at least half of those "rules" broken at several interviews.
  • dave2112, on 10/11/2007, -0/+3Great.... I actually have to interview someone for a job in my department tomorrow. I might have to rethink my whole strategy.
  • DrAtheist, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1Sometimes asking personal questions is essential.
    I've just done a bunch of hiring, we do shift work, the work realy impacts on your free time out of work because of the 24x7 shift coveage, we need to know that people will handle this, also, they need to know what it's like and how it will effect them, because if we don't ask "will your soccer team suffer if you can't make 1 out of 3 meetings" we end up with absence problems, they end up unhappy and quitting.
    And personality has a lot to do with it, another essential is getting on with others, EXPECIALLY when it's shift work. You HAVE to be able to get on with the others when it's 4am and you're only halfway through a night shift.
  • tr0j, on 10/11/2007, -1/+0I dream of someone having basic Excel macro experience.
  • riflemann, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1Number one mistake is only having the manager ask the questions. Having recently joined a well known tech company, I've been introduced to their policy whereby the interviews are controlled by the peers of the position being interviewed. This allows those who know the job best to decide if the candidate knows the right stuff, rather than risk having a non-technical manager be fooled by a smooth talking but underskilled candidate.
  • Azzitizz, on 10/11/2007, -1/+0You forgot one.....No. 11.....Giving ME the job!
  • Tippis, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1...now combine this with the good old Joel suggestions (adapted to your personal field):
    http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/GuerrillaInterviewing3.html
  •  

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