3 Mistakes You Make to Scare Away Hiring Managers

3 Mistakes You Make to Scare Away Hiring Managers 3 Mistakes You Make to Scare Away Hiring Managers Your trip home from the job interview was relaxing because your interview went well. Or so you thought. In your mind, you were thinking, “Nailed it!” But the hiring manager was left thinking, “That interview was a waste of time.” How could this happen? You felt so confident in your answers! You know you can do the job better than anyone else! Here are some of the mistakes you had probably made that left the hiring manager not interested in speaking with you again. 3. You were too confident and stopped listening Hiring processes often involve a company presenting ideas and information about the company. This is the time to do more listening than speaking. If you constantly interrupted with answers, before hearing what the hiring manager had to say, at some point, the hiring manager started to think: “Does not listen. Has all the answers. Insecure. Difficult to work with.” When you are being interviewed, let the hiring manager speak. Even if you think you have all the answers, for this one discussion, forget everything you know. Let them tell you what they know. Think about it and then reply. Overconfidence is often perceived as insecurity, too. After all, why are you so focused on proving you know everything? All they need to know is that you can solve their problems. 2. Dismissing the hiring manager’s concern about your experience What if you have a series of jobs that only last a year for the last 5 years? What if you have an employment gap? The hiring manager will want to ask about it and has every right to do so. Instead of completely dismissing their concerns, address it with the hiring manager and explain what has happened. This does not mean you should go into the dark reasons behind why companies laid you off, or how you took a year off to deal with cancer. Instead, mention the reason and then shift the conversation to a discussion on how all of your experiences prepared you for this job. If you are not sure how your experiences have prepared you for this new job, it is important to have this figured out before the interview. 1. You came into the interview waiting to be told what to do People who tend to get hired and show passion in their interviews, do so by bringing ideas to the table. They do not come in and wait to hear what they will be doing and decide if they like it. They know prior to the interview: What they want How it fits the current stage of their career Ideas they have about the company and position based on their personal research This is also a good way for the job seeker to know immediately if this job is what they thought it was, or if applying was a mistake. More so, the company can tell if the job seeker’s understanding of the company mission is aligned with the company’s interpretation. It is a mistake to come into a job interview with nothing planned to avoid scaring off a hiring manager, yes, but also to make sure you do not end up in a job that will change again after a year.