4 Things to Avoid As You Job Search

4 Things to Avoid As You Job Search

By Angela Wahome,
Ever had one of those moments when you feel like you just did an “open mouth insert foot” move? Happens every so often. I remember once being interviewed and after I answered a question, a lady on the interview panel burst out laughing and giggled till the end of the interview. I had no idea what she was giggling about, I smiled and soon the interview ended. I was dismayed as I left. I was pleasantly surprised when I was told to report in a month. Not all things work out so well. Many times slip ups can cost you the chance to get a job.
There are some things that you may be doing that end up pushing the Human Resource Manager away by turning them off. In your job search, you may have the commitment that you will do anything and everything you can to land a position. Don’t make these mistakes.
1. Don’t just talk
When you are going in for a job interview it is a chance for the HR manager to be able to get to know you better with regard to the position that you are applying for. The interview, being a conversation, should give them time to ask you questions and explore your answers to see it you are the good fit for the vacancy. Keep your answers focused, short but detailed. If you talk from start to finish, you’ve not engaged the other person. Be sure to listen and engage the other person in conversation.
2.  Don’t have a bad attitude
One of the things that we are trying to evaluate in an interview is whether we can work with you or not. Impressing the HR manager is great. However, if you had a conversation in the reception about inappropriate matters or  spent most of the time telling candidates about the last horrible interview that you had with a particular recruiter from this organization. You may be locking yourself out of a job. Bad attitude shows. In fact, it could be the single reason that you don’t land the job that you want to have. If you have a bad attitude, such as downplaying your skills, you’ll end up giving the other person in that job interview or in that networking opportunity the wrong idea.
3. Don’t pretend
This is not the place to pretend to be someone/something that you are not. Be yourself. Let your personality come out during a job interview. Don’t make claims of job skills that you do not have. Remember most jobs have a probation period during which you can be relieved of your job if you are not able to do it. Don’t try to put on a fake personality. The job interviewer will see this and it may end up hurting not help your job search.
4. Don’t drop names
You walk into the human resource department and demand to see the Head of Department, or say “Director Gitau told me you will interview me and I’m in a hurry can you do it now!” That’s not going to help you and it may, in the end, hurt your chances of finding a job. It may leave the HR feeling belittled which or coerced into interviewing you, both sentiments are not the best for them to have when they meet you for the first time.
Once you have prepared a good job search, you have the opportunity to keep learning as you move forward. Learning from the results of your job search and tracking its’ progress can help you improve and make sure that you prepared to do well every step of the way.