Articles From the Team
15 ways to turn off your interviewer
- Turning up late and not apologising.
- Lack of eye contact when speaking/listening.
- Limp handshake.
- Taking so many notes that the interviewer only sees the top of your head.
- Making your first question a negative one: “What are the challenges when working at this organisation?”
- Not giving a direct answer to a direct question/being too verbose.
- Not opening up/revealing your personal side – being too business-like.
- Making the whole interview like getting blood out of a stone.
- Being on the arrogant side of confident.
- Being overly negative about your current place of work.
- Bringing your baggage to the interview... No matter how many times we told one lawyer not to talk about needing to get a lift to interviews by family and friends due to a short term health problem it was always the first thing they mentioned… Instant red flag – how will they get to work every day?
- Taking an ‘important’ phone call during the meeting/not turning your phone to silent.
- At first interview - focussing on the salary and package of the role, or asking questions like how many holiday days do you offer?
- Knowing very little about the company you’re interviewing at.
- ‘Smart’ answers. For example, Q from interviewer: What excites you about this role? Interviewee: “I don’t know, I’ve not done it yet.”
Sadly, this is just a small selection – we hear many other reasons why applicants don’t make the grade. Part of our role as legal recruitment consultants is to help you get ‘interview ready’.
Other blogs
Body language – how to make a great first impression at a job interview