Getting a job in a current period of time is a tedious task. One needs to do great efforts to land the dream job, even there are candidates who are best suitable than you.
There is so much competition in the market that you can’t afford unprofessional behavior and silly mistakes on your interview. But still you do many mistakes even without your knowledge, that are ruining your interview and a chance to get the job you deserve.
These mistakes can be avoided if you take care of few things and pay close attention to your habits.
There are mistakes you do in your everyday life that’s why you did not notice them when you go for an interview but these habits are unprofessional, and can cost you your potential job if you keep doing same mistakes for the interview you go.
You cannot hide your habits when all eyes on you and your each step is being watched. Now the question is what is these mistake or habits one should avoid to clear the interview and get the job?
To know what are these unprofessional interview habits, read our article. In this article, we are going to discuss these habits so that you can easily avoid them.
20 Bad Habits That Can Cost You Your Job:
1. Careless attitude:
The interview is an occasion or process where you cannot afford to be careless. Having a careless attitude in life is no big deal but demonstrating this attitude in an interview is no good.
One careless attitude usually shows in your CV where you make silly mistakes just because you are careless enough to ignore it, your CV is your first impression and it speaks volume for you, small mistakes like grammatical mistakes, formatting and spelling can put your resume in pile of no. Do proper formatting, spelling and grammar check before you forward your resume for the job.
2. Being late:
There are so many reasons why one person turns up late for an interview but turning up late is totally unprofessional and can cost you your job. Tardiness is common among us and one of our bad habits, turning up late for an interview is one great mistake.
Your interviewer is not a free person and his time is more valuable than yours, organize yourself and do necessary preparation a day before the interview so that nothing can hold you up and cause you to be late on your very important day. Punctuality is what matters the most when you go for an interview.
3. Poor hygiene:
No matter how much you hate to take a bath or spending time in the bathroom but going for an interview without taking a bath and cleaning yourself is a big no. Poor hygiene makes you unfit for the job.
Even if you have excellent qualification for the job, no organization wants an employee who cannot organize themselves and have bad odor who disturbs other from their work.
No matter what, whether you have a problem in your shower or water shortage in your area. take a shower before the interview and maintain proper hygiene.
4. Poor dress up:
Yes, your dressing sense can be the reason why you lose in an interview when you are the best candidate out there. Don’t go wearing something unfit, unmatched and totally unprofessional for the interview; also don’t go overly dressed as it may look like you don’t know anything about the company and its culture.
Wear your clothes according to the job you are giving an interview for not according to the job you already have. Your dress can work in your favor if you carry it properly and accordingly.
5. Drinking and smoking:
Don’t drink or smoke before your interview. Your smoking and drinking habit can make you total unfit for the job. Avoid smoking just before an interview as your interviewer can easily smell it on you.
So avoid this bad habit as it is not good for health as well as cause problem in your interview, while drinking can calm your nerves before interview it also makes you lose control on your sense and you may sound like an idiot in your interview. So avoid drinking and smoking especially before an interview.
6. Start texting in waiting time:
We understand that waiting is not the best pass time thing to do but it doesn’t mean that you start texting or using your phone when said to be a wait. No, it looks totally unprofessional as well as like you don’t care for the job.
If you are earlier than the scheduled time then wait patiently for an interview to start, don’t start using your mobile it will give the impression that you are better to be somewhere else rather than sitting here. You can use magazines, the paper present in the waiting room to pass the time.
7. Carrying loads of stuff:
Are you habitual of carrying everything with you? Yes then leave this habit immediately if you want to get a job.
It looks odd to carry your stuff with you and put a damp on your image as well as you don’t need most of the thing in your interview other than your portfolio and resume.
Leave your stuff like a laptop bag and other things in your car, put your cell phone away so that you can shake hands and leave your water bottle, coffee in the reception area.
8. Public grooming:
We agree with you, to look good and proper groomed is necessary, when you go to the interview, but public grooming? Avoid at any cost.
If you want to give a final touch up to your makeup and look, then arrive few minutes earlier than an interview and use the restroom to give the final touch. Don’t do public grooming it shows how netiquette you are.
9. Swearing:
You maybe have a habit of swearing when you are nervous or excited but swearing in your interview can lead you out of the queue for the job. Swearing also shows that you cannot deal with a situation like an adult and calmly. So avoid using the foul word in a public place so that you can avoid accidental swearing in front of your interviewer.
10. Too much talking:
It’s common for many people to talk more or without thinking when they are nervous or excited but doing this in your interview with your interviewer will do more bad than good.
It will look like you don’t have control over your tongue or the chances are you said something inappropriate.
Keep calm when you speak, don’t over think and never lose your control from the situation and from you as well as maintain focus on current situation without hyperventilating.
11. Negative attitude:
You may have many complaints about your former boss and organization but don’t say negative about your previous job as well as don’t present negative attitude like doubting your own abilities or see only bad in the complicated situation.
Your interviewer’s main focus is on you and it is easy to detect negative attitude in person so when you go for an interview show some smile, positive attitude, and enthusiasm for the job you apply for.
12. Oversharing:
The main reason for conducting an interview is to share information and get to know whether the job you applied for is suitable for you and you are the right ones for the job.
To do so interviewer and interviewee share information but, if you have a tendency to exaggerate things or share detailed information then this might cost you your job.
Over sharing can lead you to a tricky situation that’s why avoid sharing too much information especially your childhood.
13. Not doing homework:
In an interview, interviewer notice every tiny detail about you and the way you talk about job and company you applied for. Show how much homework you had done before coming for the interview.
Proper knowledge of job and organization shows that you are serious about the job and had done your work before applying rather than applying in desperation.
It is a good quality to know about job and company in detail before you go for an interview.
14. Interrupting:
The habit of interrupting when someone saying something may work with your friends and family but it is one bad habit that can cause you to lose job even before getting it.
Don’t interrupt others while talking especially in an interview as it shows that you don’t have any respect, patience or judgment.
Avoid doing it with your friends and family so that you can stop yourself from doing it accidentally.
15. Too informal:
We are not saying stick to strict formal but you can do a little to step up the conversation with your interviewer as he is the person going to decide whether you are getting your job or not.
Too formal or too informal both give the wrong impression on the person who has your job in his hand. Don’t go and say ‘hey, what’s up?’ as it is not the way to introduce, the interviewer is not your colleague or friend.
16. Embellishing:
Our elders say that lying is one bad habit which causes so many problems for you and in this case can cause you to lose your job.
Don’t lie or say something which you cannot do because when interviewer catches you red handed, it means total no for the job.
No argument, qualification, and a good personality can win you the job if you lie in front of your interviewer so avoid saying something which is not true.
17. Unprofessionalism:
Don’t show your casual behavior with your interviewer. Being too comfortable can lead you to behave like unprofessional so don’t forget that you are here to get a job and your job is in the hand of your interviewer. Behave like professional with confident but don’t overdo anything.
18. Too eager:
It is common to show enthusiasm for the job but coming as too eager might work against you in your interview. Show some patience and wait for the final answers, don’t go and ask ‘how do I do?’ and ‘do I getting the job?’ it will look like you are too desperate for the job and interviewer might think again for not selecting you.
19. Body language:
Our body does great work in saying what we didn’t say in words, gestures and movement talk loudly than you, so mind your body language.
Habits like shifting in seat continuously, shaking a leg, jiggling key or scratching head can give you away.
Don’t forget to make eye contact and sit straight while talking and control hand gestures while explaining something.
20. Shyness:
There is nothing wrong in being shy but in an interview, you shyness can do the wrong job. You interviewer can see your shyness as lack of confidence, incompetence, and insecurity which is not good when you are trying to get the job.
Conclusion:
Everyone have habits some good some bad but these habits play an important role in shaping our life, especially when you go for an interview. Your habits can lead you to the path of success or to the downfall, it totally depends on how you improve your bad one and include good one in your life. But, controlling these habits are in our hand and it can do wonder to your life as well as in the interview for the job you applied for, if you do control some habit of yours.
In this article, we have provided some common habits most have but look bad in an interview. We hope by reading this article you can improve and excel in your interview.
