VoltInsider

Interview Kisses of Death

May 15th, 2010

I observe a lot of job interviews at Microsoft and other technical companies. All too often I see technically qualified candidates do poorly in an interview. Sometimes very, very poorly. There are a handful of “Interview Kisses of Death” — things that if you do them in an interview, almost guarantee that you will not get a job offer. And these kisses of death are surprisingly common. The number one kiss of death in an interview is coming across as being needy or desperate. No matter how qualified you are, if you present an air of desperation, even very faintly, you will certainly not get a job offer. There are two things going on here. First, any hiring manager will believe that a needy candidate wants the job just to pay his/her bills, not because the candidate is passionate about the job and company. After technical competence and ability to work in a group, the most important characteristic any employee can have is a true interest and passion for their work. The second issue with a needy candidate is psychological. A needy employee is likely to require lots of attention. And nobody has time to devote to employee baby sitting. The last thing a hiring manager wants is to be hearing about an employee’s financial troubles, personal relationship troubles, and so on. This is true of life in general — we want to surround ourselves with people who can inspire and motivate us, and make us better. And hiring managers are no different from anybody else in this regard. The bottom line is this: go into a job interview with the state of mind that the interview is a conversation, not some sort of test. Sure you need the job, but understand that most interviews do not lead to a job offer. Relax in your interview and you will have much better results.

Entry Filed under: Interviewing