Common interview mistakes (2024)

FAQs

Common interview mistakes? ›

Outline your mistake

Start your response by explaining your past mistake. Remember to take accountability for your actions and choose a situation that you were able to fix. It's best to discuss minor mistakes rather than large ones. Focus on work-related mistakes rather than personal situations.

Outline your mistake

Start your response by explaining your past mistake. Remember to take accountability for your actions and choose a situation that you were able to fix. It's best to discuss minor mistakes rather than large ones. Focus on work-related mistakes rather than personal situations.

In a job interview, every word counts. Even one bad answer could kill your chances at getting hired, Eric Yaverbaum, CEO of Ericho Communications, tells CNBC Make It. Yaverbaum has interviewed thousands of candidates throughout his 40-plus year career as a public relations expert.

The first step is to choose a relevant and recent failure example that relates to the job or the skill you're applying for. You want to show that you have faced similar situations or challenges before and that you have learned from them. Avoid choosing a failure that is too trivial, too personal, or too catastrophic.

When recruiters ask “what is your greatest weakness,” they are looking to see if you are honest, self-aware, and willing to improve. Answer “what is your greatest weakness” by choosing a skill that is not essential to the job you're applying to and by stressing exactly how you're practically addressing your weakness.

Use the STAR method to answer behavioral questions, like “Can you share a time when…” STAR stands for situation, task, action, and result and is meant to help you structure your answers to those questions.

Choose a regret that reflects on your professional skills and growth. Next, seek a relatable experience. Pick a regret that might be common within the industry or the specific role you're applying for. This helps the interviewer empathize and see your growth as relevant to their context.

Sample Answers of a Senior professional:

One of the things that I didn't do well enough was to delegate tasks effectively. I tried to do too much myself and I ended up getting overwhelmed. This caused me to miss a few deadlines and it also put a lot of stress on my team.

How do you know if you blew an interview? ›

It's entirely possible to recover from a bad interview. It's an opportunity to demonstrate how you handle setbacks too. Say you made more minor mistakes such as being too vague about your weaknesses or forgetting to mention a volunteer experience on your CV. There's no point in stressing over it.

Interview answers should be 30 seconds to four minutes, depending on the context of the questions. Your response may be short (30 seconds to two minutes) if the question is simple. For example, if the hiring manager asks you to describe your strengths, you might speak for 90 seconds to explain where you're proficient.

So as a recap, the four answers that you can give when being asked, what are your greatest weaknesses, are, I focus too much on the details, I've got a hard time saying no sometimes, I've had trouble asking for help in the past, and I have a hard time letting go of a project.

Research has indicated that interviewers make decisions about candidates very quickly, in fact in the first 30 seconds to 2.5 minutes. This tendency to make initial judgments, positive or negative, about a candidate in those first few moments is called 'first impression error'.

You want your example of a mistake to be honest. However, it's a good idea not to mention a mistake that would be critical for success in the new position. For instance, give an example from your last position that isn't specifically related to the job requirements for the new position.

Provide a Brief Highlight-Summary of Your Experience

The best way to answer "Tell me about yourself" is with a brief highlight-summary of your experience, your education, the value you bring to an employer, and the reason you're looking forward to learning more about this next job and the opportunity to work with them.

Employers will be evaluating your attitude and communication skills during an interview. One of the biggest mistakes you can make during an interview is failing to match the interviewer's communication style.