Things Not to Say At An Interview

Have you ever considered what you shouldn't say at an interview? Let's face it going to an interview is stressful and you do not want to say something that will put you at a disadvantage. Interviews are the first impression that the company has of you personally except for your resume. They give them an insight to who you are and if you could work together. Here are a few questions that will cause concern for a prospective employer.

Work Performance Questions

• Can I see the break room? Yes, people have asked this question. The interviewer will mostly likely think immediately that your time off is more important to you. Let's face it. We do want that valuable time off from work but we don't want to mention it to them right away.
• What does your company do? There is absolutely no reason for you not to have learned about the company before the interview itself. In today’s world, there are too many tools and sources available to you that can provide this information without asking the interviewer. By asking this question, you are telling the employer that you are not invested enough in the idea of working for their company. They will believe that this is directly related to how your work performance will be.
• How many warnings do you give before you are fired? Red alert. Red flags will instantly fly before the interviewer's eye. You are basically telling them that you are not the ideal candidate for their company.

The next set of questions, I like to call slow down questions. These are questions that you can ask later on in the process of interviewing but should never be asked in the beginning. The interviewer is only at this point thinking about what you can do for the company and finding out if you are the ideal candidate for the position. They do not want to think that it is all about you. Even if you think it is.

Slow Down Questions

• Do you pay for me to go back to school? Instantly, you are saying to the interviewer that you want personal growth which is great. Unfortunately the drawback to that is that they need to know that you are going to put your best performance into working for them.
• What health coverage is there? While this is a great question when you are later in the interview process, it is not a great question in the beginning. The interviewer is more interested in what you can do for them not what they can do for you.
• How do you pay? Do you use direct deposit? Slow down... Don’t put the cart before the horse. You need to get the interviewer to want to talk about that directly. Not tell them that you only care about the money.
• How much vacation or personal time do you give? You haven't even gotten the job offer yet. You already are telling the employer that you want to know how much time you get off.

The next area is things that I like to call personal blunder statements. This is where you are letting the interviewer know more about your personal life than they should know. Let's get you in the door before they find out everything.

Personal blunders statements

• I need this job because my mortgage is due and I have no money. First off, do not try to get the sympathy of an interviewer. This is most cases will backfire on you. You have just told them that you are bad with finances and/or your personal life. They will think that this will correlate to your work with them.
• My last employer was the worst employer I have ever had because.... This is a golden rule. Do not talk about your past employer in a negative fashion. It will make the interviewer think about what you would be saying about them if something was wrong. They will begin to wonder if you are a team player. This could destroy your chances of getting on with this company.
• Do not speak of your current income. By talking about your current income in the first interview unless you are being offered the job right then, you are giving the prospective employer the opportunity to offer you a lot less money.

Interviews are hard to do. The best thing you can do for yourself is to be prepared. Your dream job is out there.

Good luck to you.