Job Interview Mistakes

Ask IT Recruiters About This Topic, Not Interviewers

IT recruiters are seeing more and more IT professionals who want some kind of flexible work or work-from-home arrangements in their next roles. Due to the nature of IT jobs, this is actually possible relatively often.  However, you can safely assume you’ll seriously hurt your chances of getting one of these jobs if you ask about it during the interview.

First, why do IT staffing companies advise against asking your interviewer about work-from-home and flexible hours arrangements?  IT recruiting firms don’t want you to ask about work-from-home and flexible hours perks in an interview because it suggests that your focus is on the perks (rather than the actual work, the team, the company, etc).  Interviewers want to see that you’re assessing if (and proving) that you’d succeed in the role.  They’re working with IT staffing agencies to find candidates who are a great fit for the work, the corporate culture, etc.  If you use the little time you have with an interviewer to focus on the perks (like flexible hours or work-from-home options) you won’t help your candidacy at all.

If IT recruiting companies don’t want you to ask interviewers about work-from-home and flexible work arrangements, how will you make sure you land a job with these benefits?  You can talk directly with your technical recruiters about it.  This is a big perk of working with IT staffing firms:  they want to know your wish list for your next job.  You can speak frankly with your IT recruiting agencies about your wish list and they work to negotiate on your behalf.  This lets you focus on advocating for your candidacy and landing your dream IT job.

 

Remote IT Jobs
Want to work remotely? Talk about it with your IT recruiters, rather than your interviewers. Photo credit: tookapic via Pixabay.

 

Don’t Ask About This in IT Job Interviews

IT recruiters often advise their candidates to have questions to ask at the end of interviews.  There are a lot of great questions your IT staffing firms want you to ask, but here’s one topic you should not ask about: vacation time andor your upcoming vacation plans.

Why do technical recruiters advise against asking about vacation time or asking if you’ll be able to take a vacation you’ve already scheduled?  There are few reasons.  Firstly, your time in interviews is precious.  Your IT recruiting agencies start by advocating for your candidacy, and you should consider pretty much every minute of your job interview your chance to do the same. Don’t waste that time asking about things you could clear up with your IT recruiting firms, like benefits and vacation time.

Secondly, when you ask about vacation time or talk about your upcoming vacation plans in your interviews, you’re actually hurting your chance of landing the IT jobs you’re interviewing for.   If you focus any of your questions on your vacation time, rather than the job itself, you give the impression that you’re not interested in the job.  Worse, you may even give the impression that you’re just generally lazy.

Lastly,  IT staffing agencies advise against asking about vacations because you may make the interviewer feel like you’re wasting their time.  Since IT staffing companies and human resources are often the ones who handle negotiations for vacation time and other benefits, it’s very possible your interviewer knows nothing about these items– nor do they likely care about them.  Add to that the fact that your interviewer is likely interviewing you on top of an already full day of work.  Any unnecessary questions you ask may actually make the interviewer feel that you aren’t valuing the time they have taken out of their day to talk to you.

 

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Ask your IT recruiters about vacation time, not your interviewers. Photo Credit: PublicDomainPictures via Pixabay.

 

 

Don’t Ignore These in IT Job Interviews

Sometimes in interviews for IT jobs, hiring managers bring up concerns they have about your candidacy.  It can be tempting to quickly wave off these concerns off, especially if they seem small or not legitimate to you. IT staffing firms would suggest you don’t ignore these, though.

Here’s why you can’t wave off an interviewer’s concerns:  IT recruiting companies don’t want you to respond in a cavalier way to an interviewer’s concerns because, even if it’s something that seems small, it probably has been an issue in the past for them.  It’s important to take these concerns seriously and respond to them thoughtfully.  IT staffing agencies would also caution that minimizing an interviewer’s concerns can make you look like you have poor communication skills or are generally difficult to manage.  IT professionals who succeed at their jobs are able to make the managers, end users, or clients they speak with feel heard.  They’re also willing to adjust their priorities to fit those of their team, company, client, etc. If you brush off a hiring manager’s concerns about your candidacy, you may be signaling that you’re not capable of any of these things.  That will certainly make it less likely that your interviewer tells your IT recruiters they want to move forward with you in the hiring process.

Here’s how IT recruiting agencies would suggest you respond if an interviewer expresses concerns about your candidacy.  Start by making sure you acknowledge them and show that you’re listening. Next, make sure you completely understand the concern.  If you’re unsure, ask for clarification.  Now move forward by making a case for why these concerns aren’t applicable to you, or what you’d do to compensate for them.  The more specific you can get here, the better.  Technical recruiters certainly see employers hire candidates they were initially unsure about.  These candidates are usually just excellent at advocating for themselves in interviews.

 

IT Job Interviews Concerns
Brushing off an interviewers concern can make it see like you have poor communication skills. Photo credit: Hans via Pixabay.

 

Avoid This Topic During IT Job Interviews

It’s rare for IT recruiters to work with candidates who aren’t at least a little nervous to interview for IT jobs. Even for candidates who have been interviewing for years, the process can still be uncomfortable.  IT staffing firms certainly see nervous candidates come through and land the job anyways.  The key is to appear calm and stay focused on performing well.  A big part of this is not talking about being nervous with your interviewer.

Why would IT recruiting firms strongly suggest that you not tell your interviewer you’re nervous? For some IT jobs, working under pressure at least occasionally is part of the job.  A job interview is a great time to demonstrate your ability to do this.  Even if it’s not an explicit part of the job description, IT staffing companies still suggest that appearing calm and giving your best performance in a job interview, a fairly high pressure situation, will still strengthen your candidacy.

Secondly, IT recruiting agencies would suggest you not talk to your interviewer about being nervous because it won’t look professional.  Professionals are able to focus on what’s important and put their feelings aside, even in uncomfortable situations.  Additionally, plenty of IT jobs also require good communication skills, whether with coworkers, end users, or managers.  Derailing an interview with a conversation about your nervousness might give your interviewer a bad impression of your communication skills.

So the next time you’re tempted to tell your interviewer about how you nervous you are, remember this advice from IT staffing agencies suggest and hold off.  Use your precious interview time to show your interviewer you’re a great candidate.

 

FocusITJobInterviews
Don’t let your nervousness derail your performance in IT job interviews. Photo credit: Lindsay_Jayne via Pixabay.

 

Don’t Let Tough Questions Sink You in IT Job Interviews

If you’re working with IT recruiting companies to find your next IT job, your IT recruiters will likely give you some idea of questions to prepare for before interviews.  Even with plenty of practice and research, most IT professionals do encounter some questions that are just uncomfortable to answer.  For instance, IT recruiting agencies often find that candidates who have been fired don’t enjoy answering ‘Have you ever been fired before?’  Here’s how IT staffing firms would suggest you deal with it if you get asked a question that you don’t feel good about answering.

  1. Don’t be vague or try to hide anything. Your technical recruiters don’t want you to spill your guts about every gory detail of a firing, unpleasant situation, weakness, etc.  However, they also want you to make your interviewer feel like you’re untrustworthy.  Interviewers can usually tell when you want to hide something, and they don’t give your IT staffing companies good feedback when that happens.
  2. Try to stay calm. You can guide how your interviewer feels about your answers to a question by appearing comfortable yourself.  If you are visibly nervous, ashamed, or upset by something, your interviewer is all the more likely to feel like it’s a bad thing.  IT staffing agencies want you to remember that everyone has flaws.  Seeing those flaws clearly and having a plan for how to work on them is what sets you apart.

Don’t assume your IT recruiting firms will always tell you that you lost IT jobs because you’ve had to divulge less than flattering info about yourself.  Whatever the question, there’s usually a way to respond to it honestly, but without reflecting poorly on you.  (For example, if you’ve been fired before, you can state that simply– and mention what you learned from it.)  It’s even possible to turn uncomfortable questions into an opportunity to show something positive about yourself as an IT professional.

 

Tough Questions IT Job Interviews
Don’t be afraid. If you’re calm and open, you can answer tough questions at your IT job interviews. Photo credit: SEVENHEADS via Pixabay.

 

Don’t Say This Phrase in Your IT Job Interviews

When you’re interviewing for IT jobs, there are plenty of clichés you may be temped to reach for.  IT recruiters can understand this.  Saying you’re a ‘team player’ or that you’ll ‘be the first one in and the last one out’ may actually be true.  The problem is that these clichés have become pretty meaningless.  IT staffing firms can guarantee it won’t help you at all in job interviews to reach for any of these common phrases.  Here is one particularly harmful one that IT staffing companies would suggest you avoid: ‘I’m a quick learner!’

Why will your IT recruiting companies want you to avoid saying this in your interviews?  As discussed above, the phrase has been rendered pretty meaningless.  You may make yourself look a bit unprepared for the interview or even damage your candidacy by using such a meaningless phrase.  Good candidates can speak about their assets in specifics and are often prepared with concrete examples of professional achievements.

If you’re tempted to say you’re a ‘quick learner’ or something along these lines, here’s what IT staffing agencies would suggest instead.  Take a breath and reach for an anecdote about a time you actually did this.  Was there a time you needed to learn a new programming language in a short time?  Was there a time you needed to assimilate quickly to a team’s processes?  By telling these stories, you’re demonstrating your value to your interviewer.  Not only that, but you’re doing so in a way that helps them imagine you in the role you’re interviewing for.  So at your next interview, remember that your IT recruiting agencies will be more likely to give you good news about your interview if you stay away from saying you’re a quick learner!

 

learningITJobInterviews
Can you tell a story about a time when you actually were a quick learner? Photo credit: Hans via Pixabay.

 

Avoid This Surprisingly Common IT Job Interview Mistake

IT recruiters often hear from the candidates they work with that they have been practicing ‘selling themselves’ for IT job interviews.  This is a pretty common tactic that many IT professionals have been told will land them the IT jobs they interview for.  Unfortunately, many IT staffing agencies see this advice carried out in a way that actually hurts candidates in interviews. Here’s what you need to avoid:

  1. Don’t focus so hard on selling yourself that you sound scripted and/or don’t satisfactorily respond to the interviewer’s questions. Sometimes technical recruiters will see a candidate work hard to craft and memorize a monologue about their technical background, soft skills, and achievements.  Don’t make this mistake.  Your interview will go much better if you can really participate in the conversation.  Of course you will highlight your abilities, communication skills, etc.  However, you need to be ready to do that in response to the questions the interviewer asks.  If you give interviewers something that feels like a sales pitch, it won’t feel like a comprehensive, thoughtful answer to their question.  Relying on a pre-prepared sales pitch means that your interviewers will be very likely to tell your IT recruiting agencies ‘no thanks’!
  2. Don’t forget that it’s not just about you! Selling yourself too hard can mean that you totally exclude the other important party here: your potential employers.  Unfortunately, IT staffing companies often hear about candidates blowing the interview this way.  Your IT recruiting firms need you to showcase your own assets as an employee, but they also need you to show that you’ve thought about why this company, IT job, team, work, etc is a great fit for you.  Take time to speak to why you’re interested in this role or this company.  Explain why you think you’d be happy and succeed with this employer.  Show off the research you’ve done on this company, its work, market, etc.  If you don’t talk about the company you’re interviewing with, you can count on your IT staffing firms letting you know you didn’t get the job!

 

ITJobInterviewSellYourself
Don’t make ‘selling yourself’ the sole focus in IT job interviews! Photo credit: TooMuchCoffeeMan via Pixabay.

 

 

2 Ways to Relax Before IT Job Interviews

IT staffing firms see firsthand that plenty of IT professionals get nervous before interviews— no matter how many IT jobs they’ve had. Here are two tactics that might help you relax before your IT recruiters send you to your interviews.

1. The first tactic that IT recruiting agencies would recommend is to stop playing the ‘what if’ game. You don’t have to be in IT to know what this means, because most people play the ‘what if’ game at some point in their lives. This involves letting your mind wander to all the negative possible outcomes of a circumstance. It’s particularly easy to think this way before your IT recruiting firms send you on an interview, as you need to perform well. You’ll actually do much better, though, if you don’t allow your mind to winder as much. Remember that your IT staffing companies wouldn’t send you for the interview if you weren’t qualified for the job. Remember the preparation and practice you’ve done for this interview. You may even want to try meditating for a bit before the interview, as this is shown to reduce stress. Focus on performing in the interview, rather than anticipating all the ways you’ll mess up.

2. Remember that the worst case scenario still isn’t that bad. Your IT staffing agencies will continue to send you for interviews if you don’t land this job. Your IT recruiting companies don’t want you to approach interviews too casually. However, it’s easier to relax and perform well when you remember that you won’t land every IT job you interview for—and that’s ok.

 

IT job interviews stress
Consider trying mediation before IT job interviews to reduce stress. Photo credit: Meditation geralt via pixabay.

 

The IT Job Interview Challenge That Doesn’t Look Like a Challenge

Most IT professionals are trying to prepare for the challenges they’ll face as they interview for IT jobs.  They prepare for the technical and non-technical questions that their IT recruiters anticipate.  They prepare so they won’t be late for their interviews, even if there’s bad traffic or bad weather.  (Because lateness is a cardinal sin to hiring managers and IT staffing firms).  They practice with family members, friends, or technical recruiters so that their nervousness can’t overwhelm them.  But here’s a challenge that you may not even recognize as a challenge: a very friendly interviewer.

How is a friendly interviewer a challenge?  Your IT recruiting agencies probably won’t warn you about this.  Nor do most tip sheets for interviews.  In fact, this sounds like a nice thing.  The truth is, though, a friendly interviewer can make you feel comfortable enough that you make a couple key mistakes.

One of the worst mistakes you might make with a friendly interviewer is losing your professionalism.  You want to make sure that, while you’re not overly stiff or unpleasant, you don’t forget to be your best, most professional self.  Never curse or tell inappropriate jokes.  Even if you have a great connection with the interviewer, they still aren’t your friend in that moment.  Don’t treat them like a friend.  Treat them like somebody you must impress.

The second mistake, one that IT staffing companies find is easier to recover from, is talking too much and/or getting off track.  Again, this is all about remembering that your interviewer is somebody to impress.  Stay focused in your answers.  Highlight the important points and relay that you have the qualities and technical background to succeed in the job.  When you go off on a long tangent about one thing (especially something irrelevant, like small talk) you are losing time to strengthen your candidacy.  Don’t let a friendly interviewer tempt you to spend 20 minutes talking about your hobbies! It’s important to remember that your IT recruiting firms don’t want you to totally skip small talk.  Some small talk is important because it shows that you are a pleasant, easy person to work with.  But your IT recruiting companies won’t hear that you got the IT job unless you keep your eyes on the prize in your interview.

 

IT job interviews
Don’t let a friendly interviewer let you lose your focus in IT job interviews. Photo credit: ArtWithJustin via Pixabay.

 

 

Why It’s Important to Be Pleasant in IT Job Interviews

When your IT recruiters help you prepare for job interviews, they’ll usually go over things like what technologies you should brush up on or the main responsibilities of the role.  What your IT staffing companies probably assume (and hope) you already know about are the soft skills necessary for interviewing for IT jobs.  Probably one of the most important things you must do in IT job interviews is be pleasant.

Why is this important?  There are two main reasons.  Firstly, you need to make sure your interviewer can see that you’ll be pleasant to work with.  Your IT recruiting firms will already have made a case for you as a strong candidate because of your technical skills and experience.  When you go into the interview, your job is to build on that impression, then show that you’ve got the necessary soft skills for the job.  On a very basic level, this means having great communication skills and a positive attitude.  If you’re not pleasant at your interview, you’re failing on this very important part.

The second reason you need to be pleasant at your IT job interviews is because you want to make the interview process easier on your interviewer.  Just as interviewing is hard for you, it may be difficult for your interviewer.  They may be taking time away from an already full plate to interview candidates.  They may get nervous, just as you do.  Bringing the right demeanor and attitude to your interview will make the process much better for your interviewer.  The better you make this process for your interviewer, the more likely it is that your IT staffing agencies will hear that you got the job!

 

Unpleasant in IT job interviews
Don’t leave your smile at home. Being pleasant is imperative in IT job interviews. Photo credit: dilsileimonteiro via Pixabay.