This document lists and describes 14 common mistakes people make during job interviews. Some of the key mistakes highlighted include criticizing a previous employer, which can make the candidate seem negative; failing to provide concrete examples and results when answering interview questions; and providing inappropriate references such as family members instead of professional contacts. The document stresses the importance of researching the company beforehand, making a good impression on social media, dressing appropriately for interviews, and showing how you can meet the company's needs.

1. Free ebook
Top 14 common mistakes
in job interviews
2017

3. Job interview checklist:
• behavioral interview
• situational interview
• types of interview questions
• interview thank you letters
• Mistakes in job interview
• Things to do after job interview

4. Useful free ebooks for your job interview:
• http://jobinterview247.com/free-ebook-145-interview-questions-and-answers
• http://jobinterview247.com/free-ebook-top-22-secrets-to-win-every-job-interviews

5. 1. Criticizing a Previous Employer
Putting down the company you’re trying
to leave or one you’ve worked for in the
past gives off the impression you’re a
negative person who can’t let go of the
past. It also may make people wonder
what you’d say about their company if
they hire you.
Also, “it's not a good sign if you're saying
really mean things about your old boss,”
says Jacob Shriar, a growth manager at
Officevibe. “It doesn't make you look
good.”

6. 2. Missing Opportunities to Prove Yourself
Interviewers will ask questions that give you the
chance to demonstrate your qualifications and
show you have what it takes to do the job.
“Failure to answer questions with ESR (Example,
Specifics, Results) responses,” is a failure to
make the most of the interview, says Hank Boyer,
president and CEO of Boyer Management Group.
“Most questions offer you the opportunity in your
answer to provide the interviewer with specific,
relevant examples of you accomplishing some
type of measurable result that benefited the
employer,” says Boyer. “This requires you to
have done your homework ahead of time, and to
accurately portray what happened, so that when
the employer verifies your story with prior
employers, it matches what you said.”

7. 3. Providing the Wrong Recommendations
When you first hit the job market, it’s easy to think
you don’t have any connections who could serve as
professional recommendations. The answer is not
to use your mom, your uncle or some other
personal contact as a reference.
“When graduating from high school or college one
thinks they don't know anyone and therefore don't
have references they can use,” says Carolyn R.
Owens, founder and president of Infinity
Coaching. “They decide to bring to the interview a
letter from their parents stating how great of a son
or daughter they are; this does not go over well
with hiring managers and the candidate is not taken
seriously.”

8. 4. Setting Yourself Up to Fail on Social Media
Social media is part of the process
companies use to vet prospective
employees these days. Before you walk
into an interview, there’s a good chance
your prospective employer is looking at
your Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin,
Tumblr, Google +, and other social
media accounts. If they don’t like what
they see, your interview may be doomed.
“Posting on social media sites how you
have interviewed countlessly
unsuccessfully or a picture of you
partying the night before an interview,”
says career coach Chantay Bridges.
“This is not what a potential employer
wants to see” and it’s not doing you any
favors.

9. 5. Bringing Children Along
This may seem obvious, but career coach
Jill MacFadyen says she once saw a “man
[arrive] for the interview with a toddler.
He had on a leather jacket. The toddler
had no socks and no jacket, and it was
cold.”
The leather jacket and the toddler weren’t
the biggest problems, though. “In
general, big mistakes are not showcasing
how you meet the company needs,” says
MacFayden. If you show up late,
improperly dressed, without having done
research, or even with a child in tow,
you’re showing the company exactly why
they don’t need you instead of what they
could gain by accepting you for the
position.