Tips & Advice

What not to do in an interview

    • Don't make excuses. Take responsibility for your decisions and your actions.
    • Don't make negative comments about previous employers or professors (or others).
    • Don't falsify application materials or answers to interview questions.
    • Don't treat the interview casually, as if you are just shopping around or doing the interview for practice. This is an insult to the interviewer and to the organization.
    • Don't give the impression that you are only interested in an organization because of its geographic location.
    • Don't give the impression you are only interested in salary; don't ask about salary and benefits issues until the subject is brought up by your interviewer.
    • Don't act as though you would take any job or are desperate for employment.
    • Don't make the interviewer guess what type of work you are interested in; it is not the interviewer's job to act as a career advisor to you.
    • Don't be unprepared for typical interview questions. You may not be asked all of them in every interview, but being unprepared looks foolish.
    • A job search can be hard work and involve frustrations; don't exhibit frustrations or a negative attitude in an interview.
    • Don't go to extremes with your posture; don't slouch, and don't sit rigidly on the edge of your chair.
    • Don't assume that a female interviewer is "Mrs." or "Miss." Address her as "Ms." unless told otherwise. Her marital status is irrelevant to the purpose of the interview.
    • Don't chew gum or smell like smoke.
    • Don't allow your cell phone to sound during the interview. (If it does, apologize quickly and ignore it.) Don't take a cell phone call. 
    • Don't take your parents, your pet (an assistance animal is not a pet in this circumstance), spouse, fiancé or friends to an interview