t o p
10
a
reasons for
failing the
intervieW
By Lee Junkans
s a former recruiter, I have conducted thousands of campus interviews and had many conversations with various industry recruiters and senior executives regarding interview successes and
failures. They represent large, multi-national corporations as well as small and medium-sized
businesses. Provided below are the most common reasons for recruiters to reject applicants during the interview. I have added some thoughts on how to avoid these common pitfalls.
Working our Way to the
top of the list:
1
Unfamiliar with resume.
Amazingly, some applicants are surprised
by a question that the interviewer asks
regarding information on their resume.
An applicant may have forgotten that
a particular statement was on their
resume. This is very embarrassing and
not very impressive.
Corrective action: Know your resume
thoroughly and be able to defend every
statement made on it.
2
Poor academic record.
It's too late to change your grades
now. Be prepared for questions on
your grades and have a well-thought
out response. One-half of engineers,
lawyers, teachers and accountants
graduated in the bottom half of their
classes. The GPA is not a true measure
of what you learned nor is it an
indicator of how intelligent you are.
Corrective action: Throughout the entire
interview, demonstrate your knowledge
so you appear "smarter" than your GPA
might indicate. But don't overdo it.
Remember to be yourself.
3
Insufcient knowledge
of industry.
Employers vary here on what to expect.
In fnancial services, this is extremely
important. In most other industries,
the importance diminishes. It is always
important to remember that you want
to impress the interviewer more than
the other applicants.
20 Diversity Employers | DiversityEmployers.com | First Semester December 2013
Corrective action: Research the company,
the industry, competitors, and industry
trends. Keep in mind, it is important
to know the future of the industry
regarding its growth, international
competition and proftability, just to
name a few factors. Information on
the industry is very easy to fnd on
the Internet and in the library. Invest
2-3 hours and you will appear much
more impressive and confdent in the
interview.
4
Lack of leadership.
Employers do differ on the requirement
for leadership depending on the job
that is being flled. One thing is for
certain— previous leadership always
makes the applicant more valuable.
Corrective action: Explain in the interview