JobsBroadway Career Blog

You ruin your interview when…

I have been running a couple of interviews recently for our head hunting team and also our in house hiring. I notice 80% of the potential applicants was rejected during their first contact with the employer.

From many years of experience interviewing and hiring, I can tell a person is fit to work from the first few minutes of talking to him/her on the phone.

Due to economic downturn, talents are overflow. If you can’t grab the employer attention, they could easily find someone else better.

When is your first contact?

Many jobseekers misundertsood “First Contact”. First contact doesn’t mean the first face to face interview. First contact starts when the HR manager finally decided to invite you for a formal interview. Usually, they will conduct a short phone interview with you.

I rejected a big number of candidate during the First Contact. Today, I’ve decided to make a good summary on :

Types of candidate I reject through  First Contact:

1. Unresponsive candidate: Most common symptom would be a long silence over the phone, even how hard that I’ve tried probing them to talk more but to no avail.

2. Dull and lifeless candidate: When they answer to your question, they sounded as though they’ve just woke up from sleep.

3. Rude candidate: Answer your question with a question. Such as:”(In an irritated tonality) I thought I have written clearly on my resume about my pass working experience?”. Trust me, I got this many times, and this is the most unbearable.

4. Unprepared candidate: You should be very sensitive when there’s a land-line incoming call (your mobile shows: 03-778xxxxx, 06-62xxxxx, 04-22xxxx etc). Most of the time, employer will call through a fixed line, they seldom call through their mobile phone, unless there’s special circumstance. Prepare how you should answer those phone call.

5. Candidate who can’t recall what job they’ve applied for: Sadly, I can’t appreciate candidate who don’t know what job they’ve applied for. This leaves an impression that they’ve applied for many other jobs (maybe hundreds of them) and they don’t have a clear direction of their career.

6. Candidate who lied: Those who kept rejecting your interview invitations with all sorts of excuses, but don’t have the courage to tell the employer that they are no longer interested in the job. Why can’t they just tell straight off and stop wasting everyone’s time?

7. Candidate who asked about salary: I am very particular about candidate who asked about their salary during the First Contact. It shows that they are not keen about anything but their money.

8. Candidate who can’t express themselves clearly: Poor English is a put off at times, but to me I can still take it so long they show interest towards the job. But to most big MNCs, they won’t.

To be frank, not many jobseekers realize that the interview has started when we first call. If you want the job, be prepared when you clicked on that “Apply” button.

Tags: Interview Tips, Job Hunting, most common interview mistakes, ruin chance