Confessions from an Interviewer: My Top 5 Pet Peeves of Job Interviews

The transcription is about the host discussing her pet peeves as an interviewer during job interviews. She emphasizes the importance of being prepared, arriving on time, and being concise in responses. She also briefly mentions her recent trip to Lisbon, Portugal. Pet peeves is on the agenda for today. As someone who interviews dozens of people every week still for my day job, it's easy to see patterns and see things that come up repetitively. And so, it therefore becomes pretty easy to have some things that kind of drive you crazy. So, today's episode is all about pet peeves of interviewers. And I want to help you so that you can avoid these and make a better impression during your job interview. So, yeah, today's episode is the top five pet peeves of yours truly, the interviewer. Hope you enjoy. Hey there, you professional, ambitious, working mama. Welcome to the Christian Career Coach Podcast. Do you want to achieve remarkable success and experience unwavering faith in your professional journey? Do you find yourself up late at night searching for answers on how to make more money, maintain a positive work-life balance, and achieve exponential career growth? Do you wake up with big, ambitious goals only to feel overwhelmed and uncertain when faced with setbacks, frustrations, and unexpected challenges? Well, you're in the right place. I'm Susan Edwards, and on this podcast, we tackle those exact concerns head-on. We dive deep into strategies to propel your income, accelerate your career growth, and help you align your work with your faith. So, if you're tired of feeling stuck and you're ready to embrace extraordinary success, unwavering faith, and a purposeful life, then join me on the Christian Career Coach Podcast. Together, we'll navigate the obstacles, find clarity amidst chaos, and unlock your true potential. Get ready for inspiration, actionable advice, and powerful insights that will empower you to conquer your fears and create the fulfilling career you've always dreamed of. Let's walk this transformative journey together. Welcome to the Christian Career Coach Podcast, where ambition meets faith and your dreams find their wings. Hey, amazing listeners. I want to share an exciting opportunity that can help you thrive in your career while aligning with your Christian values. As a devoted Christian Career Coach, I offer personalized one-on-one coaching sessions designed to empower you to achieve remarkable career growth, maintain a healthy work-life balance, and increase your salary. If you find yourself yearning for more money, missing certifications, or lacking certain job qualifications, I'm here to guide you through the process. With my expertise and faith-based approach, we'll address these challenges head-on and help you overcome them. Together, we'll develop strategies to bridge the gaps and position you for success. Work-life balance is crucial, especially for Christian moms with ambitious career goals. I understand the importance of maintaining harmony between your personal and professional life. Through my coaching program, you'll learn practical techniques to prioritize what truly matters, ensuring you can excel in your career while still nurturing your family and faith. Now let's talk about career growth and the desire for a higher salary. I am here to help equip you with the tools and insights you need to advance in your profession and increase your earning potential. With personalized guidance and a faith-based perspective, we'll unlock opportunities for growth, help you negotiate your worth, and create a path that aligns with your aspirations and Christian principles. To take the first step towards transforming your career, I invite you to book a free 30-minute career clarity call with me. During this call, we'll dive into your goals, address any obstacles, and explore how Christian career coaching can accelerate your journey. Don't let missing certifications or qualifications, work-life balance concerns, or stagnant salary hold you back. Together, we'll navigate these challenges and unlock your God-given potential. To book your free career clarity call, simply visit my website at www.ForwardsCareerServices.com. Let's embark on this transformative journey towards more money, career growth, work-life balance, and a higher salary, all while staying rooted in your Christian faith. I can't wait to connect with you and guide you towards the abundant career you deserve. Visit www.ForwardsCareerServices.com today and take the leap towards a fulfilling and prosperous professional life. Hey, hey, friends. We are talking about my pet peeves. Yes, that is right. As someone who does conduct so many interviews, it is easy to develop some pet peeves. So I want to share those with you all, and hopefully you can take away from it some tips on what not to do in your next job interview so that you can make a better first impression. But before we dive in, I actually want to give you guys a little update because these episodes are starting to become few and far between, and I apologize for that. My goal is to definitely release a new episode every week. However, I was able to travel recently to Lisbon, Portugal for work, and I have to tell you, if you've ever considered a vacation or any kind of trip to Portugal, I would highly, highly, highly recommend it. It was an amazing trip. Not only was the work part of the trip very productive and came back with just a massive amount of positive leads and business partnerships and everything that we intended to do, we were able to successfully do for work. However, when we were not in the conference part, we were able to walk around and have dinner and just enjoy the sights and the people and the food and the wine, and it was so, so lovely there. The weather was also perfect. It didn't rain at all while we were there. It actually rained on the day that we were flying out, the day that we left. So I would highly, highly recommend it. And if you've never even considered Portugal for a vacation, let this be your sign to start thinking about it, because, yeah, I was definitely caught off guard with how much I liked it there. I was not ready to come home, which normally I am. Now, don't get me wrong. I missed my kids. I missed my family. I was ready for my memory foam pillow and my bed and everything, but, yeah, just the whole ambiance there, and, yeah, it was great. I mean, yeah, I can't say enough great things about it. So I would say check it out. I also heard a statistic when I was there, and I haven't actually researched this, so I'm not sure if this is accurate or not, but I've heard that Portugal is now the number one country to retire in. It had surpassed Costa Rica, and so many people are actually moving there to retire, and I had no idea. But now I do, and so if you want to check it out and let me know if that's actually accurate or not, please do. I want to know. I want to know for sure. So now it's time to talk about some pet peeves. So for my full-time day job, I have to interview a lot of people for potential J-1 visas. It's a training program, you know, here in the U.S., so I am interviewing international either professionals or international students that are looking to come here for a training program or an internship, and I conduct a lot of interviews. Not only now, but I always have. As an HR professional, that's kind of what we do. It's our job to conduct interviews. So I would say that I am a very well-seasoned interviewer at this point. And to top my list, I've got my top five pet peeves, and I want to top this with my number one, and that is, well, I don't know. Is it my number one? Because there's some other ones that are on my list that I would say they're all pretty even. So let's dive in. My first one, being unprepared. I cannot stand it when candidates have not done their homework. That means you haven't researched the company, you really didn't go back through and read through the role that you had applied for, or the industry. If you're not familiar with the industry that you're even applying in, that is very, in my opinion, it's rude. It's rude for you to waste the time of the person that is conducting the interview by not being prepared. It really is. So it's a lack of professionalism if you're not prepared. It's very, very essential for you to demonstrate that you're interested and you have knowledge about the position for which you are applying. So let that be a sign for you. In your next job interview, make sure you do your research, know the company that you're going to interview with, and know the role as well as the industry that you are talking to them about. So my first pet peeve, of course, is being unprepared. My second one is arriving late or if you're just plain disorganized. Punctuality is crucial if you're trying to impress somebody. If you want to show how professional you are, then be on time. Be early. I've talked about this in several other episodes, and it's important that you're punctual for your interview. If you're late for an interview or if you appear disorganized, it really does create a negative first impression. You want to plan out your journey in advance. You want to arrive on time, and you want to bring all your necessary documents and materials with you. Yes, that means print out a hard copy of that old resume. And if you're going for one of those higher-level roles and you need a portfolio of things, make sure you have everything with you that they could ask you about. So that's my second pet peeve, arriving late or just being disorganized. Now, my third pet peeve is a lack of clarity or conciseness. I can really appreciate clear and concise communication from an applicant. If you start to ramble or give long-winded answers or even if you go off on a tangent, it can be really frustrating. This can turn an interview from 15 minutes to 50 minutes. And when my day gets backed up because of that, I'm associating those feelings with you. I'm frustrated because my day is now backed up because I listened to long-winded answers, the interview lasted a lot longer than I anticipated or than it needed to be because you were rambling or because you went off on a tangent about something. So make sure you practice answering those common interview questions and you can provide relevant details in your answers. Make sure not to ramble, don't give those long-winded answers, and do not go off on tangents. All right. My fourth pet peeve is one that every interviewer has. And there is a proper way to discuss this. But the fourth pet peeve is when it comes to your previous employers, if you have any negativity or if you badmouth them, that is a red flag. As an interviewer, that's something that is going to raise a red flag for me because no matter what, something is going to make you not happy in your role. I mean, it could be the way your coworker chews their food to you have to be in the office five days a week and your last job you only had to be in the office three days a week. It can be any of those things. But if you're complaining about previous employers or any previous colleagues, it really does reflect poorly on your professionalism. So even if you had a lot of negative experiences, even if the entire experience alone was negative, focus on the positive aspects and what it taught you. So think about what you learned from those situations and speak to that rather than the actual experience that you have those negative feelings associated with. All right. And then my last pet peeve, this is an easy one to get around. So there's no reason for somebody to not ask questions. That's my fifth pet peeve, not asking questions. At the end of an interview, anytime you're given the chance to ask questions, I expect you to have some. The person that is interviewing you is expecting you to have some questions. If you don't ask questions, it can signal a lack of interest or it could be that you're just not prepared for the interview. So you want to think about your interview in advance and you want to be able to prepare some thoughtful questions that demonstrate your genuine interest either in the role or the company. So try to ask something that hasn't been discussed throughout the interview or maybe that's the only question that you had. And so you want to state that at the end. And you say, well, I did want to ask you about X, Y, and Z, but you mentioned ABC about it. Is there anything else that you could tell me about it? You can always have them elaborate more on whatever that question was. There's an easy way to find questions. Think about it, though. I mean, you want to think about everything that this job means to you. It means a paycheck. It means your work-life balance. It means your commute. It means the camaraderie between you and your coworkers. It is, are you going to have any coworkers or are you a team of one? You want to know how long the position has been vacant. What happened with the person that had the position before you? Is it a new position? If it is, why is it new? There are so many questions that you can think of to ask that not asking any questions raises that red flag for me again. So I want to recap my top five pet peeves. As an interviewer, these are the things that drive me crazy. And so if you can beat these things in your next job interview, you'll make a much better first impression. So my first one is to be unprepared. If you're unprepared, that's pet peeve number one. Number two is arriving late or being disorganized. Pet peeve number three is lack of clarity and conciseness in your answers. Pet peeve number four is negativity or bad-mouthing those previous employers. And then my fifth pet peeve is not asking questions at the end of your interview. So I hope you were able to learn something from this. And please remember, let me caveat this. Avoiding these pet peeves is just one part of a successful interview. It is also crucial that you showcase your qualifications, your skills, and your enthusiasm for the job. So just because you aced these five things does not mean you have aced the interview. There is more to it. So I wish you the best of luck with your next job interview. And as always, I will see you in the next one. Hey there, Ambitious Mama. I hope you enjoyed today's episode of the Christian Career Coach Podcast. If it resonated with you and provided valuable insights, I'd love for you to take just 30 seconds and share this episode with a fellow Christian professional who may benefit from the career advice and inspiration. Together, we can uplift and empower more women on their professional journeys. And don't forget to hit that subscribe button so you never miss an episode. Oh, and one more thing that would mean the world to me. Could you leave a review? Your feedback and support light me up and let me know that this podcast is making a positive impact in your life. As we continue this journey together, remember that you're not alone. I understand the joys and challenges of being an ambitious mama. And I'm here to cheer you on every step of the way. So march your calendar because I'll meet you back here next Tuesday for another episode filled with valuable insights and practical tips. Until then, keep chasing your dreams, balancing your roles with grace, and shining brightly in your career and family life. And.