7 Interviewing Mistakes That Make You Look Like an Amateur

Reentering the job market after a long career with the same company can be difficult. While you may have the skills and experience to land a new position, interviewing is a skill that must be practiced regularly in order to be done well. Before you head off to that next "dream job" interview, make sure to avoid these 7 common interviewing mistakes that make you look like an amateur.

If you have been out of the job market for more than a couple of years, you may want to spend some time preparing for the interviewing process before you find yourself sitting in front of your next potential employer. While you may have the skills, abilities, and experience to do the job, you may have lost your interviewing edge. Like most infrequent activities, job interviewing takes a particular mindset and focuses on performing well. Knowing your field and understanding the ins and outs of your business is important, but packaging your responses in a way that puts you in a positive light while ensuring you are adequately compensated takes practice. Before you decide to "wing it," remember that the hiring manager does this for a living.

While you may get lucky and hit it out of the park on your first interview, it's likely that you'll have a few bad interviews before you have a great one. The following are 7 mistakes that make you look like an amateur:

1. Arriving late. There's no excuse for arriving late to a job interview. Don't take any chances. While the mapping you never know if you'll lose the signal, run out of battery, or have the one address in the world that doesn't map correctly. Do yourself a favor and pre-drive your trip. If you absolutely can't do that, make sure you arrive at least 15 minutes early. If at all possible, try not to schedule your interview for the first thing in the morning or the last thing in the afternoon when traffic is at its worst.

2. Coming unprepared. While this should go without saying, you need to do your research before you walk through the door for an interview. Not only should you know the details about the company like how it makes its money, how much money it makes, how many people it employs, its key competitors, and anything that appeared in the newspaper in the last year. You should also know everything there is to know about your interviewer(s). If you don't know who you will be interviewing with, ask. No employer will be offended by your desire to learn more about the people you'll be working with.

3. Having no good answer to the question "Why are you leaving your present job?" Sooner or later, in virtually every interview, you will be asked why you left or why you're looking at leaving your current job. While there are some ways to answer this question, you should have a standard answer that

1. is positive and
2. highlights the benefits of your moving to the new company

You don't want the opportunity to grow if the job you're interviewing for has the same job description. If you're looking for an opportunity for advancement, make sure the job you're interviewing for has more going for it than the one you left.

4. Not preparing for behavioral questions. In today's world, you are bound to run into behavioral interviewing questions. Questions like, "tell me about a time" and proceed to ask about a specific event in your past that shows your ability to

• overcome adversity,
• required you to do more than the job expected of you,
• required some level of creativity or,
• gave you the opportunity to show how you've contributed to your company in a positive way.

Remember that how you answer the question is more important than the question itself. With that in mind, think of a half dozen positive experiences you had at previous jobs that you can tailor to answer any behavioral question. With half a dozen to choose from, you will be able to answer the question using one of your prepared answers. Remember, something you didn't intend, which might reflect poorly on you. No one wants to hear that your boss was a jerk, they want to hear how you solved an unreasonable request.

5. Assuming the new job has the same challenges as your old job. On the opposite side of the interviewing process to behavioral questions is the assumption that your new job will have the same issues as your old job. Rather than focus completely on your experience, make sure to use the interviewing process to understand the challenges that come along with the opportunity. The best way to do this is to ask questions. Asking your prospective employer what the top 3 challenges for the position are or what success looks like with the position will take the focus from you and your faults and focus your interviewer on how you could solve their problems. After all, jobs are opportunities to fix problems.

6. Not being prepared for a salary conversation. While everyone hates the salary conversation, make sure you know how you're going to answer the questions, "What are your salary expectations" or "How much did you make at your last job?" If you truly understand the market and the job, don't feel bad about stating a specific number. It's difficult to know what to say (and what not to say) so that you receive a job offer that's a win for both yourself and the company. Expect that employers may ask this question to get a sense of whether or not they can afford your help. They might also ask you this to see how much you value yourself and your work. Research and prepare an answer to this. You may simply answer: "My salary range is flexible. I would, of course, like to be compensated fairly for my decade of experience and award-winning sales record. However, I'm open to discussing specific numbers once we've discussed the details of the position." 

7. Not asking any questions. Do some research about your prospective employer before meeting with the representative. Read up on its work culture, and its recent products or initiatives so you'll have specific, pinpoint questions to ask. Asking intelligent questions shows you're really interested in the job, and that you know how to do your homework. 

Continue to grow in your professional career. Equip yourself with more skills that you can learn from business books found in bookstores all around Dubai. You may also learn from online videos or from reading business-related articles or blogs found in this site.