Over the weekend, I had the pleasure of presenting an Interview Preparation workshop at the Melbourne Career Expo alongside other career practitioners representing the Career Development Association of Australia.
After the presentation, a number of attendees came up to tell me they had experienced several ‘lightbulb moments’. It reminded me that, the biggest barriers to interview success typically isn’t a lack of experience or qualifications. It is simply a lack of understanding about what the hiring panel are really looking for when assessing a candidate.
In a snapshot, here are the five biggest interview mistakes that I see time and time again ,and the ones that I want you to avoid in your future interviews:
- Talking about the ‘what’, but not the ‘how’
This was the biggest lightbulb moment from the workshop.
In interview responses, candidates will often say:
“I managed a project.”
“I led the team.”
“I resolved a customer complaint.”
That’s a great start, but interviewers already know what your job involved. What they really want to understand is how you actually did it.
How did you influence others? How did you build relationships? How did you prioritise competing deadlines? How did you resolve conflict? How did you deal with the challenges on the project?
The more you explain your actions, the easier it is for the interviewer to picture you doing the job and being successful.
- Not providing evidence-based responses
Anyone can say they’re organised, resilient or a great communicator. The difference is being able to prove it.
Behavioural interview questions are designed to assess your capability by drawing out evidence-based examples. Rather than simply telling the interviewer about your strengths, demonstrate them through a specific situation where you’ve applied them successfully.
Evidence-based responses are always more persuasive than speaking generically about what you do.
- Using examples that aren’t recent or relevant
One of the biggest mistakes candidates make is preparing examples they like, rather than examples the interviewer needs to hear.
Before every interview, carefully review the job advertisement and identify the key capabilities being assessed. Then choose recent examples that demonstrate those exact skills and will be relevant to what you will be doing in the target role.
The more relevant your examples, the easier it is for the interviewer to imagine you succeeding in the role that they are hiring.
- Talking too much… or not enough
Some candidates don’t provide enough detail for the interviewer to properly assess them. Some hiring panels may probe for more information, but this shouldn’t be necessary. Providing sufficient level of detail will help convince the panel that you will succeed in the role.
On the other hand, other candidates include every detail they can remember, often going off on complete tangents, and losing the panel in the process.
The key is finding the right balance between under-talking and over-talking.
Aim for responses that are structured, concise and focused. Provide enough information to demonstrate your capability, but don’t lose sight of actually answering the question.
- A weak finish
One of the easiest opportunities to stand out is also one of the most overlooked.
Rather than ending the interview with a simple “Thanks for your time,” instead, finish with a brief closing statement that reinforces your enthusiasm and reminds the interviewer why you’re a great fit for the role.
It’s a small tweak that can leave a much more positive impression.
Final thoughts
One of my favourite quotes when it comes to interview prep is:
“The more you sweat in peace, the less you bleed in war.”
Interview success doesn’t come from just having a lucky day. It comes from doing the right preparation. The candidates who perform best in interviews aren’t always the most experienced or the most technically capable. More often, they’re the ones who have prepared thoughtful examples, practised their responses and taken the time to really think about things from the perspective of the recruiter.
