Welcome back! This week I've been discussing some of the stupid things people say in interviews and how it can hurt them. To recap the first three were:
- Being Negative
- Saying that you aren’t really looking
- Making Arrogant Statements
You can read the entire first part here:
Moving on to #4 on our list…
4. Bringing Up Controversial or Inappropriate Topics
First let me say that I think that it is terrific that you are a liberal/conservative Jewish/Christian/Muslim transsexual. That said this is your business and not your interviewers. It is incredibly arrogant and ignorant to assume that any and all people that you meet hold the exact same values as you. When interviewing it is really important to steer clear of controversial or deeply personal subjects. If you offend the interviewer then you will not get the job. Period. End of story. Some of the subjects you want to avoid are:
- Politics
- Religion
- Sex
- Race
I’m going to go a little deeper here on this one and speak specifically to insurance. For some reason it has become fashionable to speak poorly about the President of the United States
Your other option is to share your worldview as much as you can and wait for that other liberal/conservative Jewish/Christian/Muslim transsexual with your exact same values to be hiring effectively cutting out 90% of the other jobs out there.
5. Asking about Non-Job Related Things
So you are interviewing for this great job. The interview is going great. You are a perfect fit, the culture is great, it’s close to your home, you like your potential new boss. As they begin to wrap up the interview you are asked if you have any questions. What do you do? Unfortunately, many people fail in this area miserably and start asking questions that have very little to do with the actual job. They start asking about the salary, benefits, vacation… even the parking situation. This is really dumb for two reasons and I’ll tell you why.
First of all it looks tacky and makes it appear that you are more concerned about these “little things” rather than the job. We live in a culture that is incredibly weird and unfortunately companies and candidates are bound by different rules. It is completely OK for a company to ask your salary expectations. It is not OK for you to ask the same of the company. It is hypocritical but it is the way of the world. Additionally, we have some crazy ideals that people cling to. One of them is that you should take a job for the “right” reasons. I’m here to tell you that compensation and benefits are a right reason. However, it isn’t’ seen this way by most employers so beware.
The second reason is more philosophical. When you are in an interview you have a finite amount of time to make a lasting impact and to sell yourself. Wasting this time to get transactional information is just plain stupid. If you have questions about stuff like this you can always follow up with an email. Instead you should come up with a great, insightful question about the company that shows you did your research and that you are thinking about this job. If you can’t do that then at least ask the interviewer why they like working for the company. People feel good when they talk about themselves and it will help them think of you more favorably.
That’s all I have for today. Happy Interviewing. As always feel free to email me with any questions, concerns or suggestions at sthompson@insurance-csg.com.
Check out some of my recent articles on the blog here:
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