What Not To Do During the Job Search

By Bruce Allen
Jobaloo.com Publisher

You hear many times on other websites and even here on Jobaloo.com all about the things you need to remember and do while going through the job search and interview process. We've found it helpful to remember the follow things as good examples of what not to do.

Don’t forget to check your Spelling and Grammar in your correspondence. Nothing shouts “unprofessional” quite like poor spelling.

If you get a phone interview, don’t creep them out by breathing heavy into the phone. No one likes a mouthbreather.

You might be a righteous skater dude in your off time, but please don’t show up at your job interview looking or sounding like one. There should be a line between your personal and professional lives.

Don’t go into the interview with your cell phone on, and worse, answer it when your roommate calls asking where the party is tonight.

If the interview happens to be at a restaurant, don’t order the barbequed ribs. Or the spaghetti

Don’t be too hyped up. I once went to an interview, and on my way in, passed the candidate that had preceded me on his way out. He was muttering out loud to himself how he had screwed it up. This was in earshot of the receptionist and others. Later, after I got the job, that candidate’s experience was related to me. My boss referred to him as “a poster child for Ritalin”. Apparently he had been hyped up, jabbered the whole time, and lost the opportunity because he talked way too much.

On the other hand, don’t sit there like a log. Look alive. Speak when spoken to. Answer the questions with more than “Yes” or “No”.

Don’t badmouth your previous or current employer. That type of talk is only going to reflect poorly on you.

At no point, no matter how well it is going, should you ever address your interviewer as “dude”.

Don't bring your mom to the interview. (Yes, at least one person has actually done this.)

When asked “Do you have any questions?” Responding with “Who’s the hot chick in the picture?” while pointing at the portrait of the interviewer’s wife (or daughter) is generally not a smart move.


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