Tread Carefully! Dangerous Questions to Ask in a Job Interview

iStockphoto.com | diane39

A job interview is like a blind date. You and the employer have the basic facts about each other but don't know if there's any real potential until both parties meet face-to-face with one another and ask/answer probing questions. If you've ever been on a blind date, you know it can be a special kind of disaster. Human beings are capable of extraordinary moments of unexplainable stupidity, and few things prove it with the clarity experienced on a bad blind date – or a job interview.

During your typical job interview, the interviewer will ask the candidate if they have any questions. This question is a test. You should never say "no." It would be best if you had well-researched and thought-out questions ready. Your questions will demonstrate a genuine interest in working for the company and that you took the time to prepare for the interview. However, during an interview, sometimes we don't think and ask questions on the fly.  

At some point, everyone has put their foot in their mouth during a job interview. Sometimes both feet. Here is a list of tried-and-true questions you should never ask at a job interview. Since the questions are all equally bad, they are not ranked.

• How much money do you make? A job interview is not the time or place to discuss its salary range, so it logically follows that it's also not the time and place to intrude into the interviewer's private financial life. Personal money questions would be awkward anywhere, but it's the kiss of death in a job interview.

• Are you single? The game is not always on. The game needs to be off during job interviews and, subsequently, work hours in general. Making suggestive comments to your interviewer is not professional or appropriate, and you will most likely fail in getting a second job interview (or a date).

• What are you doing this weekend? Even if this is an innocent question, it's not professional or appropriate to ask your interviewer questions about their private life.

• How long will it take before I have your job? Some people think this is funny. It's not. Even if said as a joke, threatening the livelihood of your interviewer will not help you win friends and influence people. 

• Do I have to answer calls after work? And will you pay for my cell phone? Even if your job requires heavy cell phone use and the company does pay for it, this type of discussion should take place after you receive an offer and are negotiating your compensation. Boundaries are important but wait until the right time to discuss them.

• Can I work remotely (if the job posting doesn’t say that you can)? In-office vs. remote is a hot button issue right now. Businesses don't know what the post-pandemic office looks like, and there isn't likely to be a universal solution. Be cautious about asking questions about remote work unless the job description clearly states that the position is remote or partially remote. Otherwise, assume the job is in-office, that the employer spent a great deal of time arriving at that decision, and that it's not going to change for you.

• Can I bring my pet to work? There are no words. Even if you're interviewing for a job as a veterinarian, or you have a pet Emu that loves to snuggle, the job interview is not the time or place to ask about special accommodations for your pet. Seriously, this is a job interview. Your pet? Stop. Now. Unless you are interviewing with Chewy.com.

---

Philip Roufail contributed to this article.

Scott Singer is the President and Founder of Insider Career Strategies Resume Writing & Career Coaching, a firm dedicated to guiding job seekers and companies through the job search and hiring process. Insider Career Strategies provides resume writing, LinkedIn profile development, career coaching services, and outplacement services. You can email Scott Singer at scott.singer@insidercs.com, or via the website, www.insidercs.com.

6 Simple Tips To Shine On A Video Interview

iStockphoto.com | Antonio_Diaz

Video conferencing is the old thing that is new again. According to Transparency Market Research, global video conferencing will be valued at $8.9 billion by 2025 with an annual growth rate of 8.3%. It’s big business, and with social distancing as the order of the day, it will continue to boom.

In late March of this year, PC Magazine wrote, “To stay healthy in 2020, telecommuting and regular work-from-home arrangements are pretty much a must for most people”, and released its list of Top 10 video conferencing apps (in alphabetical order):

1.     BlueJeans Meetings

2.     Click Meeting

3.     GoTo Meeting

4.     Intermedia AnyMeeting

5.     JoinMe

6.     Microsoft Teams (formerly Skype)

7.     Ring Central

8.     WebEx (Cisco)

9.     Zoho Meeting

10.  Zoom

While a decline in video conferencing use is to be expected when the labor market reaches some kind of predictable equilibrium, by then it will already be a permanent part of many job descriptions, including recruitment and hiring. The increase in video interviewing happening right now is likely to continue until it is as much a part of the hiring process as the phone screen. 

From the list above, the brand that most likely stands out is Zoom. Zoom was already a billion dollar success story before the pandemic. Now, in four months, Zoom has become synonymous with the new era of video conferencing. If you’re part of a remote video interview, it will most likely be on Zoom.

To fully leverage the opportunities afforded to the job seeker by Zoom, and the other platforms, here are some simple tips to shine during video conferencing interviews:

1.     Show off in your visual presentation.

Any job interview done via Zoom is both an interview and a screen test. Here’s how to sparkle.

• Choose a private and quiet location.

• Choose a clean background. Zoom allows you to choose a background and it’s now an online cottage industry. If you Google “Zoom backgrounds” all of your prayers will be answered, but save the “Pulp Fiction” background for the virtual happy hour with your friends. For an interview, choose a neutral clean background so that nothing distracts from the star of the show – you.

• Be well dressed and look sharp. Solid colors. No white or black.

• Avoid glasses if you don’t need them (glare) and hats (they’ll hide your beautiful face).

• Hollywood magic is mostly hair and makeup.

• Command the virtual space by keeping the frame tight on you.

• Do not lean in or back.

2.     Show off your interview skills.

Keep the rules for a good interview in mind, but the Zoom version.

• Be cognizant of the technology to remain in view and with proper posture.

• Do not sit too close to the screen or your face will be distorted.

• Maintain clear audio.

• Position yourself so you are eye level with the camera. If you are on a laptop that means elevating the laptop to eye level while the screen is at a ninety-degree angle. Nobody wants to see up your nose.

• Connect with your audience and show your passion, but keep in mind you are doing it through a camera at the top of your laptop and the interviewer(s) can’t see your view. Play to the camera, not the box, or boxes, with the other person/people in them.

• Make eye contact. Speak clearly.

• Do not look “off-screen”.

3.     Show off your portfolio.

Zoom allows you to share your screen.

• If you are in a creative field and have a digital portfolio ready to go, you can walk people through the best examples of your work.

• More than just sharing, this is an opportunity to make a full visual presentation that tells the professional story you want to tell.

• If you put together a presentation that includes content from your portfolio in advance, it can be a versatile tool during an interview. You may use it in response to an interview question, to make a strong opening, or a big splash at the end.

4.     Show off your skills.

Maybe you’re not a “creative”, and you work in analytics, or finance, or a similar field that does not revolve around dazzling visual presentations.

• In this case, the ability to share your screen may be even more advantageous.

• You can share an Excel spreadsheet, budget documents, metrics, screenshots, etc. – anything that is material to the role and will strengthen the impact you make during the interview.

5.     Show you know your stuff.

“White board interviews” intended to test a candidate’s critical thinking and knowledge while competing for a job opening can be very challenging. For example, IT professionals are often given a complex technical problem and asked to demonstrate how it can be solved with the most minimal impact on business operations. One dry erase marker and a blank white board stand before him or her and a job offer, thus the name.

On a Zoom call, the white board is replaced by anything and everything you have access to on your computer. This gives you an advantage.

• While you can’t predict what you will be asked during an interview, if you master Zoom’s presentation features you will be a more effective communicator during a remote interview.

• If you are proactive and prepare in advance, you can drive the action of the interview, even a “white board interview” during which you are expected to produce an answer in real time for all to see. Get comfortable in Visio and other apps that help you illustrate a business or technical concept.

• Take the time to master the video conferencing technology so you can master your interview.

6.     Show that you have great manners.

When things wrap up, use the Chat feature to send a quick thank you message to all the participants of the interview.

---

Philip Roufail contributed to this article.

Scott Singer is the President and Founder of Insider Career Strategies Resume Writing & Career Coaching, a firm dedicated to guiding job seekers and companies through the job search and hiring process. Insider Career Strategies provides resume writing, LinkedIn profile development, career coaching services, and outplacement services. You can email Scott Singer at scott.singer@insidercs.com, or via the website, www.insidercareerstrategies.com.

10 Easy Ways to Drive a Recruiter Crazy

iStockphoto.com | skynesher

When you are searching for a job it is easy to feel like the faceless nameless recruiter is an adversary, when, in fact, he or she is just a normal person who, if given the chance, would love to give out jobs like candy on Halloween.  

However, anyone involved in a hiring process is busy with a full schedule of competing priorities and there is only so much any of us can accomplish in a single day. If you approach your job search in such a way that makes the corporate recruiter’s day easier and more successful, it is a valuable way to separate yourself from other candidates.

On the other hand, it’s not that difficult to make the recruiter’s job more difficult. Here are ten ways to drive a recruiter crazy (Hint: Don’t do these):

1.     Show up too early for your interview. It sounds reasonable, but if you show up too early you will throw off a carefully crafted interview schedule that most likely took a week of planning to finalize. The recruiter, and other staff, must now stop whatever they are doing to accommodate the fact you’ve arrived even if you are just sitting in a waiting area. Instead of seeming eager and responsible, showing up too early will complicate everyone’s day. It will make a bad first impression.

Recommended: Show up five minutes before your interview begins. If you arrive earlier than that, sit in your car until it’s time to go inside.

2.     Don’t set up or empty your voice mailbox. Have you noticed you haven’t gotten any voicemails recently? Make sure your phone has an up-to-date personalized greeting and periodically purge your voice mail of old messages so new ones can be left. If a recruiter calls and can’t leave a message, or if they aren’t certain they have reached the right person, you may miss out on a promising opportunity.

Recommended. Tend your voice mailbox like it’s a garden – keep it clean and welcoming.

3.     Change your salary expectations late in the game. Early in the process, the recruiter will (hopefully) ask for a desired salary range; the process then moves forward based upon this. Recruiters put time and effort into selecting and putting forward candidates based upon this number, so if a candidate in the final stage of an interview process ups their demands, it can derail the entire process. And you’ll appear to be an untrustworthy negotiating partner.

Recommended: Know your salary range in advance. Don’t explicitly agree in advance to a salary or salary range you are not prepared to accept.

4.     Dress poorly for the interview. Consider the recruiter’s position. When he or she advance a candidate for consideration, he or she is putting his or her reputation on the line and the candidates presented reflect upon the recruiter’s expertise and judgment. Between two qualified candidates, the job seeker who appears professional will win out over the one that looks like they just rolled out of bed.

Recommended: Dress your best and polish your shoes.

5.     Fail to disclose a potential issue that will show up in a background check. Many job offers will not be made until a candidate successfully passes a background check [“The Skinny on Pre-Employment Background Checks”]. If your job application requests the type of information that will eventually be discovered during a background check and it is left blank, it may be construed as a “lie of omission”.

Recommended: Be honest and forthright on an application. It’s important to own it. And if it’s something serious, you may wish to consult a legal professional for advice.

6.     Play sides against each other. Even the simplest hiring process normally involves more than one person, and each has a specific role to play. Once the interviews begin, there will most likely be a single point of contact whose role it is to navigate the hiring process. If you circumvent the normal channels, which puts everyone involved in a tough spot. The perception may be that you are playing games and going behind people’s backs.

Recommended: While you should be aggressive in trying to reach a hiring manager to get your application noticed, once the interview process starts it’s important to respect the chain of command.

7.     Show up to an interview without copies of your resume. There are multiple issues at play here. First, if you take the time to inquire how many people will be present during an interview and you arrive with résumés for each of them, you have already demonstrated attention to detail and that you know how to be prepared. Second, recruiters want you to succeed, but he or she is not your secretary. Recruiters should not be put in a position where they have to make extra copies on your behalf.

Recommended: Always bring more copies of your resume to the interview than you think you will need.

8.     Be a stalker. After an interview, there is protocol. Send a thank you note and wait. Candidates who make incessant phone calls to recruiters, or flood their email box, will soon find themselves without support from arguably the most important person in the process.

Recommended: You can be assertive, but be measured. Usually a single follow-up via email or phone to the recruiter after a reasonable period of time will be sufficient. Gauge the response and decide your next action.

9.     Be a jerk. Being mindful of your behavior once you’re walking the halls of a company for the first time is important. Do not spoil your confidence with arrogance. Do not be demanding of staff you have just met. During an interview, do not speak with disdain about current or former co-workers. Do not voice displeasure about anything (e.g. parking), even if your position is justified. You are a guest in someone else’s home.

Recommended: Behave as if your mother is watching. Mom taught you manners, she wants to see you use them.

10.  Forget to be professional and courteous to everyone you meet. As a major addendum to #9, at any given company the employees are a professional family and you are a stranger. That goes for everyone from the CEO to the receptionist. It is in your best interest to get every family member you encounter on your side. Even the most persuasive recruiter dedicated to delivering you a job offer may not be able to get you across the finish line if you treat even a single employee with disrespect, condescension, or dismissiveness.

Recommended: Act as if every employee you meet has veto power over your candidacy. They probably do.

---

Philip Roufail contributed to this article.

Scott Singer is the President and Founder of Insider Career Strategies Resume Writing & Career Coaching, a firm dedicated to guiding job seekers and companies through the job search and hiring process. Insider Career Strategies provides resume writing, LinkedIn profile development, career coaching services, and outplacement services. You can email Scott Singer at scott.singer@insidercs.com, or via the website, www.insidercareerstrategies.com.