Bad Job Interviews

Look up statistics for how much of face to face communication takes place in words, and how much takes place in other cues, and you will find a variety of statistics. However, people do agree that communication is more than just words. So, here are a few examples of nonverbal signals that jobseekers gave that may have cost them their chance at a job offer:

- eating all the candy in the interviewer's candy dish

- tossing a beer can in the receptionist's trash receptacle on the way into the interview

- presenting a college diploma where the name had been changed with white-out

- bringing your parent to the interview

Read the article for more amazing examples.

One more reason to treat others with respect

"When I was a receptionist, I routinely culled the obnoxious candidates (as well as the clearly unqualified). If someone was sweet and I could make a case for their qualifications, they would get special attention." - a comment by a reader in a blog post about treating receptionists well when you are seeking a job.

At the risk of sounding obvious, I mention this simple rule about job seeking (and life in general): treat others the way you would want to be treated. This blog post explains some reasons why treating the receptionist well might benefit you. Remember, for many firms, the receptionist is the gatekeeper, and if you want entry, you need to keep that in mind. Other than the rare hostile secretary, like Carol in the Dilbert comics, you will find that your respect and consideration are at the very least appreciated.

How to work a job fair and other related information

For years I have enjoyed reading Andreas Ramos's web site and newsletter, but I was on his site today looking for something unrelated to this post, when I found these two really great resources. One is an article on how to work a job fair. It's a great article because it helps you see what the recruiter you visit is going to do with your resume when you walk away from the booth, which helps you prepare. The second resource on that same site is a list of job search sites. There are over 100 sites listed there, sorted by purpose.

By the way, if you have plenty of free time, look around that site for other interesting stuff. There is a very funny cat user's manual written from the perspective of someone who has read a lot of technical documentation and a personal account of the fall of the Berlin Wall, as well as other interesting tidbits.