Top 10 most common interview blunders

·27 Dec 2015

January and February are the busiest two months of the year when it comes to people looking for a new job, hoping to start afresh.

Study by LifeSkills created by Barclays reveals the most common interview blunders that may come between you and your dream job in 2016.

New research reveals the top 10 most common interview faux pas, which include showing off, not asking questions, dressing inappropriately and moaning about a current employer.

The age old saying ‘fail to prepare then prepare to fail’ rings true, with 51% of employers citing that lack of research is the biggest blunder candidates make

A quarter of unemployed young people feel that they perform badly in interviews, and 64% said they would benefit from job interview training.

The survey of 500 interviewers showed that the most common errors are failure to do research prior to the job interview (51%), showing off (31%), not acting interested or engaging with the interviewer (30%), and asking no questions at all (30%).

Top 10 Most Common Interview Mistakes:

Failing to do their research
Showing off
Asking no questions
Not acting interested or engaged with the interviewer
Making up answers
Lying about achievements
Not dressing appropriately
Rambling on
Failing to explain what they will bring to the role
Moaning about their current employer

When it comes to the mistakes most likely to cost a candidate their dream career, 12% of employers said they found forgetting your manners to be the most off-putting behaviour.

Meanwhile, candidates who acted interested and engaged during interviews were deemed to be the best (48%), whilst those who appeared genuine about themselves were favoured more highly (37%).

In the head-to-head group interview scenario, dominating the conversation and not listening to others ranked among the top errors, coming in at 44% and 48% respectively. Being too quiet or not contributing enough was also prevalent with 45% of employers often witnessing this in group interviews.

In contrast, in the typical one-on-one interview setting only a small number (6%) said that being too modest would dampen a prospective candidate’s chances.