Job Search Mistakes You Probably Still Commit

Through the years, hiring managers have been witness to all kinds of interviews, resumes, hiring and negotiation errors. You may think you know them all and that you’ve avoided them throughout your career, but you might just be surprised at mistakes that you still repeatedly do. Whether you’re applying for a manager job or a director job, you can increase your chances of getting hired by avoiding these job search mistakes:

• You judge a job based on the description. A lot of executives miss their dream job just because it doesn’t sound like their dream job. Instead of going to the interview, they decide based on just a statement they see in the job posting.

• You take one interview at a time. Job seekers have a tendency to think that once they interview for a job, they will get an offer. This results to a long waiting time and a slow job search.
• You give out references you haven’t checked in a long time. If your reference is still your college professor, you might lose your offer just because the hiring manager couldn’t contact him anymore. Worst, your references might not remember you anymore!
• You haven’t got the thank-you note down. The thank-you note is probably the most overlooked job search tool that executives miss. Either it’s always just a two-sentence email that comes off as flippant, or a boring paragraph reminiscent of a literature piece.
• You don’t consider temporary positions. A lot of companies that are looking for temporary employees are actually the ones that are on the verge of a breakthrough. Moreover, some companies offer temporary positions but in the future hire employees as full-time staff, as long as they see the potential and the skills.
• You miss out on the attitude and personality factor. A lot of times, hiring managers are after the one executive who is pleasant to be with and has a personality that will blend well with the team. One trick is to take out the applicant to lunch. If you’re rude to the waiters or if you come off as an arrogant individual, the hiring manager might hire the less skilled yet more pleasant than you.
• You have a messy bag/hair. Your appearance is a big deal to your hiring manager. Unless you are applying for a graphic artist position in a relatively young firm, you need to ensure that even the interiors of your bag are clean. You’ll never know when you’d have to open it and search for a pen. If it takes you a minute just to locate your pen in your bag, you might just have failed your test.

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