Mistake 1- Not enough ‘matching and mirroring’.

When interviewing you need to match and mirror the verbal and physical style of your interviewer as it makes the interviewer more comfortable and optimizes their ability to hear your message. Here are some tips to maximizing the physical matching and mirrorin.

- Work on your handshake.

- Not enough/too much eye contact. It is a fine line to walk, however work on this with a friend or family member so that you can be aware of this habit and make appropriate adjustments.

- When seated watch whether your interviewer is leaning forward or backward and adjust your posture appropriately.

- Keep your head up and back as a show of confidence.

- Avoid crossing your arms and/or legs as this shows defensive posture.

Here are some verbal matching and mirroring items to be aware of:

- If your interviewer is not jovial, do not attempt to crack jokes. Rather match their verbal behaviors with similar behavior.

- Answer direct questions directly.

- Don’t be afraid to ask appropriate questions. This is a mutual interview and you can ask questions to get more information about the position.

- Do not ask about vacation time or salary. Wait until you have won the employer over to have that discussion.

- Avoid verbal ticks. For example, saying ‘like’ or ‘ummm’ too many times is an example of a verbal tick to avoid.

Mistake 2- Talking too much

Watch your responses and make sure you do not take too long to answer a question, unless it is absolutely necessary. Get to the point without rushing your response and it will help with controlling your nerves (if this is a problem for you, see Mistake 6) and show you are confident in your answer.

Mistake 3- Too much negative speak.

Negative speak is most often heard during interviews when people talk about items from their past. Be sure to not say anything negative about your past employers and talk positively about your previous accomplishments. Turn every negative into a positive. Be prepared for questions about your past employers and achievements so you can reverse the negatives to have a positive spin.

Mistake 4- Not enough research was done before the interview.

Too many job seekers apply to too many jobs. When you have the opportunity to interview, you will want to show that you are not one of these people. In fact, you want to show that you are the ideal candidate for the position by pre-exploring the company, its issues and concerns and who might/will interview you so that you can reinforce your candidacy.

Mistake 5- Sell yourself, don’t just tell about yourself.

This is one of the most important interview tips. When you have the opportunity to talk about your past, sell your benefits! Too often interviewers have a mental checklist of their past actions rather than what those actions produced- tell the results of your actions. There is a huge difference between saying you did sales for a couple of years to saying how you reached 110% of your quota for two years while going through sales training and becoming certified.