Why Do We Fail In Job Interviews?

What brings an interview to failure?

We've all asked ourselves why this happens after a bad job interview. Even though we mostly like to blame our resumes, a resume actually has only one function in reality; to buy a ticket for an interview. If you get an invitation and the process has not continued, the reason must be sought elsewhere.

Generally, the small nuances that we live or encounter in the dynamics of the negotiations can put the negotiations on a negative course. Individual frictions with the interviewer, inability to express oneself, technical problems, might be some of the reasons in the list.

Let's look at the most important reasons together.

1. Not Conducting Sufficient Research

Some professionals tend to ignore this step. Success is not a coincidence; it is result of hard working and preparation. This is not so different for job interviews.

Having not made required search neither for the company nor for the interviewer, or having not studied on the role brief sufficiently, may cause the candidate to miss critical information that will be required during the interview. It also risks being perceived as sloppy person or uninterested for the role.

In order to prevent this situation, it will be useful to search the company to be interviewed, obtain information about the corporate culture, examine the details of the role, check the information for the professionals that you will meet on social media, and talk to people who are related in your network.

2. Presenting Inconsistent Statements During the Interview.

During an interview, the interviewer examines how consistent the candidate is. Since it is not easy to analyse an adult in an interview that lasts for 40 minutes on average, interviewer will get tired and feel distrustful when he/she encounters contradictory and superficial answers. Unfortunately, this can lead you to a negative result in the final.

In order to prevent this situation, sending as clear, consistent, detailed and non-contradictory messages as possible may help you. This attitude will also create trust and make the interviewer feel that you have the required competencies for the position.

3. Fail to Express Yourself Clearly During the Interview.

Expressing yourself clearly and being able to set out the goals are indicators of a strong personality. The lack of interview experiences of candidates, their lack of clarity along with inadequate preparation or excitement, is often negatively evaluated by recruitment professionals. To rehearse before the interview, to get prepared psychologically and to express yourself as clearly and honestly as possible may help to prevent this situation.

4. Lack of Motivation.

A strong motivation puts a candidate ahead in the first place. The recruitment professionals who manage the interview, specifically question the candidate's motivation for the company and position that is discussed, among many other characteristics. Even the process easily may go on negative, because a candidate simply shows an arrogant stance or considered as unmotivated by appearing irrelevant. One of the most important reasons for this is that candidates think that expressing their interest to the firm or position is an unfavourable thing.

When you come across an opportunity that really interests you, stating this and reflecting your motivation and goals clearly puts you ahead of your competitors.

5. Extreme Modesty/Extreme Arrogance

Since we are taught that "self-disclosure" is a negative thing in our culture, most candidates can be too modest in the interviews, leading them to be reluctant to reveal their strengths. Occasionally, some candidates may be extremely arrogant in order to retain the control of the interview. Unfortunately, in both cases, the result becomes negative.

Being able to express yourself without slipping to both sides, expressing your achievements without exaggeration, will support you in the way that the result of your interview can be positive.

6. Creating the Feeling of "Unrouteable"

Especially in an interview for a managerial role, candidates tend to over-emphasize their managerial competencies, tend to show that they are successful in this regard, and thus pass on the feeling that they can move away from team spirit in general. Today, in parallel with the importance of continuous development, institutions are looking for leaders who can support this development and who will develop in this way. And for sure, rather than trying to be Superman, those who will run for success with the team are preferred in this quest.

In order not to create such a negative perception, it will be to your advantage to correctly mention yourself and your "already existing" competencies, while correctly addressing your development areas, how you think you can reach them and how you can express yourself within the team.

7. Looking Sloppy

An interview isn't just a process where you walk into a room and tell them what's on your resume. From the moment you reach the place where the job interview will be held until the moment you leave there, your appearance, smell, movements, the way you express yourself will tell you as a whole. Therefore, not taking sufficient care when going to the interview, fail to be dressed in accordance with the culture of the relevant institution and the requirements of the role, of course without exaggeration, can cost you points.

In addition, this attentive appearance and integrated posture are no longer limited to your physical appearance. It's also very important how you look on social media, especially on your Linkedin profile, and how much your profile in these media reflects you. It should be noted that many recruitment professionals are now getting to know you through your social media accounts before the interview. That's why the footprints you leave on the internet are just as important as how you express yourself in the physical world.

Making sure that your social media profiles reflect you correctly, displaying adequate and non-contradictory content on your profile, especially your profiles in professional life channels, reflecting full and accurate information, will make it easier for recruitment professionals to reach you and make a positive impression before the interview. Afterwards, going to the interview in a punctual and prepared manner, choosing a dress that is compatible with the culture of the relevant institution together with the requirements of professional life. Also during the interview, taking a confident, comfortable stance, expressing yourself in a clear, detailed, energetic way will also make you stand out.

8. Failing to Capture Mutual Interaction.

Everything went well, you paid attention to all the key points, but you couldn't express yourself because you couldn't catch enough interaction with the other person in the interview, and one more process ended in a way that you didn't want. In fact, this happens much more often than you think; a study conducted in the USA in 2017, shows that this reason is behind 68% of failed job interviews.

Research in the field of behavioural psychology shows that people's impressions of someone they've just met occur within the first 10 seconds of their encounter. It takes an average of half a minute for the judiciary to become a verdict. So in fact, before the conversation even begins, the interviewer may have made up his mind about you. So how does this judgment form? Our smell, our body language, then our tone, our articulation, and finally what we say, builds this judgment.

That is why, as we explained in the previous sentences, showing a painstaking and consistent appearance will give you the chance to achieve the necessary interaction with the interviewer and, as a result, to express yourself effectively.

9. Technical Problems.

Perhaps one of the least mentioned, but one of the factors that stands out with the introduction of online interviews into our lives is technical problems. Many glitches, from your connection speed to equipment performance, can cloud your interview success. And unfortunately, these technical glitches are not limited to on-line interviews; your car may not work that morning, and your computer charge may run out of the time when you are starting your presentation.

Checking everything before the interview, being able to predict the problems that may occur by testing, will allow you to control these technical glitch risks by reducing them.

Paying attention to all these small points will change the course of a conversation, increasing your chances of success. But first of all, all these studies aim to raise your awareness, increase your chances of expressing yourself correctly and achieve your goal at the end of the day.

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