Why Do People Fail In Interviews?

Why Do People Fail In Interviews?
By Vivekanand Rayapeddi.
Soft Skills Trainer and Motivational Expert

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Start empathizing. You will be a winner all the way.

Once you start thinking in the shoes of the HR manager, you will never fail in a job interview. Just imagine that you are an HR manager and conducting the interview. A candidate turns up one hour late for the interview. What do you think naturally, you think that, the candidate is not interested in the job or he is lacking punctuality.  Am I right?

Let me share an old joke here.

A candidate attended an interview for the post of a police officer. To check his general knowledge they asked him, ‘who killed Mahatma Gandhi’. He didn’t understand their objective. He jumped to the conclusion and thought that ‘they offered me the job and they assigned a murder case to be resolved’.

He does not have the common sense and  he failed to understand the question.

The title of this article ‘Why do people fail interviews’ is sounding a bit rude. It is even blasphemous in the angle of soft skill trainers.

I can’t bring in the desired punch in this article by being modest and subtle in my expression. Let me talk straight for a while. If it hurts any individual, my purpose really will get served. No pain- no gain, you know. It should hurt. It should bring the desired changes in the individual that is the core objective of this article.

If you go on wrong side of the road, if you violate traffic rules what happen? Naturally accident takes place. You may argue ‘I just crossed the signal; do I deserve this kind of bitter punishment?’ But for every action, there is bound to be an equal and opposite amount of reaction.

Common but major errors

These errors may appear very minor and negligible. But they speak volumes about your personality. Let us go into the brief details of these so called errors.

Arrive Late For The Interview

You might have gone late for genuine reasons. But nobody cares.

The interviewer thinks that you don’t have discipline. You care a damn for the punctuality. You may never come in time to the office in future also.

He thinks that you are not interested with the job, position, title, organization or the industry. You are attending this interview to just gain some interview experience. You are not a serious taker.

Badly dressed

The interviewer may think that you are not interested in the job. You don’t have healthy habits. You don’t know the etiquette. You are not trust worthy. You are not giving the necessary importance to the occasion; naturally it means that you care a damn for this job. Even if you are offered this job, you may not take it up.

Bad postures and slouch in the seat

The interviewer may think that you don’t have self discipline. You are not well organized. You are not giving the importance to the occasion. You don’t know the interview etiquette.

Failing to maintain eye contact

The interviewer may feel that you lack confidence. You don’t believe in yourself. You are bluffing. You are faking your credentials. You are lacking self esteem.

Lack of knowledge of the organization

It indicates that you have not done proper homework. You have not gathered the information about the prospective employer. It means that you are not seriously interested in this organization. You may not be working for a long time, even if you are offered the job.

Mismatch of skills and the job requirements

It is quite natural. Even though you have got exceptional skills with you, if  they do not match with the job description, they do not consider you. Imagine, can Sachin Tendulkar ever get the opportunity to play music for Salman Khan’s next movie? He is skilled, beyond suspicion. But his skills are altogether different from the position which he is slotted here.

Thus don’t attend the interview until and unless your skill set and the job description match together.

No evidence/credentials to prove the claims

However impressive your credentials may be, if you cannot support them with proper documents and evidences, the interviewer is bound to feel that they are dubious claims. He may even feel that you are simply bluffing.

Lack of English knowledge

Even though you have got excellent skills and technical knowhow, the employer will not prefer you if you are not good at English. They want their employee to be good at English. Entire knowledge in this modern world is linked with computers. Computers are linked with English.

Lack of enthusiasm

It is straight away an indication that you are not interested in the job. You are attending the interview just to kill the time. You are attending just as a formality. If you are not interested, the employer also might not show interest towards your candidacy.

Answering most of the question with simple ‘Yes’ & ‘No’

It shows that you are not interested in the job. You are not a good communicator. You are considering the interview process as a ritual. You are not going to take up the job, even if they offer it to you.

Appear desperate for the job

When you appear desperate for the job, the interviewer suspects your credentials. He doubts your track record. He doubts your intentions.

Giving the canned answers after cramming

It indicates that you lack communication skills. You are not a natural speaker. You are not able to strike deals with new clients.

Malign the current employer/boss/colleague

If you malign, it indicates that you lack proper personality. You are aggressive, emotional and have negative opinion about the people. This trait you may continue with the prospective employer also.

Fail to establish strong love towards the job

If you cannot show your genuine interest towards the job, they feel that you may not take up the job with passion. Appearing desperate for the job is different and showing strong love towards the job is different.

Failing to understand the questions

Every question has a reason behind it in an interview. If you can think in the shoes of the interviewer you can understand his intention and you can answer easily. Otherwise you may be giving the answers, but they may be counterproductive.

Sending wrong signals about personality

Unintentionally most of the times through the answers the candidates give wrong picture about their personality.

By following the techniques which we are going to discuss in the coming articles, we can easily face the interviews and can be winners.

All the best,