Top Ways to Blow a Job Interview

Job interviews are complicated. While trying to sound impressive without tooting your own horn, you also have to take in a lot of information about the company, your interviewer, and your potential new job. With that much going on, it’s easy to make mistakes. However, some of the worst ones are more about common sense than simple human error.

First and foremost, be on time. If something major comes up and you can’t arrive on time, call and apologize. Arrive between 10-15 minutes early, but no earlier. If you arrive too early, you’ll appear overeager or as if you don’t know what time the interview really started, and you will interrupt the person who had planned their day around a specific meeting time.

Speaking of time, managing it well is another part of interviewing well. Don’t spread yourself too thin and try to schedule too many interviews. If you look scattered, you’re more likely to make a bad impression. When you interview, the interviewer should feel like a priority. If you’re too busy running to your next interview, you’ll make it clear that the job doesn’t matter and you have more important things to do.

Appearance is another common interview issue. Since smell sensitivities and allergies are all different, skip the perfume or cologne entirely; don’t risk blowing a chance at a job because you couldn’t resist the urge to spritz. Don’t wear anything—anything—that you would wear to go clubbing or to a bar. Stick with a clean, well-tailored suit, and keep personalized accessories to a minimum. The focus should be on your skills, not your clothes. Never, ever use a cell phone during an interview.

Take the time to send a thank you note, no matter how well (or poorly) you think the interview went. It’s a requirement, not an option. If you think it went great, a note could seal the deal. If you think it was a disaster, you should still be polite. In fact, a note could salvage what was damaged.

When it comes to interview blunders, most of them are surprisingly easy to avoid. Mind your manners and be considerate, and the rest will follow.