10 Common Behavioural Mistakes You Must Avoid During Interview

Very often interviewees end up making some very silly mistakes which have a potential of harming the rapport building process between the employer and the candidate and thus reduces the chances of getting selected. These mistakes are so common that on reading them you might wonder why these have been mentioned here. But it is the commonness and ordinariness of these flaws that make them candidates to much susceptible to them. So next time you go to your campus/placement or job interview (or even a personal interview for CAT etc. for that matter), be sure to avoid the following mistakes. It will only improve your chances of getting selected for the job.

1.    Avoid being too modest
Being too modes t person is okay in real life. However in a interview, being or presenting yourself as a over modest and unusually meek person is not going to do you any good in impressing the interviewer.  The employer is searching for a person with a dynamic personality who is confident enough to carry himself with adequate dignity and has potential leadership qualities. None of these qualities are reinforced by a diffident attitude.

2.    Never openly  criticize your (prospective)employer, i.e. the interviewer
During stress interviews or behavioural interviews, you might get agitated internally due to several reasons. However, under no circumstance should you criticize your interviewer openly. However, there is a more respectful way of putting it. First listen to everything your interviewer has to say. Then politely say that,
“I’m sorry that we have a difference of opinion, but I stick to what I’ve said before.”
Or something like,
“I can appreciate your point of view, but I firmly believe in what I’ve been saying. I think we are all entitled to our own opinions.”

3.    Never criticize your former employer

4.    Never lie or make up stories
The interviewer knows what questions to ask and how to search for the truthfulness in answers. If you start lying or making up stories or start projecting a “know it all” attitude, you can be sure that your interviewer is will perceive it. Employers hate haughtiness and candidates who don’t own up their shortcomings. No one is perfect, and interviewers know that and hence take it into account while evaluating every candidate. So, lying and trying to cover up for it is not going to help.

5.    Never  ask questions just for the sake of asking
Asking questions simply for the sake of doing so won’t improve your chances of getting a job or getting selected for CAT in a personal college. Only ask a question if you have a genuine query. Acceptable questions include those relating directly to the job you’re applying for, as well as working conditions and company policies on such things as on pay, leave, and so on. If you have no questions to ask, simply say something like: ‘Thank you, but I have no questions. Your thoroughness in the interview has cleared all the questions I had before attending the interview.”


6.    Don’t sit down until invited to do so. Then, sit upright; don’t slouch or sprawl.

7.    Never interject your com­ments with uhs, you knows, um, and the like. It’s no sin to pause and say nothing while gathering your thoughts.

8.    Never try to an­ticipate what the interviewer is going to say or ask, and most importantly, don’t interrupt when the interviewer is speaking to you or with a fellow interviewer. 

9.    Don’t prioritize any single interviewer.
When being interviewed by multiple interviewers, never assume that a single person is in charge of the interview and hence focus your attention on a single interviewer. This is because firstly you can never be sure who is in actual charge of saying the final word in the process of selection, secondly it would belittle the remaining interviewers who will not rate you highly and thirdly it would project your lack of communication skills.

10.    Never ask how long the interview will last (during the interview)
A typical interview would usually last for about 30 to 40 minutes, and it is very probable that you get anxious at some point of time when things aren’t going too well according to you. However difficult the situation be, never ask the interviewer how long the interview is going to last. If you do that, the interviewer will have the impression that you are in a hurry to leave to attend some other business that holds greater priority to you than the interview, perhaps another interview at some rival company. Would you want that? No!
However if you do want to know for how long the interviewers will hold you up, please call up the Human Resource Department and enquire about it before the interview.