There are certain words that will significantly decrease your chances of success during a job interview because they will simply give the wrong impression to the interviewer.
Hence, when preparing for your next interview, think about how you can avoid the following words:
- Need
During a job interview, you should never make the whole interview about your needs and wants. You want to show the recruiter or hiring manager what you can do for them, how you can add value to the business and by talking about what you need, you´re turning it the other way around thereby giving the impression you might be challenging to work with.
- Hate
No one likes to work with someone that is always pessimistic and is a hater. Therefore, in an interview, try to avoid the word “hate” especially when talking about previous employers, ex-colleagues or managers you have had because the interviewer will immediately see a red flag.
- Any curse words
This may seem very obvious, but please avoid any curse words and never swear. Not during the interview but neither after the interview during networking dinners or drinks. Even if you think the working culture of this company might not find swearing such a problem, you don´t want to risk it.
- Money
Don´t start in your interview about benefits or how much you like the company´s benefits. This will give the impression that you care more about the benefits and your salary than about doing a good job.
- Nervous
You don´t want to come across as someone who lacks confidence and therefore don´t mention you´re nervous for the interview. Although you might think that honesty is your best choice to keep it authentic, in this case, it´s not your best choice. Even if you are super nervous, you will have to fake that confidence.
- Fired
Another point where honesty might not be your best option. Don´t focus on being fired, focus on that you feel it´s the right time to pursue other opportunities or to move on. By detailing your recent layoff, you will probably not speak positively about your previous employer and no one wants to hire someone that is speaking bad about their former company.
- Can´t
Your interviewer isn´t interested in what you can´t do, they want to hear what you can do. Can´t is a negative word and you shouldn´t be negative in interviews by focusing on what you can´t or don´t like to do. Even if you feel like you are not sure whether you will be able to do a good job in certain aspects, you want to show that you are eager to learn and are open to take on any task.
- Perfectionist
This might be the most hated word by interviewers. Many candidates want to turn the typical weaknesses question into something positive by saying “they are perfectionists”. However, don´t fall for this trap because it definitely won´t be considered as positive by most interviewers so do yourself a favor and skip this word from your interview dictionary.
- Stuff
You need to be specific in your answers and show confidence about the topics you are talking about and by using “stuff like that” or something similar you won´t achieve that. Also, it will make the tone of the interview excessively casual.
- Whatever
This may also seem an obvious one but avoid the word “whatever” at all cost. “Whatever” gives the impression that you´re giving up or want to stop talking about a certain topic.
What other words do you think a candidate should never use during a job interview? We would love to read about it in the comments section!
