There are a million ways to screw up a face-to-face interview. That’s an exaggeration, of course, but it certainly seems as though there are that many ways.
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In fact, we’ve discussed some of those ways at length in this blog, including with the following posts:
“5 Obvious Interview Mistakes (That People Keep Making)”
“4 Not-So-Obvious Interview Mistakes”

You’d think that nine mistakes are more than enough to avoid, and if you did avoid them, you’d be guaranteed to ace the interview. Think again. Even if you do so, there are other mistakes “lurking in the shadows,” ready to sabotage your efforts.

To help us explore these other mistakes, we’re enlisting the help of a recent article by Kentin Waits on the WiseBread.com website. The title of that article is “10 Things You Should Never Do During a Job Interview.”

Below are yet four more interview mistakes to avoid: 
#1—Sitting down before you’re invited to do so.
Yes, you’re a go-getter and you’re eager to begin the interview so you can show everybody how great you are, but follow accepted professional protocol. Wait until somebody invites you to sit down. Then do so and respond with a thank-you.
#2—Slouching
Your body language sends unspoken messages to the people interviewing you. Send them the best messages possible by sitting up straight. It signals that you’re paying attention and you’re interested in what they have to say.
#3—Mumbling
Organizations want confident employees who can communicate well. Mumbling basically represents the opposite of those characteristics. Speak up and speak clearly.
#4—Talking up
This is the unfortunate practice of altering the tone of your voice at the end of statements to make the statements sound like questions. It’s usually done unconsciously, but once again, it conveys uncertainty and a lack of confidence.

Click here to read the WiseBread.com article and discover its other seven interview mistakes.

National Boss’s Day is two days from now, but according to a recent survey by the LaSalle Network, there are a lot of bosses out there who are not deserving of praise or recognition.
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That’s because, according to the survey, 87% of workers reported having a bad boss, either now or in the past or both. That’s nearly nine out of every 10, a staggering ratio.
However, it gets even worse than that. Approximately half of the people surveyed have quit their job because of a bad supervisor. In addition, 55% never reported their bad boss to higher leadership within the organization.

So what can be surmised from these findings? That poor management and supervision is the number-one reason people quit their jobs, and in the majority of cases, these employees do notexpress their frustration prior to leaving. They simply find another job and submit their notice.

As a result, companies are losing good employees because of poor leadership. That hurts these companies in more ways than one, and these are personnel and production losses that can absolutely be prevented.

Below are the main characteristics that the survey respondents attributed to bad bosses, along with their corresponding percentages. In other words, these are the top five behaviors that ALL bosses should avoid, ranked from #5 to #1:
#5—Not willing to help employee learn (15%)
#4—Doesn’t acknowledge employee’s hard work (16%)
#3—Uncaring/not empathetic (18%)
#2—Only notices negatives, never the positives (26%)
#1—Never takes the blame, but first to take the credit (27%)
Are any of these behaviors present within your organization? This is a relevant question, regardless of whether you’re an employee or a manager. In each case, if the behaviors are present, then certain action must be taken.

What will you do?

LaSalle Network, a recruiting and staffing firm headquartered in Chicago, surveyed 1,100 people on experiences with bad bosses. Click here to read LaSalle Network’s press release about the survey results.