Have you had job interviews in the past that have gone awry, and you’re still trying to figure out why? Well, if you’ve done any of the below, then we’ve got a good guess why they haven’t proceeded…

By just cutting out the below words and phrases, we guarantee you’ll have a 100% better shot at a more successful interview.

But really, if you’re still finding that you can’t seem to make it to the next interviewing stage (and you’re doing everything you can), we’d be happy to give you a helping hand and some advice—you know where to reach us.

If you want to make it through to the next interviewing stage, then whatever you do, avoid these words and phrases:

“Do you have any other open roles? I’ll do anything.”

This will likely make you seem desperate to an interviewer (and no employer wants to see this side). Saying you’ll take any role that’s available at the company kind of screams desperation, and although they might be all smiles and tell you, ‘Unfortunately, no, there’s none’, they’ll be happy to walk you out of the door as quickly as they can. Don’t show this weakness.

“It’s on my resume.”

That’s a given—of course, it’s on your resume. If it weren’t, you probably wouldn’t be in the interviewing stage. And if you’ve reached this stage, don’t mess it up by saying something like, ‘It’s on my resume’. It’s the same as saying, ‘I can’t be bothered to explain it to you’.

Elaborate on all points of your resume and experience and talk yourself up. (After all, they didn’t call you in for you to just sit there.)

“Synergy” or any other corporate buzzwords one after another

This one is just a convoluted buzzword that’s used from time to time, and to be honest, most of our eyes glaze over when this type of corporate vocab is used, and we’d bet most interviewers feel somewhat the same. 

They really just want to know you, so don’t go all in using every business jargon you can think of. There’s no doubt it would make you a memorable candidate—but not in the way you’d like. You’ll be easier to understand and converse with if you use words that everyone can comprehend without having to think twice about.

“Sh*t”

Oops. It’s easy to let this happen.

It’s best not to let your interviewer see this true part of yourself so early on. So, stick on the safe side and steer clear from using your favourite curse words, no matter how hard it is to hold back.

“What’s your name again?”

We hope this is as obvious as the rest to never say to a potential employer but asking your interviewer for their name (after they’ve introduced themselves in person and probably over email too) is just insulting. If you’ve genuinely forgotten their name, the best advice we can give you is to avoid all conversations that could possibly lead to having to use their first name and then go home and memorise it like your life depends on it—because your career might.

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