Through my many years in the People business, I have had the opportunity to witness first hand the unbelievable blunders people make when they are interviewing for a new job. Even when they are prepared, they often don’t realize that everything they do or say will be scrutinized carefully during the interview

I find this occurs most frequently with younger, inexperienced job candidates who. Inexplicably, have difficulty accepting the fact that they aren’t hanging out with their friends and fail to realize that interviewing is far more complex then just hanging out, shooting the breeze with the group.

I am reminded of the young lady I met some months ago who was interviewing with my firm for an internship. She is the daughter of a casual acquaintance of mine. I mentioned to her parents that I might have an opening and they asked if I would interview their 23 year old daughter for the position. I agreed to do this.

Please understand that I had never met this young lady before. She shows up at my office wearing Flip Flops on her feet, jeans, her hair pulled back, drinking a soda out of a can. She slouches down in the chair and I am sitting there mortified. Since I know her parents I decided to do them a favor and tell her what I thought about her dress and demeanor, not to mention the soda can, Wow! She snapped up in the chair so fast, I remarked I had never seen anyone move so fast. I gave her a quick lesson on interviewing.

Here are some other blunders I have seen: Don’t ever, wear casual attire like shorts and/or T-shirts, (woman) skimpy and revealing clothing, chew gum, have your cell phone on or wear a Bluetooth ear piece, say negative things about a previous job or employer (or College Instructor of Professor), wear too much perfume or after shave, say the word like, or you know etc. There are many others.

Your best bet is to get interview advice form a professional or at the very least go onto the Internet and see what you can find out. Check out

interviewcoachinginstitute.com for more information.

About the author: Since 1983, Head Coach Mark Suss has been working with job seekers. He has been a Coach, Recruiter, and Consultant to Individuals and Companies across the United States in 10 industries. He has recently written a downloadable E-Book and Audio presentation on his practical guide for landing a job in today’s economy. His Interview Coaching and Job Search Boot Camp program will kick your kids to the front of the line of millions and millions of job seekers.