Deal Breaker
When preparing for a conversation or interview, know the position and have all relevant information, find a quiet space, avoid distractions, and don't hesitate to ask for interview tips and/or questions.
A first conversation with a recruiter or a hiring manager, even an informal one, can shape the entire rest of your candidacy for a role, so it is worth treating it with some seriousness rather than winging it. There are three genuine deal breakers worth avoiding at all costs if you want that first impression to work in your favour rather than against you.
- The first is walking into the conversation without an understanding of the actual position being discussed. Few things are more off-putting to whoever is on the other end of the call than hearing a candidate ask, apologetically, what the role is actually about. Before any call or remote interview, however informal it seems, take the time to properly refresh yourself on the specific role, the company, and why you applied for it in the first place, so you can speak confidently from the very first question.
The second is failing to give the conversation your full, undivided attention. Find a quiet, ideally indoor space where you can genuinely focus, rather than attempting the call while walking down the street or stepping out of a noisy venue. This matters even more for video interviews, where background noise and distraction are immediately visible as well as audible to the person interviewing you, and where a scattered environment can quietly undercut an otherwise strong answer.
The third, and perhaps the most easily avoidable, is eating during the conversation. A glass of water is perfectly fine, but having a meal, however light you think it is, during an interview or recruiter call is a genuine mistake that undermines the seriousness of the moment. As the saying goes, crunch time is not munch time, and it is a rule worth taking literally.
Avoiding these three simple things costs nothing but a bit of preparation and awareness, yet it makes a disproportionate difference to how seriously and professionally you come across from the very first conversation.
