Some candidates come forward with a few negatives at the start of interview.
They will say things like:
- “Yeah! I never got along too well with that colleague – We ended up fighting about that a lot…”
- “…That’s because I tend to be insecure when deadlines are near. I stresses me but eventually, I manage to get through…”
- “…This was right after my divorce. I admit I was devastated for a few months when my wife left…”
- Etc.
All these lines put you down.
They insist on the fact that you do face problems and that you have no idea how to solve them.
If you express thoughts along that line, it shows as well that you don’t really believe in yourself.
The perception they have from you goes down instantly.
They associate your name and face with:
- Trouble maker
- Unsolved issues
- Emotionally unstable
- Etc.
These are all deal breaker labels! You must not hand that kind of stuff to them!
You need to be prepared before the interview and make sure that you don’t give them that type of negatives.
The truth is that everyone might have some dark not totally solved area in their lives.
They simply don’t go around advertising it!
Remember that a job interview is an opportunity to sell and market yourself!
If they ask you about negatives or challenging moments in your career, have a couple of light examples you can make fun of and they can easily relate to.
- “I tend to be quite passionate when I work on a project… I drive my wife crazy!”
- “I tend to be quite perfectionist when it comes to details in a new product. I’ll tend to double check everything even if the new features have already been approved by the technical team…”
- Etc.
Prepare a few of these examples so that if the question comes up, you are ready.