Interviews: The biggest mistake one can make

Q: What’s the biggest mistake job candidates can make during an interview?

A: When we hear about interviews going horribly wrong, one of the most common recurring themes is people trying to negotiate before they have an offer. The candidates are demanding: I need this and that. Do this and that.

I see candidates before sending them in for the interview and go through a whole presentation. Then they go out and spend a couple of days in the town where the job is and meet with people who are making the hiring decisions. They know the intimate details of the job. I tell candidates it’s x schedule and y money. Yet within the first five minutes they say, “I’ll only work four days a week,” or “I want a base of $250,000, not $200,000.” Those things happen a lot more than you’d think they do with intelligent people.

The market has conditioned candidates to have a “world-is-my-oyster” mentality. I don’t blame them for that. If I received 40 or 50 letters and 20 to 30 phone calls per month about new jobs, I would too. It’s human nature. The supply-and demand-equation has caused candidates to feel they can ask for anything and get what they want.

But as a result, in lots of cases they don’t get an offer.

Response from Tommy Bohannon, divisional vice president, Merritt Hawkins, Irving, Texas.