You lacked energy
One of the quickest ways to put off an interviewer is to approach the interview with a lack of enthusiasm. If you’re not excited to be there, then chances are your recruiter isn’t excited to talk to you. You don’t need to break down the door dancing around, shaking everyone’s hand, and singing about how you’re going to rock this interview (do that in your head); but you should at the very least have a positive demeanor when you walk in. Your interviewer will pick up on whatever kind of energy you come into the interview with, and walking in with a negative attitude will get your interview rolling downhill fast.
You didn’t provide examples
This is most often the reason why an interview doesn’t go as well as you had hoped. Everyone goes into an interview excited to talk about their skills, but its important to make sure you back those skills up with relevant experience. Its one thing to say “I have great organizational and leadership skills”, and its another to say “I have experience managing a team that completed __________ task in a timely and streamlined manner”. You don’t want to just list off your skills, instead you want your work experience to exemplify what professional skills you have demonstrated in the past.
You weren’t conversational
While you want to remain professional in your interview, you also want to let your personality shine as well. If you speak like a business robot the entire time, you aren’t going to leave much of an impression with your recruiter. When speaking, don’t just give a direct answer like “yes” or “no”. Instead, elaborate and engage your recruiter to offer their thoughts or advice on your answer. Remember that your interviewer isn’t just trying to find out if you’ll be able to do the job, but that you’ll be a good addition to their company. Be yourself, but remember to be respectful and professional as well.
You said what the recruiter wanted to hear
Confusing, right? Isn’t the whole point of an interview saying what the recruiter wants to hear? Well, yes and no. You want to make sure you provide good answers to any questions you’re asked, but you want to also make sure that they are REAL answers. Don’t respond in a certain way just because you know that’s what the interviewer wants to hear. Your recruiter will be able to pick up on canned answers, and they will not be very impressed. Don’t just recite a pre-planned speech about why you want to work there that reads like the company’s mission statement. Instead, highlight the experiences, skills, and aspects of your personality that align with the company’s values while also explaining what drew you to the company in the first place. A genuine answer that gives insight into who you are and why you want to work for the company, that may not tick every “perfect answer” box, is much better than one that is completely unoriginal and does.
–Tyler Geeve, Staff Source Marketing/Recruiting Assistant