What NOT to Do in a Job Interview: Talk about yourself in the third person
The first in The Smart Lemming’s new series “What NOT to Do in a Job Interview” (yes, sadly, there are so many dumb things people do in job interviews that it warrants an entire series), I’d like to talk about about how to talk about yourself.
Or more accurately, how not to talk about yourself: in the third person.
Several years ago, I interviewed a guy in his late 20’s — we’ll call him Blake — who, halfway through the interview, began referring to himself in the third person.
As in “Blake increased revenue by 20% year over year” and “Blake always completes his TPS reports on time.”
Laudable accomplishments, to be sure, but I wasn’t listening to them because I was so distracted by his use of the third person. Suddenly I had new empathy for the plight of Whoopi Goldberg’s character in Eddie (1996), whose star basketball player Stacie Patton insists on saying things like, “you want to talk to Stacie Patton, call his agent.”
Then it got worse.
Blake proceeded to whiteboard “Blake’s Hierarchy of Needs,” to demonstrate how a positive working environment ranked higher on his priority list than money, food, or even sex.
Yes, he actually brought up sex in a job interview. But I’ll save that topic for our next post in this series.
Needless to say, he did not get hired.
Bottom line: don’t talk about yourself in the third person in a job interview. Sarah doesn’t like it.
Similar Posts:
- Job Interviewing: Don’t Complain about Your Employer in the Interview
- The Smart Lemming’s Weekly Twitter Digest: Week of November 6, 2009
- 4 Reasons Why those Non-Dream Jobs are Important to You
- Smart Lemming Diary: CEO/Founder Calls to Discuss Director of Marketing Position
- The Smart Lemming’s Weekly Twitter Digest: Week of Oct. 31, 2009
