The biggest mistake is how job-hunters communicate, whether it’s discussing their personal problems instead of answering or asking questions about the employer, sounding as if they’re robots reading a script, answering in monosyllables, or bad-mouthing ex-bosses. Some blurt out real bloopers, like the job-seeker who wanted the position because it offered health insurance, or the customer service applicant who confessed to not being a “people person.”

The second biggest mistake is how many job-seekers act, from downright rudeness like answering cell phone calls during the interview, arriving late, biting fingernails, and even starting to munch on a sandwich.

Job-hunters who display no enthusiasm—about their current or previous jobs, or the one at hand—don’t score points, nor do those who keep looking at their watches during the interview, or those with egos of heroic proportions who don’t admit to ever making a mistake.

Job Savvy

Enthusiasm is a trait highly valued by interviewers. It often trumps more experience and even better skills, since employers tend to feel skills and experience can always be developed over time, but a good attitude and eagerness to do the job can’t be taught.

Bad grooming and dress is another mistake interviewers frown on, whether it’s facial piercings, poor hygiene, visible tattoos, hair in peculiar colors, or casual dress like jeans and T-shirts.

Lying about their current or past jobs, degrees, knowledge, or criminal record and exaggerating their achievements are ways some job-hunters are dishonest. Not to mention the applicant who stole an object from the interviewer’s office.

Researching the job helps you measure your qualifications against what the employer wants, helps you think about examples you can give to prove you’re the right person for the job, and tells you how the job may be different at this employer from others in the same industry. You also gain confidence and power in salary negotiation if you know you meet every qualification and then some. The more well informed you are, the better you come across in an interview and the greater your chances of landing the job.

Try to find the answers to these questions:

This is where networking can be very helpful, whether it’s a friend, colleague, friend of a friend, or information or a contact from a trade association or industry event. Read as much as possible in business and trade publications about the industry and employer to keep on top of career paths, hiring practices, and salaries (the last was often a closely guarded secret; no longer, thanks to the Internet).

Here are a couple websites to help in your research:

Researching the employer never fails to impress the interviewer, since it shows you’re serious and interested enough to do your homework. It immediately sets you apart from much of your competition, who are clueless as to the unique features of this specific employer.

Try to get answers to the following:

An employer’s website usually offers tons of useful information, from descriptions of different divisions, products and services, and future plans to financial information. Brochures and annual reports published by employers are invaluable sources as well. Some employers publish recruitment brochures, which describe training programs, employment policies, and other information job-hunters seek. Contact the employer’s public relations department and ask for these materials.

Of course, all that stuff is from the employer itself, so it’s a little biased. Search the online archives of national business publications like The New York Times, Fortune, Business Week, and Forbes to find articles on the employer, or online archives of local or regional publications if the employer is a smaller one.

Here are some websites to help in your research:

Here are some reference directories found in libraries to help in your research:

Researching the industry gives you a good overall view of how this particular employer and the job fit into the big picture. Knowing the industry’s major trends, challenges, and growth areas tells you what’s important to the employer and how you can help them do well.

Try to get these questions answered:

Trade associations are very helpful sources of information on the industries they represent. Most publish newsletters that run articles on industry trends and news of interest to the industry. Many have extensive websites, as well as job referral banks.

Trade associations often host national conferences in addition to meetings and seminars held by local chapters, which often can be attended by nonmembers at a higher fee and which are goldmines of networking contacts as well as industry information. All have membership directories to encourage networking among members.

A partial list of major trade associations is in Appendix C, ranging from the American Bar Association (for lawyers) to the American Marketing Association (for marketers). The Encyclopedia of Associations, which libraries have, lists many thousands of associations in alphabetical order by industry, plus contact names, phone numbers, and addresses.

Trade magazines, which write in-depth articles on industry trends, profile companies and experts in the industry, and often run industry rankings, are also excellent sources of information. Often they are published by trade associations.

It’s good to keep track of your job interviews in an orderly fashion, both to write down information acquired before the interview—from place, time, contact information, and research you’ve done—and after the interview, like follow-up required or more interviews with the same employer. Try to keep it in a folder or notebook. You’ll go mad if you just do it on little scraps of paper.

For each job interview, fill out the following worksheet. Feel free to make as many copies as you need.

Job Savvy

Multiple interviews are common today, so don’t be surprised if you’re asked to come in five different times to meet with different people. That makes keeping track of each even more important.

Now you know two vitally important points that will immediately improve your job interviews: how to be prepared and how to put yourself in the interviewer’s shoes. You’ve learned to be prepared by researching the job, employer, and industry so you’re ready to answer questions and ask some of your own. You’ve also learned how to put yourself in the interviewer’s shoes by understanding what they fear and what they hate. And last but not least, you know how to obtain and organize all this information before and after the interviews. You’ll soon be acing them with flying colors.

Job Savvy

A short thank-you letter should be sent after each interview, ideally the old-fashioned paper kind. You can personalize each with information in your notes. For example, perhaps one interviewer emphasized a specific aspect of the job, another attended the same college you did, and so on.