The Most Common Job Interview Advice Can Actually Be Detrimental to Your Career. Here's What You Should Know
With the best of intentions, people have been doling out bad job interview and career advice for years. Family and friends mean well, but they tend to offer career counseling without knowing the specific circumstances and nuances of the recipient’s unique situation. I wouldn’t necessarily say your friends and family are purposely trying to mislead you. They innocently believe the cliche advice offered is helpful and correct.
People don’t mean to give you bad information, but unfortunately, it happens all the time. These are 11 commonly held beliefs about job interviews or managing your career that sound good but are not entirely true or helpful.
1. Never accept the first job offer.
People often tell you not to accept the first job offer. The trouble with this advice is the erroneous assumption that choosing jobs is like looking for cereal at the supermarket. There are 100 different types of cereal that you can select from.
If you have a specific skill set and earn a certain amount of income, you might be lucky to have three good jobs to interview for at any given time. You might not have the luxury of an abundance of choices.
Why give up a fantastic job just because you were fortunate to find it first?
2. Fight tooth and nail for everything.
Of course, you should negotiate for an attractive salary along with appropriate benefits, but this does not mean you should come across as crass or bombastic. It doesn’t have to be a knock-down-drag-out fight.
You want a fair job offer, but you don’t want to lose it by being too greedy.
Fighting tool and nail for everything could backfire if the hiring manager or human resources team begins to view you as too difficult to work with. No matter how good you are, people generally don’t want to have to deal with aggressive people.
3. Ignore the human resources team.
Your peers will question why you are being forced to initially interview with someone from human resources. They will say it is a waste of time and energy. What these people don’t understand is that it is an important part of the process.
The recruiter or human resources team do all the work behind the scenes, setting up interviews, gathering feedback, pushing certain candidates forward in the process and denying others.
The advice of your buddies is completely backward. You want to partner with the recruiter or the human resources team so that they like you and fight for you. If you do get the job, they will be a great resource for you at the company.
4. Play hard to get.
If you come across standoffish, cold, distant or aloof, it does not create a sense of mystery and intrigue. Instead, it makes hiring managers and recruiters believe that you are not interested in the job.
Hiring managers want someone who actually wants the job and is excited about the opportunity. They do not want to chase after someone who is not interested.
5. Don’t work with a recruiter. It will cost you money.
Some people think that working with a recruiter will result in a lower offer because the company needs to compensate the search firm. This is wrong.
First, top companies factor in these costs already. Second, companies select recruiters for assignments that they know are very difficult to fill. They work with recruiters because they desperately need their services to find the needles in the haystack—people like you.
Recruiters will help coach and guide you through the entire hiring process. They can handle negotiations to obtain the best offer for you. These professionals most likely know the hiring managers and teams at the company and can share insider insight into how you should present yourself during the job interview and what they seek in a candidate.
6. Don’t ever accept less money or a lower title.
Career trajectories are not always linear. You may want to pivot to a different type of job. Taking a step back to ultimately move forward may be appropriate at times.
Remember: Job titles are not the same all over. A vice president title may be handed out like candy during Halloween at one company, but parceled out sparingly like Scrooge at another firm. However, both roles technically have the same level.
It could be worthwhile to leave money on the table to learn skills that will help them in the long run or if you are looking to pivot into another industry or job discipline.
7. Don’t leave your top-tier city.
There is a bias among people that you should work in so-called top-tier cities. There is a certain air of superiority if you work in Manhattan or San Francisco, as opposed to a city in the Midwest. It’s similar to the pretentiousness people have about cars, homes, clothes, schools or neighborhoods. Don’t fall into this trap.
If the job is right for you and the people are great and supportive, don’t worry about the city. Do what is right for you and don’t focus on impressing anyone else. Focus on intellectually challenging work and great growth opportunities for yourself.
8. Don’t leave your job because it’s safe or secure.
Most people are afraid of change. They might remain in their current role out of a fear of the unknown. If they have a safe, boring job and the pay is a reasonable amount, they will not take the risk of trying something new. They’ll try to impart their fears onto you.
But if you stay too long in one place, it is easy to stagnate.
Take chances with your career. Yes, sometimes you might fail, but you will learn from the experience and can try again. You can be proud of the fact that you tried your best and don’t settle for mediocrity.
9. Follow your passion.
Doing what you love is well-intentioned and heartwarming advice, but it can be lethal. What if you love something that doesn’t pay well and you can’t make a living?
It is a more realistic and reasonable thing to consider whether you like your job, are good at it and have the chance to earn a good living doing it. Following a dream sounds noble, but in real life, you have to consider whether your passion will afford you the ability to accomplish your life goals, whether that’s buying a home, getting married or building toward your retirement.
10. Quit your job if you’re unhappy.
Don’t quit in a moment of haste or anger. You might feel great for a couple of days, but as time wears on, you might realize that it wasn’t a terribly smart thing to do.
Some better advice might be to bear the unpleasant situation until you can find a better job. It’s generally a good idea not to quit without having another job in hand.
11. Demand what you want or leave.
It’s very easy for someone else to tell you to demand more money and responsibilities from the comfort of their home. It’s another thing to actually try this tactic.
Put yourself in the shoes of your manager. How would you like to have someone storm into your office and make threats to leave if you don’t immediately cave to their demands? You would rightfully feel uncomfortable, bullied or resentful at the treatment. Even if you wanted to grant their requests, you probably wouldn’t do so on principle.
The irony might be that you would have got what you wanted if you had just asked respectfully and outlined the reasons in a rational manner that was fair.
This article was written by Jack Kelly for Forbes and was lightly edited and republished with permission.