• Don’t lie on your resume. I’m sure we all like to show ourselves in the best light, but exaggerating or outright lying will get you nowhere. Once you are found out, you will be history. During a recent interview, I drilled down into the details of the candidate’s background and was shocked to discover exactly how much of this person’s resume was simply untrue. I’m sure you wouldn’t be surprised to hear that there was no way I was going to hire this guy.
  
• Tailor your resume with relevant details for the position. I am currently hiring a contractor for a specific skill, and I was absolutely floored to see a submitted resume that contained only a single sentence (in poorly written English, but that’s another story) that mentioned this skill. Just a complete waste of time for me. Even so, I did offer to review an updated resume that expanded on the candidate’s skills in this area, but why force me to take that extra step? I also see many cases where the same resume is sent regardless of the role offered. For example, I recently had three separate roles for supporting three distinct technologies, and I was looking for expert level skills for each; yet, one candidate submitted the same resume for all three roles. You can’t possibly be an expert in everything, so why not tailor your resume to what the position is asking for?
  
• Watch what comes out of your mouth. In the interview situation you are selling yourself as a capable technical professional. Professional is a key concept here. It means many things, including knowing what to say and what not to say. Of course, interviews can be stressful situations and nerves can make people run off at the mouth; however, having some control over what we say is something that all of us can learn with practice. Further, as a hiring manager, I don’t want to hear intricate details about what is wrong with your current manager or employer. This makes me wonder what you will say in front of my customers (which can also be a stressful experience).
  
• Get to the interview on time. If this job is important to you, it is important enough to get there on time. One of my team leaders remarked that when he has an important interview, he often does a “dry run” earlier to understand exactly where the interview will be held and how long it takes to get there. I’m sure that the other folks who were late probably had a good reason, but why leave it to chance?
  
• Know what the job entails. If you don’t want the job, don’t apply. When the job describes a support role and you tell me in the interview that you want to do project implementations, this doesn’t give me many options to proceed further. You need to come to the interview with a clear understanding of the job
  (and, of course, by asking intelligent questions in the interview you can learn even more), and want to do it.. Otherwise, we’re just wasting each other’s time.
  
• Research the company you will be working for. I continue to be amazed when I ask interviewees about our company and find out how little they know. Sure, they know the name and think that it would be good to have that name on their resume, but very few were able to tell me anything of substance of what the company has been up to recently. A little research on the Web beforehand would help here. Simply expect that hiring managers are proud to work at their company and would be delighted to hear a candidate being informed about and excited to work at that company, too.
  
• Love your stuff. If I am hiring you for technology “X,” then I expect you to know it and love it. This means keeping yourself up to date with the latest developments and future product plans. If you’re not, this suggests to me that the only time you learn anything new would be when I send you on a training course. While I do value education and send my folks on many courses as time and funds permit, at the same time I expect them to also make the effort to keep themselves updated. I don’t mean you need to have extensive experience with each beta drop of the product, but I do expect you to have a cursory knowledge of the most recent product version released together with whatever the vendor has announced for the future. For example, I continue to be amazed at Windows specialists with little knowledge of Windows 2003 or NetWare specialists with no knowledge of NetWare 6.5 or what these respective vendors are planning for the future.

The successful candidates I hired were fine in all of these areas, but what surprised me was how few of the entire pool were at this level. Being well prepared for the job application and subsequent interview won’t make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear, but if you already have great IT skills, it is a shame to see those go to waste because of the above interview gaffes. Keep these in mind for your next interview, and be sure to post any additional tips below.