They don’t research the company

People still aren't researching the company they are interviewing with? Seriously? It may seem simple to some, but there are people out there who fail their interview in seconds because they know nothing about the company. Not researching the company properly tells the hiring managers and recruiters that you don’t care about the role, or what you could bring to the company. You should take your time looking over the company and preparing questions to ask if you don’t understand something. It’s better to be over prepared than underprepared.

They don’t ask relevant questions

Ask questions that show you took your time to look over the company and genuinely care about the team you may be joining, or how you can add to their vision for the next five years. Ask questions that dive deeper into the technology, or that are relevant in that space. If you are asked if you have questions, you should never say NO. Why? When someone does not have any questions, it seems as if you are just trying to get out of the interview and that you feel as if this role is not right for you.

Overconfidence

Do you have a chip on your shoulder and think you are #1? Companies are transitioning their models into fostering teamwork and collaboration, and look for people who are coachable and focus on the success of the team instead of themselves. Being overconfident comes across as arrogance, which in a hiring manager's mind translates into someone who is not a team player. Team players tend to go farther than people who are all in it for themselves.

They dress inappropriately

The appropriate dress debacle continues. What is appropriate to wear to an interview? A suit? A tux? Jeans and a nice shirt? The answer is...all of the above..except a tux maybe. A rule of thumb is to listen to the recruiters and hiring managers about how to dress, because they will drop subtle hints saying how they dress in the office. There does come into play that it's better to be overdressed than underdressed, but when a hiring manager tells you to dress casual- you should dress casual. The key here is to simply pay attention to what they say about attire, or ask if they don’t mention it.

Criticizing previous employer

This is one of the top ways to not get hired. Usually recruiters can get the sense of this during the first call. Often times, people who are actively searching for a new job are doing so for a reason. Very often it’s because of a previous manager, boss, or company's change of direction. It’s good to be transparent with the reason you are looking, but be careful with how much you expose. If you start ragging on a specific person or part of the company, it can be warning signs that you may do it again to the company you are interviewing with. The key to avoiding this is to say a little without giving too much. If you are speaking negatively about your current company for a majority of the time, chances are the recruiter or hiring manager has already written you off.