If you’ve been in a job search, you’ve been offered advice. Some of it solicited, some of it not. How do you know what advice is good and what is bad? Some of that depends on trusting your gut. Ask yourself, “Does this make sense?” If the answer is no, don’t follow it. If it makes sense, try it and see if it works. But any advice that involves deceit is always bad. An employment relationship is just that - a relationship. Don’t start out on the wrong foot.
Here are some examples of recent bad advice I’ve come across.
"Confirming" an interview when you don't have one.
I recently read an interesting question on one of my favorite blog sites, AskAManager, and it isn’t the first time I’ve seen it. Actually, I see questions about “dodgy” job search advice on here frequently.
Don’t call and pretend you have an interview scheduled. Instead, put that effort into networking your way into a legitimate interview.
Saying you have an NDA to get out of explaining a resume gap
When you do this, it says you have something to hide. People have gaps in their resume. Own yours.
Interviews can go wrong for many reasons. Don’t create reasons by doing the wrong thing. We’ve all had interviews go wrong. Allison shares stories from when we bomb our interview, bad interviewee behavior, and bad interviewer behavior. We are all human and aren’t the right fit for every organization. See, it could be worse. You’ve got this!