Your Language and Demeanor
Language and demeanor:
you may be the whiz-bang
tech genius of the century, but if you don’t represent yourself, by your
language and demeanor, as a professional, you’ll damage your chances of being
hired. This means:
Avoid
slang and of course, profanity. Yes, “those words” are
commonplace in the workplace, on television and practically everywhere
you go these days – but a job interview is not the place for them.Don’t
be irritating. This includes all complaining and whining, whether about
your former employer, the job market, the weather, or anything else. It
includes going into much more detail than necessary about your personal
life and especially your personal problems. Employers want to hire
people who are pleasant. This is a job interview – not a therapy
session. Irritating behavior also includes “nagging” the
interviewer for a decision at the end of the interview.Spelling
and grammar count in written communications. That includes
e-mail. Of course, your ability to spell has little to do with how
technically competent you are. However, it says a lot about how
careful or careless you are. With the spell-checkers that are built into
most email clients and word processors today, there is no excuse for
misspelling words. The fact is, if you send a message, letter or
risumi full of misspelled words and incoherent sentences, the
impression the reader will get is that you’re dumb – even if your IQ
is at the top of the scale.