Welcome back to Meme Monday. Today’s lesson? Stop creeping out the hiring managers.
The meme:
Overly Attached Girlfriend
The scenario:
You made it to the in-person interview (congrats on that, by the way), where you are faced with the age-old question, “Where do you see yourself in 5 years?” Like many job seekers, you’re not quite sure what to say. You know you can’t be honest — saying that you hope to be retired at 35 and sipping margaritas on a tropical island will not bode well for you employment chances.
Then you remember all of the bad things you’ve heard about job hopping, so you tell the hiring manager that you’re 100% certain you’ll be right here in five years. The problem is that you come off too strong in your response. Making matters worse, you then follow up incessantly. You email to say thanks after the interview, but then follow up with daily phone calls, emails at odd hours of the night, and even a couple pieces of snail mail. You might even stalk them on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. Not good.
What you can learn from Overly Attached Girlfriend:
It’s one thing to express genuine interest in a position and a company. It’s another to come across as an overly attached girlfriend (read: you want to get married and you just met 5 minutes ago). Don’t look like a desperate job seeker even if you are. Do practice restraint. And do practice answering the most common interview questions before you go face-to-face with the employer.
Have you ever acted like an overly attached job seeker? How did that help or hurt your job search?
