Interview DON'Ts

• Don't make excuses. Take responsibility for your decisions and your actions.

• Don't make negative comments about previous employers or professors (or others).

• Don't falsify application materials or answers to interview questions.

• Don't treat the interview casually, as if you are just shopping around or doing the interview for practice. This is an insult to the interviewer and to the organization.

• Don't give the impression that you are only interested in an organization because of its geographic location.

• Don't give the impression you are only interested in salary; don't ask about salary and benefits issues until the subject is brought up by your interviewer.

• Don't act as though you would take any job or are desperate for employment.

• Don't make the interviewer guess what type of work you are interested in; it is not the interviewer's job to act as a career advisor to you.

• Don't be unprepared for typical interview questions. You may not be asked all of them in every interview, but being unprepared will not help you.

• A job search can be hard work and involve frustrations; don't exhibit frustrations or a negative attitude in an interview.

• Don't go to extremes with your posture; don't slouch, and don't sit rigidly on the edge of your chair.

• Don't assume that a female interviewer is "Mrs." or "Miss." Address her as "Ms." unless told otherwise. (If she has a Ph.D. or other doctoral degree or medical degree, use "Dr. [lastname]" just as you would with a male interviewer. Marital status of anyone, male or female, is irrelevant to the purpose of the interview.

• Don't chew gum or smell like smoke.

• Don't allow your cell phone to sound during the interview. (If it does, apologize quickly and ignore it.) Don't take a cell phone call. Don't look at a text message.

• Don't take your parents, your pet (an assistance animal is not a pet in this circumstance), spouse, fiance, friends or enemies to an interview. If you are not grown up and independent enough to attend an interview alone, you're insufficiently grown up and independent for a job. (They can certainly visit your new city, at their own expense, but cannot attend your interview.)