You’ve finally landed the interview for the position you’ve been interested in for some time. Woohoo! Now, the next step is to prepare for the part.  Interview preparation is imperative because this is your one and only shot to exude your characteristics and personality with the hiring team.  They’ll use this opportunity to see if you’ll make a good fit for their company. There’s no doubt that you will, but here are five things I advise that you should never say or do during the interview, unless you don’t want to land the job.

1. “What does your company do?” This question is disguised as a question that may spark the interest of the interviewers. But please remember that upon entering the interview, you should have already completed your research on the company. If not, this shows that you are lacking interest and wasting the interviewer’s time. Instead try asking this: “What does your company expect from its employees?”
2. DO NOT, and I repeat, DO NOT answer your phone during an interview. The interviewing time should be dedicated only to the company and those who are interviewing you. You should not be worried about keeping in contact with those calling you or texting you in that moment as they are not the ones doing the hiring for your new job. Answering your phone during an interview is rude and if you know in advance that you need to be available to your contacts then I advise you reschedule your interview.
3. “How am I doing?” Although this seems like a good question to ask, this is not the appropriate time to be asking your interviewers how well you impress them during the interview. This also signifies that you are unsure and you are constantly seeking reassurance for your actions, which may be questionable in a leadership position. Always be confident. You’ll know how well you did based on whether or not you’ve been offered the position at the end of your time with them.
4. DO NOT bring your lunch to an interview. You may laugh but you would be surprised how many people think this is okay to do. I was conducting an interview one time and the person decided to unpack their entire lunch while we were sitting down. I’d advise you schedule your interviews before or after lunch (preferably before). Eating lunch during an interview is inconsiderate and rude because more than likely the interviewer is taking time away from his or her own lunch schedule to meet with you.
5. “The money doesn’t matter to me.” As this may seem like an answer that would be admirable, I’d hate to say you’re wrong. The money does matter in a sense because if the salary doesn’t phase you, there are hundreds of other candidates who deserve the pay in order to make a living for themselves. You saying the money doesn’t matter to you shows the interviewer that you could care less about important factors in life.

You are sitting across the table from the person who has the power to hire you and they ask, “ Tell us why you were let go from your last job?” Yikes.

It’s the question that you bump into every time you have an interview and each time it’s asked you stumble around for the answer.

Don't fret. Here are some tips on how to prepare so that the next time you run into it you won’t feel like the interview is going sideways with no hope of recovery.

1. Be prepared for the question and work out the answer well in advance of an interview.

2. Make a list of all of the reasons you were unemployed for that time and be prepared to also identify the things you accomplished while you were out of the job market.

3. Even if you were let go from your last job, chances are you can still come up with a few positive things that happened at with your last employer. What projects did you work on that highlight the skills that will be helpful to your prospective employer?

4. Talk about what you learned from the experience you had with the employer who let you go. It’s admirable when a person can take a look back at a bad experience and describe how it gave them a better understanding of something or provided insight into something they needed to learn.

5. It’s never a good idea to put 100% of the blame on the previous employer. The person interviewing you wants to know that you are capable of getting through a difficult time and ended up with some significant expertise. 

Do you suspect someone you work with/for is having an affair in the office? How can you tell? Is it appropriate to ask? Well, here are a few signs your colleagues may be canoodling:

• Both people have a new pick up in their step; they find projects that you didn’t even know were on the horizon to work on together; they are suddenly putting in overtime even if they don’t get paid.
• They jump to each other’s defense and praise each other’s ideas even when neither makes any sense.
• They try to never leave the office at the same time but yet you bump into them at a local happy hour after work.
• They are in closed-door meetings a lot.

Romance in the office isn’t really that difficult to detect. Here’s the thing: having an office affair is never a good idea and this is especially true if you are married or in a committed relationship. Why? There are lots of reasons (other than the ethics of the situation). First, the relationship isn’t as secretive as the pair may think. They can be destructive to the morale of the company and may create an awkwardness that is very difficult for employers and employees to deal with.

Imagine you are in a high level position or involved with someone at that level, think of the consequences if the relationship ends badly. Your reputation could be ruined. You may lose your job. Claims of harassment also come to mind. The jilted lover can easily claim that the supervisor was harassing them when the romance goes sour. Consider how a sexual harassment charge will impact your career, your company and not to mention your family.

My friend once worked in a company where the Senior Vice President, Jack (not his real name) was having an affair with his Director of Human Resources, Dorothy (not her real name either). Dorothy’s husband found out about the affair, and, you guessed it, suddenly romance turned to ruthless. Dorothy made charges of sexual harassment and bribery against Jack. What followed resulted in Jack not only having to address the charges of misconduct but he also lost his job and had a difficult time finding another one.

The company suffered on various levels. During the time of the romance, staff became afraid to address issues that were critical or at odds with something either person was working on. A culture of favoritism was created where Dorothy was forgiven for things that other employees would be disciplined for. Co-workers feared that retaliation would result if they expressed an opinion that was critical of either of the lovebirds. Favoritism, a reality or not was definitely the perception when it came to bonuses and promotions. Because the CEO of the company didn’t take any action to stop the relationship staff felt powerless to change things and it went on long enough that some good people moved on to work for competitors.

So, if you feel that the person you have an office romance with is “the one” and you want to keep the relationship going what do you do? The answer is pretty straightforward. One of you should leave the company or if the company is large enough transfer to an area where you don’t work together AT ALL and there isn’t a tie in the chain of command.

With an increasing number of singles in the workplace, it’s my assumption that we will see an increase in the amount of dating coworkers. It’s important to be clear on the companies policies before you go on that first date and to always be aware that when you are involved with someone at work no matter how discrete you think you are – chances are good that people will know and once they do it will impact how you are perceived at work.