To prevent disaster, review the following five sure-fire ways to blow your chances when meeting with headhunters, courtesy of Bill Dougherty,
- Be blasé about the meeting. Come dressed in casual clothes (shorts and sneakers, perhaps), slouch in your chair, make outrageous statements and explain, "Of course, I'd never say that in a 'real' interview."
- During the conversation, act defensive and unprepared. To make sure the "real" you isn't revealed, evade questions whenever possible. Better yet, respond to tough queries by telling the recruiter to refer to your resume. Hey it took hours to compile, so why not let it speak for you?
- Fudge on your resume. Since everybody does this, you'll just be missing out if you don't claim an advanced degree (even if you never finished your thesis), take full responsibility for team accomplishments, embellish job titles and extend your employment dates.
- Sound like a jack-of-all-trades. You need a job and the recruiter needs to fill a slot, so who cares what you've actually done before? Once you're in front of the employer, you'll find a way to make yourself sound qualified.
- Demand a superstar salary, job title and responsibilities. You want the best, and this isn't the time to be practical. Aim for the moon.