Most candidates who miss out on a job offer have the skills for the role. What costs them is a small set of interview mistakes that hiring managers spot quickly and remember long after the candidate has left the building. It is Halloween week, so we have rounded up the seven that frighten interviewers most, along with what to do instead.
These mistakes aren’t rare, and every one of them can be fixed with an hour of preparation. That preparation matters more now than it has for some time. More candidates competing for fewer roles means the interview is where most offers are now won and lost.
How much should you know about a company before a job interview?
You should know enough to explain, in your own words, what the company does, who it sells to and why this role exists. A candidate who cannot do that tells the interviewer they applied without much thought, and that impression is very hard to shift once the first question has landed.
Company research does not mean memorising the website. Spend half an hour on the About page, recent news, the company’s LinkedIn activity and the job description, then write three sentences: what the business does, what seems to be changing for it, and where the role fits. When the interviewer opens with “So, what do you know about us?”, those three sentences are your answer.
If you are working with a recruiter, ask what the hiring manager cares about most. That kind of context rarely appears on a website, and it can shape every answer you give.
Is it ever OK to criticise a previous employer in an interview?
Rarely, and never in detail. Criticising a previous employer in an interview tells the person opposite you how you might talk about them in two years’ time. Even when the complaint is fair, the interviewer only hears one side of it, and most will assume there is another.
That does not mean pretending your last job was perfect. If you left because of a restructure, poor management or limited progression, say so briefly and neutrally, then move straight on to what you want next. “The team was restructured and my role changed a lot, so I started looking for something closer to the work I enjoy most” is honest without dragging any skeletons out of the cupboard.
A useful check is to time your answer. If it spends longer on the old employer than on the new role, it needs rewriting.
Why do one-word answers hurt you in a job interview?
One-word answers force the interviewer to do all the work, and they leave the panel with almost nothing to assess. A “yes” to “Have you managed a budget before?” is accurate, but it says nothing about the size of the budget, what you did with it or how it went.
The silence that follows a one-word answer is one of the most uncomfortable sounds in recruitment, for both sides of the table. Nerves are usually the cause rather than a lack of interest, but the interviewer cannot tell the difference.
Give the direct answer first, then the evidence behind it: “Yes, I managed a £40,000 annual marketing budget for two years and brought our cost per lead down by a fifth.” For most questions, one to two minutes is about right. If the interviewer wants more, they will ask, and you will have given them something worth asking about.
Do you need examples ready for competency interview questions?
You do. Questions that begin “Tell me about a time when...” are a standard part of most interviews, and an answer without an example is just a claim. Saying you work well under pressure means very little. Describing the week a key supplier went into administration and how you kept orders moving means a great deal.
Prepare five or six stories from your recent work before the interview: a problem you solved, a time something went wrong, a disagreement you handled, a result you are proud of and a change you led. Each story can be shaped to answer several different questions.
Structure each one in four parts, often called the STAR method: the situation, the task, the action you took and the result. Keep the focus on your own contribution by saying “I” rather than “we”, and finish with a number or an outcome wherever you can. Prepared examples make a candidate sound calm and credible, while invented ones rarely do.
What should you say when an interviewer asks why you want the job?
Your answer should be specific to this role and this company, so that you could not repeat it word for word at any other interview. Replies such as “it seems like a great opportunity” or “I’m looking for a new challenge” are heard in interview rooms every day, and they tell the interviewer nothing.
A strong answer connects what attracted you to the company, what in the role matches your skills, and where it fits in your career. For example: “You’re growing your manufacturing customer base, and that’s where I’ve spent the last four years. This role would let me use that experience while taking on the account management work I’ve been building towards.”
Hiring managers ask this question because they want to know whether you will stay and whether you will care. A specific, honest answer reassures them on both counts, while a generic one leaves them wondering how many other applications went out the same week.
Should you have questions to ask at the end of an interview?
You should always have questions ready. “No, I think you’ve covered everything” is one of the most chilling lines a candidate can say, because it suggests the conversation has not made you curious about anything. The questions you ask at the end are your last chance to show you have thought seriously about the role.
Prepare three or four in advance, and expect some to be answered during the interview itself. The strongest questions relate to the work: what success looks like in the first six months, the biggest challenge facing the team, or how the role has changed since the last person held it. Asking interviewers what they enjoy about working there is also worth doing, because it often produces the most revealing answer of the day.
Leave salary, benefits and hours until later unless the interviewer raises them, which brings us to the final fright.
When is the right time to ask about holidays and working from home?
The right time is once the employer has shown real interest in you, which usually means the second interview or the offer stage. Opening with questions about annual leave, hybrid days or finishing early tells the interviewer your priority is what the job can give you, before you have shown what you can give the job.
These are entirely reasonable questions, and flexibility matters to many people for good reasons, so the issue is timing rather than the questions themselves. Acas guidance confirms that employees already have a day-one right to request flexible working, and changes under the Employment Rights Act 2025, due to take effect in 2027, will require employers to consult on requests and act reasonably if they refuse. Knowing where you stand should make it easier to wait for the right moment, although it is always worth checking how the rules apply to your own situation.
If a particular working pattern is a deal-breaker, raise it early with your recruiter rather than in the interview. A good recruiter will already know the employer’s position and can save everyone a wasted afternoon.
Interviews do not need to be frightening. If you are looking for your next role, our team can help you prepare for the conversation as well as find the opportunity. Take a look at our latest jobs, or get in touch with one of our consultants for a chat about your next move.