4 Bad Habits That Could Cost You the Job

When looking for a job, candidates can kick their chances at landing the opportunity if they can’t kick these 4 bad habits. Some regular rituals seem harmless enough especially if they occur off the clock. However if a hiring manager recognizes these repetitive behaviors it will send up a red flag that could end your resume to the bottom of the stack.

• Smoking: Sidestepping all of the surgeon general’s warnings of why you should quit, consider the message it sends to your future employer instead. It says, "I need to take a lot of breaks or my attitude will turn sour." It could also mean added insurance expenses and time off from work for respiratory related illnesses. On top of that it introduces an offensive odor to the office that others may not be able to tolerate.

• Partying: Unless you’re auditioning for Jersey Shore, hard core partying isn’t the sort of “people skill” most employers look for in new hires. You might think that what you do in your own time is your own business and shouldn’t affect finding a job. Hiring managers know though that this sort of lifestyle can spill over onto work performance, peer relationships and even the company reputation. Facebook photos tagged, beverage in hand, at all the local bars with your buddies is not an ideal image that employers want to invite in for an interview.

• Swearing: If you have a “mouth like a sailor” so to speak it’s easy to slip up and swear in casual conversation. You may not even realize that some of your everyday phrases could be found offensive. F bombs are easier to restrain before the stuff hits the fan. Managing the other swear words and names of religious deities exploited as expletives can be trickier. Many people recognize these as biblical terms and rationalize that they are exempt from censoring where others consider it foul language best left on the poop deck.

• Nail Biting: To understand why this makes the list consider what nail biting entails from a hypochondriac’s POV. Your hands are constantly in your mouth and you have to somehow dispose of the nail once bitten off which usually involves spitting it out into obscurity. Than after that you touch other things in the office like the doorknob, a pen, the phone, a table, paperwork, or whatever. During flu season your innocent habit could cause a pandemic that puts the entire team on sick leave.

So if you have any of these habits it’s best to hide them until after you’re hired. Human resources might decide to go with someone else if given a clue of your compulsions.

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By Heather Fairchild - Heather is a multimedia developer with experience in web, film, photography and animation as well as traditional fine arts like painting and sculpting. In addition to writing for TechCareersBlog.com, she is co-founder of design and promotion company, Creative Kazoo with fellow Nexxt blogger, Staci Dennis. Heather’s spare time consists of making puppets, teaching Sunday School, building Legos and doing science experiments with her children.