Check These Six Attitudes At the Door

You've done it. You aced the cover letter, perfected your resume and landed the all-important face-to-face interview. You even practiced your elevator pitch, memorized standard job interview question responses and researched the company thoroughly. All you need now is the right type of positive attitude, and the job is yours.

Your attitude wins the day sometimes, and that comes out in the job interview. HR managers and recruiters excel at finding someone who is easy to get along with and has a proactive approach to accomplishing everyday tasks. If you have the wrong attitude ahead of your face time, you may sink your job search even though you seem like a great choice on paper. Get rid of these six attitudes before you walk through the door of your next interview.

1. Negativity

You're about to land a job, so there's nothing pessimistic about that. No one wants to work with Eeyore, the donkey from "Winnie the Pooh," who always says it's raining or his tail fell off again. Perhaps your job search was long and exhausting, but the thrill of victory and achievement counts for something as you've made it to an interview with a great company. There is no reason for negativity at a job interview. In addition to practicing question responses, practice smiling.

2. Disrespect

Don't be rude or disrespectful under any circumstances. That includes any attitudes about your past managers or former co-workers whom you don't like. Your job interview is no place to air grievances, bad-mouth others or talk about how frustrating your experiences were in the past. The people in front of you offer a clean slate to begin anew, so take the opportunity to properly impress them.

3. Hostility

Co-workers need to think of you as approachable, sociable and a people person. If you show hostility, your interviewers may think you won't get along with the rest of the team. Ease any of those concerns with a positive attitude and a lot of smiling.

4. Arrogance

There's nothing wrong with self-confidence as your experiences have made you adept at certain parts of your job. However, humility goes a long way in a job interview. Arrogance means you tout yourself as someone who can do something beyond your abilities. If you do that, you quickly find yourself in over your head and you don't know how to handle your new position. Remain humble and realistic about yourself.

5. Putting Yourself Down

Don't keep putting yourself down, as that shows a complete lack of confidence in your abilities. If you cannot come across as a capable person, what makes you think the interviewers believe you're the person for the job?

6. Lethargy

No one wants to work with a lazy person. Look sharp, stay sharp and remain alert through the entire interview to show those in front of you that you mean business.

Treat your job interview as a masterpiece on display for everyone to see. That means you put the utmost care into the interview without exhibiting any negative attitudes. If you have fun and smile the whole time, people notice and you get a call back.

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