Finding a job is getting tougher, with more competition for fewer openings. Many companies are moving to outsourcing and other cost cutting measures. This lack of openings means active job seekers need to be at the top of their game. Avoiding these 5 common mistakes during job interviews can help you make a good impression.

1. Not Knowing About the Company

Job seekers often apply to several companies at once and, while this is a good strategy, it’s important to have extra knowledge about the company you’re currently interviewing with. Before going in for the interview, be sure to follow them on social media, view their website and gather as much information as you can about them. Going in not knowing anything about the company will look bad, assuring that open position will now be going to someone else.

2. Not Turning Your Phone Off

This may seem obvious, but a shocking number of interviewees come into interviews with their phones on and many even check them mid-interview. The surest way to blow an interview and guarantee the company won’t call you is to interrupt or ignore the interviewer. Turn off your phone as soon as you hit the front door and keep it off until you’ve left the office. This will keep you focused on the task at hand: landing that job.

You never know who is lurking in the lobby as you wait. They may well become your boss, so by ditching the phone, you’ll be ready to pay attention to the interview and not completing that next level on your current mobile game. Your time spent waiting for the interview could more productively be spent taking in your surroundings and coming up with things to remark about to your interviewer to show your interest in the company.

3. Not Rehearsing Interview Questions

If you’re looking for work after a long period of employment, you may have grown out of “interview practice.” Taking 30 minutes or so before an interview to practice how you’ll answer questions can go a long way to avoid pauses. Pauses can signal disinterest or making up facts. By lacking preparation for interview questions, you may find your resume on the bottom of the pile after the interview.

Practice your interview questions in front of a mirror and rehearse the common questions:

• background
• former positions
• where you see yourself with the company

4. Showing Disinterest with Body Language

Humans, especially those types who interview potential new employees, pick up clues of disinterest in body language. Having poor posture or bad body language can sink the interview before it even starts. Before entering the office for the interview, stretch your body and make a “V.” Call it a V for victory. It will give you a little extra boost when you go through the door.

Once you’re in the interview chair, sit upright and keep your eyes towards the interviewer. Look the interviewer in the eye. Direct eye contact will show that you are listening and paying attention. Looking around the room or out the window will tell the interviewer that you’re not interested and not the right fit for the job.

5. Talking Too Much

When you’re being interviewed for a position you are highly qualified for, it can be easy to fall into the trap of talking shop and using a lot of industry jargon. While this is encouraged for specific industries, you want to avoid talking too much.

Endlessly talking about what you did for multiple companies can ultimately bore the interviewer or will eventually sound like bragging for the sake of bragging. Keep answers specific and avoid filling your answers with unnecessary words. By keeping the answers short, but to the point, you’ll speed the interview along. This will help with more natural rapport with the interviewer.

Graduating from a college like the Interactive College of Technology can leave you with knowledge and skills, but these are nothing on the job hunt if you can’t leave a lasting impression in an interview. Keeping these mistakes in mind will help give you an advantage over the other interviewees. In today’s job market, you need every edge you can get. Grow that edge by keeping these blunders out of the interview room.