SPECIAL REPORT7 WORDS THATCANDIDATES SHOULDSTOP SAYING IN JOBINTERVIEWS

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Mark Murphy is a New York Times bestselling author, contributor to Forbes,and Founder of Leadership IQ, a research and training firm. Mark has consistentlybeen ranked as one of the Top 30 leadership gurus in the world, and some of hismost well-known research studies include “Are SMART Goals Dumb?,” “Why CEO'sGet Fired,” “Why New Hires Fail,” “High Performers Can Be Less Engaged,” and“Don’t Expect Layoff Survivors to Be Grateful.”

Mark leads one of the world’s largest leadership studies, and his work hasappeared in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Fortune, Forbes,Bloomberg BusinessWeek, and U.S. News & World Report. Mark has alsoappeared on CNN, NPR, CBS News Sunday Morning, ABC’s 20/20, and FoxBusiness News.

With a reputation as a master teacher and engaging speaker, Mark has lecturedat the United Nations, Harvard Business School, the Clinton Foundation, Microsoft,Merck, MasterCard, Charles Schwab, Aflac and hundreds more.

Mark’s most recent book was the New York Times bestseller, Hundred Percenters:Challenge Your People to Give It Their All and They’ll Give You Even More. Before that, his book Hiring for Attitude was featured in Fast Company, The WallStreet Journal, and chosen as a top business book by CNBC. Some of his otherbooks include HARD Goals: The Science of Getting From Where You Are toWhere You Want to Be and The Deadly Sins of Employee Retention.

AboutMark Murphy

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If you want to cost yourself a job interview, justuse words like "you", "they", "always" and"can't". New research from Leadership IQ andMark Murphy (author of the bestseller Hiring forAttitude) finds that interview answers ratedpoorly by hiring managers contain very differentwords than interview answers rated highly.

For example, bad interview answers use theword "you" 392% more than good interviewanswers, and "they" 90% more. Bad interviewanswers also contain 104% more present tenseverbs, 40% more adverbs, 92% more negativeemotions, and 103% more absolutes.

Using cutting-edge linguistic and textualanalysis, Leadership IQ analyzed more than20,000 actual interview answers to discoverwhat separates the good ones from the badones.

What we discovered might surprise you.

Introduction

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Study participants were 1,427 professionals who were askedto write answers to 15 open-ended interview questions asthough they were applying for a job. All answers werevalidated to insure they were of sufficient length andcontained appropriate content (there were 20,572 totalanswers).

Then a panel of hiring managers and HR executives gradedthe answers to identify whether the applicant would likely bea great hire (aka a high performer), a poor hire (lowperformer) or somewhere in between.

Overall, 34% of the interview answers were identified as lowperformer answers, while 29% were identified as highperformer answers.

These high and low performer answers were then subjectedto a textual analysis, which identified key differences in thegrammar and linguistic patterns of high and low, performeranswers.

The Study

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High performer answers contain 21%more "I" language (e.g. "I", "me", or "my")than low performer answers. Talkingabout oneself (aka self-reference) isassociated with taking ownership of asituation or experience. And by showingthis ownership, "I" words can also conveythat the candidate is being truthful. Sosaying "/ did this" and "/accomplished/created that" indicate thecandidate was close to the situation, reallytook the actions described, and takesownership of the results.

High performer answers contain 65%more "we" language (e.g. "we", "us","our"). Similar to "I" language, "we" language isassociated with a willingness to takeownership. And it can also indicate awillingness to share credit and work wellwith others.

The Study Results

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Low performer answers contain 392% more "you"language (e.g. "you", "your", "you'll") than high performeranswers. "You" language can signal someone who is not takingownership of a situation or experience and is evidence ofa psychological disassociation. High performer answerscan indicate taking ownership with phrases like "/ calledthe customer three times last week." By contrast, noticehow a low performer answer can avoid ownership byusing "you" language, as in "You should always call thecustomer immediately." That doesn't say they actuallydid call the customer, just that they believe the bestpractice would be to call.

Low performer answers contain 90% more "they"language (e.g. "they", "them", "themselves"). Using third person pronouns like "they" or "them" is verysimilar to "you" language and can also indicate a lack ofexperience and ownership (e.g. "Before someone callsthe customer, they should check the call log").

The Study Results

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High performer answers contain 38% more past tenseverbs. High performers typically tell simple, focused stories thatavoid distraction and detail the facts as they happened. This is logically evidenced in use of the past tense, forexample: "/ saw there was a problem and called thecustomer."

Low performer answers contain 104% more presenttense verbs. People who lack experience tend to avoid the past tenseto describe what "they" actually did. Instead, they maydescribe a 'past experience' with a spun tale about whatthey are doing (present tense). For example: "Whenthere is a problem it is best to call the customer."

Low performer answers contain 71% more future tenseverbs. Similar to the present tense language, a lack ofexperience about what they did may manifest as a futuretense answer (e.g. "I will call the customer when there'sa problem.")

The Study Results

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Low performer answers contain 40% moreadverbs (e.g. "very", "really", "quickly"). Insecurity, lack of experience, and/or trying topaint oneself in a better light can all trigger aneed to embellish the facts. People oftenqualify their words with adverbs to 'amp'things up. So instead of sharing the details ofa time the candidate had a brilliant idea, alow performer answer might instead say, "/was quickly coming up with great ideas."

High performer answers contain 28% morewords that describe positive emotions (e.g."happy", "thrilled", "excited"). High performers talk about being excited andhappy more than low performers withstatements like: "/ was thrilled to help thecustomer." However, the real difference withemotion is how infrequently high performersexpress negative emotions compared to lowperformers.

The Study Results

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Low performer answers contain 92% morewords that signal negative emotions (e.g."angry", "aggravated", "afraid", "pessimistic","unhappy"). When a candidate openly discusses negativeemotions, it seems to raise questions about whythey couldn't find a more positive resolution. Saying "I'm aggravated about that part of myjob, but I'm pretty pessimistic about whether it'llever change" does not indicate a proactive,coachable and go-getter type of attitude(characteristics that interviewers often like).

Low performer answers contain 123% morenegation (e.g. "no", "can't", "couldn't", "didn't"). It's a cliche that hiring managers don't want tohear the word "can't," but there is now evidencethat the cliche is true. Tension, low emotionalintelligence, negativity, or pessimism can berevealed through increased negation, forexample "No, that didn't happen at my last jobbecause you couldn't make those kinds ofdecisions."

The Study Results

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Low performer answers contain 103% more absolutes(e.g. "always", "absolutely", "unquestionably"). Use of absolutes like "/ always call the customer" and "/am unquestionably the best person on the team" canstem from insecurity, a need to show off, and/or black-and-white thinking and a lack of intellectual flexibility. When was the last time you experienced a situationthat was "always" a certain way in the real world?

High performer answers were 23% longer than lowperformer answers. Because high performers have more and betterexperience with the attitudes and skills interviewersseek, they have more to say in the interview. And thatmanifests in giving longer, more detailed answers.

The Study Results

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The words that candidates use when answeringinterview questions are one big source ofdifferentiating high and low performers.

If candidates are afraid to talk about themselvesand their past experiences (relying instead on"you," "they," and present/future tense verbs),interviewers could suspect that they don't have thenecessary experience (or worse, are lying). Whencandidates use negative words like "can't","couldn't", "angry", "aggravated", it can indicate alack of self-control and an inability to positivelyresolve problems that arise. And absolutes andadverbs can indicate insecurity and a need toshow-off.

Fortunately, just as our words can damage ourinterview performance, they can also enhance ourperformance. Saying "I" and "we," using pasttense verbs, positive emotions and lengtheningyour answers doesn't guarantee a job offer. But itcan make the interviewer more likely to put yourapplication in the 'potential high performer' pile.

Summary Of The Study

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You

They

Always

Never

Couldn’t

Didn’t

Wouldn’t

7 Words To Avoid

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