Silence those cell phones please!

I recently held mock interviews in my Career Planning and Development class at George Brown College and, the very first thing I told the students before they were meeting with the recruitment professionals who were going to ‘interview’ them was—–be sure to always, always, always turn off your cell phones. Don’t even put them on vibrate because that is a distraction as well. Turn them off – there is nothing more important in that moment than the interview.

I was pleased to get an e-mail last week from a student who let me know how prepared she felt for an interview she went on not long after the mock interviews. She felt better prepared and more confident. But….she forgot to turn off her cell phone and it rang during the interview. Her first thought? Me telling the class to never forget to turn off their cell phones before going into an interview.

Needless to say she was horrified. She was apologetic. She lost her train of thought and thought for sure she had blown the interview.

While it would have been a valuable lesson to say that she did not get the job, she did in fact get offered the position. So, does that mean you don’t have to turn off your phones? NO! She was lucky this time.

If you remember nothing else (firm handshake, eye contact, SOAR/STAR stories, good follow-up questions, etc.), remember this – SILENCE THOSE CELL PHONES!