interview2

Then the interviewer asks you, ever so casually, about whether you saw the big game last night.
Hold on. While this may seem like a perfectly harmless way to pass a few minutes before you leave, just another friendly indication that they like you, it may be much more than that. It may be the toughest part of the interview yet.

"Do you like to travel?" or "Do you have pets?" all sound harmless, but what these kinds of questions do is to lull you into a kind of complacency. And that is where you can get into trouble.

"Sure, I saw the game last night," you say. "But the refs were obviously on the take. They were terrible. The crowd should have jumped them in the parking lot."

OK. Now you've just shown yourself to be a) a bad sport, b) overly critical and c) possibly violent. You may scoff and say you were only shooting the breeze, and meant no harm, but to an interviewer who has only known you for less than an hour, the impression left by your remark may not be seen as favorable.

A better answer? "Yes, I saw the game. It was very exciting. Lots of good teamwork out there." Ah-hah! Now the interviewer is left with an impression of someone who appreciates hard work and the ability to work with others.