No. 4: Just shut your mouth

This is a true story. A job candidate talked so much during an interview, that the hour-long meeting covered only one question: "Tell me a little bit about yourself." This particular individual began with the first time he appeared on stage as Joseph in his first grade Christmas pageant to how grateful he was to have inherited his good looks from his grandmother on his father's side.

It's inevitable that this is a question that's always asked at an interview, so it's worthwhile to prepare. "Tell me a little bit about yourself" should have a beginning, a middle, and an end.

As much as the truth hurts, ask your friends if you're known as Princess Gabby or Sir Chat A Lot in your circle.

It's good to show enthusiasm during a job interview and sell yourself, but it's another thing to give the interviewer an opportunity to create a mental picture of you wearing a dog muzzle.

No. 3: Squash those nervous habits

There's the cross-legged shake, the one-legged bounce, the head scratch, the nail bite, the "um" and "you know," and, God forbid, the nose pick.

If you possess any of these nervous habits, do whatever it takes to nip them in the bud now.