While there are many ways that you can ace your next interview, there are also just as many, if not more, ways to mess it up. This is a list of 5 ways to mess up an interview, make sure to keep these in mind when you go in for your next interview.

Wear Whatever You Want:
Acid-washed jeans and a graphic t-shirt depicting your favorite band? Sure! Wear whatever fits your style the best, right? Not exactly. While you should always be comfortable when you go into an interview, you should make sure that you aren’t too comfortable. What you wear to an interview is going to show the interviewer if you respect and value the company or not. As a rule of thumb, you should always dress nicer than what you would usually dress in when you are working in the position.

Forget About The Research:
This interview is all about you anyway, right? You don’t have to know anything about the company. That’s not even close. While the interview is about you, it’s also about you fitting right into the company. Do a little bit of research about the company that you are interviewing for. Make sure you know about their products, services, competition, target costumers, salary rates, interview process and the company’s culture. Before you are able to convince the interviewer that you are the right person for this job, and for the company, you must first figure that part out on your own.

Choose To Wing It:
This is not the best time to be winging a speech. Even the most solid of people can get butterflies, so you want to try and be as prepared as possible. Do a mock interview in front of a mirror or with a friend of yours if you are afraid that you are going to look dumb, or you’re going to mess something up. Review all of your major points on your resume.

Don’t Offer Anything To The Conversation:
The interviewer is going to lead the conversation, but that does not mean that you have to sit there and not say anything through the whole interview. When asked a yes-or-no question, answer and then follow up with a reason or an example, but make sure that you stay away from unrelated topics, you don’t want to seem like you’re just rambling.

Ditch The Thank You Note:
Why should you have to send them a thank you note? You were the one that went to meet them in their office. They should be sending you a thank you note, right? Nope! This isn’t the case.

In addition to an E-mail follow-up, send them a hand-written note thanking the ones that interviewed you. Thank them for the time they spent on you, and tie up any loose ends from the interview, you can also revisit any strong points about your qualifications that they seemed to like.