(1) Wearing ill-fitted clothes on your interview: Let's face it. Very few of us can still fit into our pre-baby clothes. It is not so much that we have gained weight as it is that our bodies tend to shift and change with each pregnancy. Whereas your girls used to fill a B cup with extra padding, you might find that after the baby comes along your C cup runneth over. There is no excuse for professional women to try to cram their size ten bodies into size six suits. It will impress no one, and you may just overhear the receptionist discussing your "muffin-top" (you know, where your fat bubbles over your waistband, not unlike a muffin bubbling over the top of a tin) while you head out the door.
(2) Wearing too much perfume: When I was in graduate school, I had a professor who asked us to never wear cologne or perfume to class. She claimed that she was allergic to it. After I graduated, we forged a friendship, and she admitted to me that she was not, in fact, allergic. She just found some scents to be so offensive that she could not concentrate on giving her lecture. In fact, she once turned a very promising student down for an internship due to this undergad's foul-smelling perfume.
(3) Answering the cell phone, just in case: I am assuming that you have left Junior in the capable hands of someone you trust. So relax, turn off the cell phone, and concentrate on wowing your prospective new boss. Nothing turns potential employers off more that realizing that there is someone or something more important to the person that they are interviewing. And seriously, what is so important that it cannot wait until you are done interviewing?
(4) Discussing your family situation: As a mom, your family comes first. You could be the CEO of a top five company, but your kids are still the most important things in the world to you. On your interview, however, you have no kids. The interviewer may discuss her grandchildren until the cows come home, but resist the urge to show the latest snapshots of your pride and joy. It is illegal for a potential employer to ask about your family situation because it may (and does) lead to discrimination. So you do not need to open that door. And never ever discuss your nasty divorce or custody battle.
