What did I do wrong• Why didn’t they call me back?

Ever wondered that after an interview?

Perhaps this will help.

I talked to employers across the country asking why they didn’t hire the past five to 10 people they interviewed. It didn’t matter what type of company or which positions were open, job interviewees messed up in four basic ways. Today, I’ll cover two of them.

1. Displaying the old what’s-in-for-me attitude.

Michael Zwick, president of Assets International, a private investigation agency that locates missing heirs and beneficiaries, hired two secretaries, a paralegal, a lawyer and a salesperson in the past year. After sorting through 150 resumes per position, his company interviewed 10 to 15 people for each position.

He always starts the interview explaining what the company does and a bit about the role, then asks, “Any questions?”

Candidates “who are genuinely interested in the job rather than just looking for a paycheck will ask things like what the typical workday is like or what kind of training there will be,” he says.

The ones who ask only about hours, pay and benefits don’t fare well.

Another big red flag can appear early on when he asks if a candidate has visited his website.

If they haven’t, that tells him the person only cares “that he or she has a job,” adding “I have total sympathy for people who need jobs, (but) I don’t want people who don’t want to be here.”

For Chief Executive Allan Young, if the first question is, “How much vacation do we get?” the interview is over.

The co-founder of ShelfGenie, a firm that designs, builds and installs customized shelving, says turnoffs include salaried people who ask, “How many hours a week am I expected to work?” and “Do we get free coffee?” When one person told him the pay “would do for now,” that person didn’t get called back, either.

2. The little things.

The chief executive and Sander Daniels, co-founder and director of user happiness at Thumbtack.com, which directs people to services in their cities, were holding a lengthy interview at their company in San Francisco.

“We took a short break to eat a little dinner,” Daniels says. “Our CEO, being friendly, said we have soda and seltzer and jokingly mentioned that the candidate could have a beer. And he did. He proceeded to finish the beer while our chief engineer interviewed him.

“He was a younger person, and it didn’t occur to him that drinking a beer during an interview wasn’t a great idea. He didn’t make the cut.”

Another deal breaker is any indication of a bad attitude.

“One candidate talked poorly of his ex-employer, and we immediately crossed him off our hiring list,” Daniels says.

One candidate who Zwick interviewed for a paralegal position “was just way too animated and dramatic” — a foreshadowing of things to come on a bigger scale, he says.

Or “a person’s poor posture or not paying attention to the conversation. Or the lack of a thank-you letter or e-mail.” This indicates “the person does not want the job enough and a certain lack of social graces.”

E-mail Andrea Kay at andrea@andreakay.com .

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