No matter how much you prepare, there are times when an interview goes horribly wrong. Sometimes things happen in our lives that make us late or our brains freeze up. Other times it might simply be that we just let nerves get the better of us.
But don't worry, there are ways that you can turn a bad interview around. Here are some tips to help you out when it all goes south:
- You are going to be late- So you are nervous and trying to get to the interview, which is typically in a strange location. This is the perfect time for you to end up lost or stuck in traffic. Maybe you had a family emergency or spilled coffee all over yourself. Whatever the reason, if you find that you are going to be late, give the interviewer a call as soon as possible. If you think that there is a chance that you will be later than 15 minutes, offer to reschedule. Apologize and make sure you let them know that it was unavoidable. Don't make up a story to sound more dire, interviewers are good at telling when someone is telling them a lie. Simply tell them that you made a wrong turn and got lost or whatever the situation is. Be sure to follow up with an email or a note apologizing for rescheduling. Most interviewer will understand as these sort of things happen to us all.
- You messed up an answer to an important question- If you walk out of the interview feeling like there was a specific point where you completely blew it, don't beat yourself up. The best thing to do is to write your thank you note and restate your qualifications for the job. Be sure not to address the mistake specifically, but if you think the mistake was important you can say something like “We talked about (whatever) and I wanted to be sure that I was clear that (briefly what it was you wanted to say)”. Interviewers typically talk to many job seekers during a job opening, and most of the time just restating your abilities is enough to clear things up.
- You didn't feel any rapport- This one is tricky. You have no way of knowing what is going on in the interviewers head. They could be people who keep their feelings close to the chest. If you discussed any personal hobbies or other things that you may have in common, you can try mentioning it in the follow up thank you note. Something to the effect of “It was interesting to talk with someone else who enjoys (whatever that was)”. For the most part, trust that you made your abilities clear and that a professional interviewer will be considering you based on that.
If you really bombed the interview, don't worry about it. No matter how many interviews you mess up or jobs you don't get, you only need to be successful at one. The rest are just good practice. Keep your chin up and don't let it make you doubt yourself at your next interview.
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By Melissa Kennedy- Melissa is a 9 year blog veteran and a freelance writer, along with helping others find the job of their dreams, she enjoys computer geekery, raising a teenager, supporting her local library, writing about herself in the third person and working on her next novel.
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