Just had a bad interview

[reallybadinterview]

I don't normally interview so poorly. I don't know what went wrong but I was a wreck. I was so nervous, I was a mess, it was obvious.

Am I U to ask for your interview stories to help me feel better? Does anyone else get that nervous? I'm feeling pretty shit and embarrassed at the moment.

When I'm really nervous I clam up, so while I don't think I've ever said anything outrageously stupid in an interview I've also missed out on jobs due to basically giving a series of monosyllabic answers which is not great. And then of course I'm so embarrassed by my poor performance that it haunts me every time I pass the building or hear the company name for the next decade.

My theory is that if they make you so nervous you can't interview well, they'd be terrible to work with anyway so you wouldn't want the job. Or that's what I tell myself!

I had a guy with a knife in his sock take it out and put it on the table during an interview as it was ‘digging in’.
He did not get the job.
Steak rather than butter or pen!
Could have been worse!

@Fruitbatdancer
Oh my goodness! .

From the other side, I can tell you what is best to avoid:
-turning up at different time or a different day for your interview
-not finding the place
-turning up with someone else (partner, child, friend)
-having a panic attack on the way to the interview and TELLING them about it.
-Having your phone ring and ANSWERING it

I could go on

I actually had an interview today, for the second time of applying. It’s offering good pay, about 10k per year more than I’m on now and good benefits. I applied for the exact same job about 9 months ago, one of the interviewers was the same as last time. There was two on the panel.He did remember my name from last time.
I researched the company and tried to pre plan my answers, as I remembered the questions from last time. I thought Inhad it all sussed out.
However, they didn’t ask a single question about what I knew about the company and the questions were generally different from last time, which threw me a little.
Anyway, I found myself waffling, not sure I answered all the questions properly, and just seemed to ramble on.! The interview consisted of about 6 questions, must have been in there for about 45 mins, but I expected it to be about an hour!
They did sell the company to me at the end and told me all the nice things about working for them, but they did that last time so don’t know how to read that.

Omg yes! I had some shocking teacher interviews, where you have to deliver a micro teach. One where the interviewer (who stood in between me and the other candidate with her back to me while greeting ‘us’ before looking me up and down and giving me forced smile) rolled her eyes and huffed during my micro teach. The interrogation after was equally horrific.

After the initial tears I realised working there and under her must be hell so was glad I didn’t get it.

I have had other ones that were more me just me prepairing wrong or over thinking and making it too complicated. Live and learn....and laugh about it later. You will.

Went for a job as a receptionist years ago. It consisted of a string of questions on the theme of, "What is your understanding of Regulation 15 of the Blah Blah Act?" I had no clue what they were talking about and kept saying, "I don't know. I would have to look that up and get back to you."

To this day I don't know if they thought I had applied for a different role or what went wrong. I was too young and inexperienced to do anything but sit there and look blank.

I once had a job interview where the ground floor was all glass and it was their canteen. I got to the doors expecting them to be automatic but they didn’t open. Instead of trying to find a bell or buzzer like a normal person my brain decided they must be broken and I must get in immediately, so I decide to try and prise the doors open like the bloody hulk! 🙈 everyone was looking and a girl came to the door, pressed the release and asked if she could help me.

Got the job though!

I had an interview when I was younger with a really good company. When asked what I knew about the company, I said 'nothing'. Safe to say I didn't get the job

I think I wanted this job too much. I don't think I realised how much I wanted it until I was in there shaking and verbal diarrhoea-ing. I bombed it massively.

OP, I feel for you. I wish there was some way to let interviewers know how much you want this job without gushing or rambling or blanking.

I have been on both sides of the interview table. When I am an interviewer, I have a special place in my heart for the obviously nervous (a candidate knocked a glass of water over) and would go out of my way to be patient and nice. I have a fondness for nervous candidates because I think they made a special effort to come despite their nervousness and perhaps might want the job more. It is the cocky arrogant ones that I sometimes rub the interviewers the wrong way.

Fingers crossed for you. It ain't over till its over.

One of my first ever job interviews.

I got dressed up and thought I looked ok. I remember my father telling me I should get changed and it wasn't appropriate for an interview. I thought he was just being old fashioned.

As I made my way to the interview, I realised he was right. Every van driver was beeping his horn at me..it was excruciating as I knew then I was inappropriately dressed.

The interviewer sadly wasn't as impressed as the van drivers and looked at me in horror.

I didn't get the job.

I once went to an interview and they asked a fairly standard question of what did I know about the company.

I merrily answered that I knew nothing at all about them and had no idea what they even did.

What the hell was I thinking? Not only did I not do any research (I was very young and it didn’t cross my mind to have a look on their website or anything) but I didn’t even try to bluff my way out of it, I learnt my lesson pretty quickly there

I'm usually pretty good in interviews but for the first time ever, I competely screwed one up a few weeks ago so I feel your pain OP.

I got a tip-off a few hours before the interview about what the interviewer was looking for. Sadly that wasn't specific experience I had (they clearly had just skimmed my c.v.) so I knew I didn't stand much chance but I hoped to make a positive impression in case a more suitable role came up with them.

Then I wasn't feeling very well but didn't want to ask for the interview to be rescheduled as it had taken ages for it to be arranged due to issues with the interviewer's availability. So I struggled there, in the rain and wind (it felt like the elements were conspiring against me) and my name hadn't been left with Reception, grrr. Finally met the interviewer and I was just off my game. Talking about my last job made me realise that I wasn't over what had happened (all very nasty, change in management, my lovely boss was fired, etc etc) and I just felt dreadful. On the walk home, I played over all the stupid things I had said and I admit that I had a little cry. I didn't even ring the recruiter with my feedback as I couldn't face telling him how bad I was in the interview.

3 (!) weeks later I got a call from the recruiter saying that although I wasn't a fit for the job, the interviewer really liked me and was recommending me for other potential roles. I was gobsmacked. Those discussions are in progress now so I have plenty of scope to still screw up.

So don't give up hope OP. Just because you think you did badly, doesn't mean the interviewer thought the same. Have a good cry tonight, get it out of your system and then get back on your horse tomorrow. We all screw up but you can do this.

Here's a few of mine:

18 years old applied for an admin job at a company that made products for feet (foot support type stuff), was asked the question 'why do you want to work here?' In hindsight I realise the right answer would be to talk about their many awards and benefits. What I actually said was 'errrm, I like feet'. I did not get the job.

Same day as previous interview I had to drive about half an hour away, I didn't have my own car so took my mums car, halfway there a warning light came on and the whole car seemed to be slowly dying, being a nervous driver and having already suffered one bad interview my nerves were shot. I managed to get to the interview and sat in my car and cried as I desperately phoned my sister for help. I managed to calm down enough to go into the interview but I looked a mess and sounded one too. Again, did not get the job.

A few years later I got an interview for a well known security company. It was a whole day ordeal which included group tasks which seemed like something out of the apprentice. We had to work together to construct a bridge out of random tat whilst being observed by multiple people sat around the room. Complete nonsense and am glad I didn't get that job.

Most recent one was another all day one which included group activities. When I arrived I sat in the waiting area with another of the candidates, soon after one of the interviewers came down to greet us and hugged the other candidate as they used to work together. I knew at that moment I had no chance, but still had to go through with the whole day. Ugh.

On the plus side I now work at a place I am very happy at. All bad interviews are great experience and usually end up with a good story to tell, even if it doesn't feel like the case right now.

I once froze in an interview and didn't answer- For about 2 minutes they were just looking at me, waiting. It was mortifying. Finally one of them broke the silence with a "Did you want us to repeat the question?".

But my manager now said he once interviewed someone who walked in the room, tripped over and landed with her head in the crotch area of the head of panel, so it could always be worse!

Not really my fault, but I have had the classic trial con, worked for 3 hours, promised a phone call within 48 hours. Nothing. Phoned up two days after 48 hours where over, promised a phone call the next day at 1pm. Still nothing. Moved on and but give them the middle finger every time I walk past (it was a bar)

Don’t worry about it. We all have bad interviews, a perfect job will come up soon. Xx

Someone crashed into my car as I was waiting to turn into the car park. It was a write off and an ambulance and the police were called

Still got offered the job.

All of my competency based questions were can you give an example of a time...
I started to ramble on about my current role. The interviewer then said, ok but can you give a specific example...
I then paused for a few seconds and started again, trying to answer the question..

It happens to us all, OP. As someone said upthread, you WILL get a job that's a good fit for you at some point. And the bad ones do turn into stories!

I worked with someone who had once had a diarrhoea accident during an interview - top that!

Ok, I can't top that, but I DID cry during a job interview once. Got the job (for the loveliest person ever. Still a friend 30 years later. Lucky he likes emotional women!)

My real worst one was applying for a job traditionally done by men (I am not one). So I deliberately made my CV quite strident so they'd know I could cope in the workplace. I knew I could do the job, but there was one element of it that involved doing quite complicated equations. I'm not great at maths, but I did know it was only a matter of learning this particular equation, and then I'd be fine. [you just had to do the same equation over and over again, but it was only about 1/10th of the job]

Anyway, the CV worked... Interviewed by a panel of 5 (!!!!), including one woman who fair BOUNCED into the room. Grabbed my arm and said "I LOVED your CV" (I'd put as one of my hobbies "terrorising my husband", i think that was what she liked).

There was a written test. About 15 of us. I'm the only female. It was ALL about this bloody equation. Which I had NO CLUE how to do. I think I wrote "15" or "10 to the power of something" or something.

They called us back in. They told me I'd failed the written part ( ). I was REALLY straight with them. And I said 'look, I can't do this NOW, but if someone shows me which buttons to press on the calculator, I'll do it and I'll NEVER get it wrong, because I'll double, triple check it every time because I know I'm shit at maths"

so someone explained it. Possibly speaking in Lithuanian. Still no clue. They invited me to have another go. I sat there for a bit. Wrote a number or two down. He explained it again. Possibly in Greek. I sat holding a pen. The woman who loved me said "could we just give RedHats one more chance?" and one of the other interviewers (possibly wanting to kill himself at that point) just said "No!". He was doing me a kindness.
The woman's probably still more gutted than me that I didn't get the job!

The thing is you have no idea what they’re looking for, whether you think it went well or not.
Some people think it’s a good sign if they ask about pre booked holidays and talk about the training, but I’ve found that most interviewers generally ask everyone that regardless of how well they did.

I drove away from my last interview crying because I knew I mucked it up...badly!! It was a sales role, door to door. And when I was asked "what do you do to keep yourself motivated when door after door gets slammed in your face?". My mind went blank and I blurted out "phone a friend". The interviewers didn't look amused, I could see in their eyes they were thinking "oh yeh, not on company time you wont!".

Nearly died when they phoned to offer me the job, nearly died again when a few years later they brought in the 'phone a friend' suggestion to keep yourself motivated when having a bad day 😂

Oh god so many I’ve been to loads of interviews and not got the job. Been in my current company for 5 years- the thought of ever having to interview in the future makes me want to throw up!

I agree though if you don’t get the job/ feel
Comfortable in the interview it’s their problem and it’s probably for the best that you’re unsuccessful. As I get older I do feel more like as the employee you should interview them- it’s you who’s going to spend 40 hours of your life there every week!

The worst interview I ever had was for a job I really, really wanted. I spent days preparing for it; researched the company, and the role extensively, had a recruitment-based friend practice-interview me several times, worked out specific examples of how my previous roles showed that I had the required skills...When it came to the interview, my mind literally went blank. I have never experienced anything like it before or since. I sat in a chair, facing two people who could give me the job of my dreams and I Could.Not.Speak. My mouth opened and closed and I did not utter a single word. I sweated, I fidgeted and I very nearly cried while the two of them became increasingly concerned and disturbed by my silence. Eventually, I stood up and stumbled out of the office having not said anything other than "Hi, I'm cfmagnet, nice to meet you". I then spent two years walking an extra 20-odd minutes to and from work in order to avoid the building where I'd been interviewed, such was my embarrassment. I still break into a cold-sweat now when I think of it. I'm sure your interview didn't go as badly as that, OP
To cheer you up, I once interviewed a young man and as he was leaving, he caught a glimpse of a tattoo on my wrist as I reached to shake his hand. He grinned and said "Nice tit!" The look of horror on his face as soon as he realised what he'd said still makes me laugh now

My friend came round yesterday straight from her interview. She said it was awful, she lost the ability to speak coherent English and nerves made her answer one or two questions in a jokey manner.

They called at 5 and told her the job was hers.

It might not have been as bad as you are imagining

Good luck

I was so nervous during a job interview that I answered in complete gibberish.

Interviewer "Do you know anything about fashion labels?"
Me (perky as a chipmunk) "No but my sister does"

I got the job because I asked questions about telemedicine which was newly introduced to the company and the interviewers didn't know what it was, they were impressed lol.