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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Worst interview ever...I need to leave the country, don't I?

265 replies

minou123 · 09/05/2022 14:37

Just had an interview it was, without fail, the worst, most embarrassing thing I've ever done.

One minute I was rambling, next minute I couldn't speak.
I was over enthused about the greatness of 'action plans'. To my shame, i even said I have action plans to clean my house 🙄

I cant remember the rest, I think my brain is trying to protect me from the shame I have brought upon myself.

I need to leave the country, don't I? The thought of ever bumping into the interview panel is filling me with fear.
Albu?

OP posts:
Libre2 · 09/05/2022 14:39

No, they generally feel like that afterwards. It won’t be as bad as you’ve remembered. Put away your passport.

debwong · 09/05/2022 14:39

No need to over-react.

You could just change your name and move to a city 200 miles away.

ivegotthisyeah · 09/05/2022 14:39

No chalk it up and head high move on I am the worlds worst rambler when nervous xx

IncessantNameChanger · 09/05/2022 14:41

These things happen. I had a IT interview and was asked about servers and I almost got my coat and walked out. For some reason i had no idea what a server was in that moment. I got the job at the interview a year later.

Its was the wtf are you doing looks 😂 the shame. I did almost two decades in the job in the end

DontBlameMe79 · 09/05/2022 14:45

Yep sounds like a train wreck. In your next one you’ll probably be thinking about it and make a mess of that too. So best book tickets now…😂😂

ifonly4 · 09/05/2022 14:46

Try not to over analyse what you said. You just don't know what they're looking for and they might see something in you that others haven't put across.

Many years ago I was looking to change my job. Went for an interview and when I got there it was in an area I hadn't got much experience in, so I was honest - I was asked lots of questions and told I'd given the wrong answers - I was offered the job. Another job, I was interviewed by two quiet gentleman so didn't feel I could be too confident - I got the job - I took it as it as firm had a brilliant reputation and in area of work I loved - I asked why I got the job and was told it was because I wasn't full of myself!

Justcallmebebes · 09/05/2022 14:46

I'm sure you're not the worst they will have interviewed by a long shot.

I had an interview a few years back and responded to the interviewer's question "Yes, I'm not stupid you know". It came out quite snappily which wasn't the tone I was aiming for and to this day, I've no idea why I actually said it. The interviewer was visibly taken aback and I totally cringed and tried to back pedal. Didn't get the job

Lindy2 · 09/05/2022 14:48

It probably wasn't that bad. I mean everyone secretly loves an action plan.

If you don't get the job at least it was a bit of interview practice and perhaps you could give an alter

Lindy2 · 09/05/2022 14:50

It decided to post before I finished.

No alters.

I meant to say perhaps you could give an alternative action plan example next time. Even if you make something up!

Nowomenaroundeh · 09/05/2022 14:51

Pack your bags immediately. What's truly unreasonable is that you haven't left yet.

I was once meeting an internal client for the first time. I hadn't slept and drank so much coffee I was jangling. I'd also watched True Detective (with Colin Firth) the night before. I yelled at the client that "I welcome criticism, it makes me try harder"

Shudder.

Original poster
minou123 · 09/05/2022 14:52

Thank you you've made me laugh 😃

Oh god, it's coming back in bits and pieces.
When asked if I had any questions, I said "No, I'm just going to go find a corner and cry"
WTF is wrong with me?

OP posts:
Wilkolampshade · 09/05/2022 14:54

In one of mine the interviewer actually put her hand up in a 'stop' gesture and actually said, "shall we just stop there for a minute and catch our breath Wilko? Would you perhaps like a glass of water?"
Got the job tho.
They're NEVER as bad as you think OP. 💐

Iamfour · 09/05/2022 14:55

I had a couple of those last year, but I realized afterwards that I self-sabotaged myself because I really didn't want a job in teaching anymore. I've since found something out of the teaching field and am much happier. Did you really want the job or was there something holding you back?

D0lphine · 09/05/2022 14:55

minou123 · 09/05/2022 14:52

Thank you you've made me laugh 😃

Oh god, it's coming back in bits and pieces.
When asked if I had any questions, I said "No, I'm just going to go find a corner and cry"
WTF is wrong with me?

Tomorrow you'll be laughing about this trust me! Just one of those things

Original poster
minou123 · 09/05/2022 14:55

I yelled at the client that "I welcome criticism, it makes me try harder"

😀

I'm sure I said at one point that my key skill is "nurturing others so they can reach thier full potential"

OP posts:
MissChanandlerBong80 · 09/05/2022 14:57

If it helps I don’t think there’s anyone of working age who hasn’t had a car crash interview at one time or another!

I still have ‘I need to leave the country’ moments about an interview I did SEVEN YEARS ago.

My husband still curls up in a ball with embarrassment if anything reminds him of a horrendous interview he did at one of the big four in 2018.

Original poster
minou123 · 09/05/2022 14:59

Iamfour · 09/05/2022 14:55

I had a couple of those last year, but I realized afterwards that I self-sabotaged myself because I really didn't want a job in teaching anymore. I've since found something out of the teaching field and am much happier. Did you really want the job or was there something holding you back?

That's a good question. It's not my dream job, but it would be an interesting role.

I would seriously question thier sanity if they offered me a job. It was truly dreadful. I think at one point they were laughing at me 😫

OP posts:
SpiderinaWingMirror · 09/05/2022 15:06

My absolute cringe one was a job well within my capabilities, though I hadn't done it for a while. All went really well, until they asked me about the new regs that applied to a specific part of the job. I had no idea, so just had to say that.
The "no thank you" email was in my inbox before I got back to the car.
Still kick myself now!

SpiderinaWingMirror · 09/05/2022 15:07

However best advice is
"Chuck it in the fuck it bucket and move on"

saltnvinegarlover · 09/05/2022 15:08

I totally feel your pain I just did an online assessment for maths for a job and failed spectacularly Blush

SpiderinaWingMirror · 09/05/2022 15:09

Just remembered another one. It had a maths test. I am shit at timed tests in numbers. Verbal reasoning il you girl.
I got hot embarrassed and exhausted all in 15 minutes. The most the job required was a simple percentage.

IcedPurple · 09/05/2022 15:10

I need to leave the country, don't I? The thought of ever bumping into the interview panel is filling me with fear.

Chances are they wouldn't recognise you and will have forgotten you already.

I don't mean that as an insult, just that your performance, which probably wasn't as bad as you think it was, is just part of a day's work for them and they won't have given you a moment's thought after the next candidate walked into the room. Chalk it up to experience.

liliainterfrutices · 09/05/2022 15:12

Did you fall to the ground on the way into the room?
Did you hair slide break and ping from your head at one of the interviewers?

If not, I am still ahead of you in the embarrassment stakes. I do feel your pain though.

Kitkatcatflap · 09/05/2022 15:13

I was temping, it was a fun crowd so I applied for an advertised job in a corresponding department. The 'main' guy interviewing say mid thirties and balding, made a joke 'Grass doesn't grow on a busy street' as he smoothed down the side of his very little hair. So I joked back 'Well it doesn't grow in a desert either'. I laughed. He looked very red and angry. I knew that minute I didn't get the job. When I got back to my department I was told he had a huge thing about his lack of hair .......

speakout · 09/05/2022 15:15

I still cringe at an interview I had for a wonderful job. I froze when asked questions about things I knew and garbled on incoherently- totally waffling.
I didn't get the job, but still really wanted to work for the company.
So I got a similar job with a competitor. After two years the vacancy at the first company came up again, I applied and got the job. Thankfully the two people who interviewed me first time around had left the company.