Interviewer laughed at me

[Sooocold]

I’ve just come from an interview this morning and I thought it was going quite well until the second to last second. It threw me off and I thought it was quite a difficult one to answer but I tried my best and came up with an answer anyway. Whilst I was speaking they were writing my answers down and I saw one of the interviewers smirk and chuckle as to himself and then he looked at the other man who was sat next to him with a big smirk on his face and to get his reaction. it really put me off to be honest and I felt silly and humiliated after that.

I feel so down now because I pushed myself to go to this interview and I felt like I tried my best. I have anxiety and I felt proud that I’d gone but I’ve left feeling like an idiot

Don't be too down. They could have been smiling because they liked your answer.

Good luck!

I thought that but I did feel like I rambled a bit on that question so I felt like he was laughing at my answer but I could be wrong. I just feel quite overwhelmed after it to be honest

Context is everything. What was the question you were asked?

Ridiculous though it would be in an interview situation, they may have been laughing at the question itself and not your answer. Or maybe you misread the expression?

Personally, I would take the view that it is unlikely they would waste their time interviewing if they didn't think you were a suitable candidate. Ditto the duration of the interview. I would cut short an interview that clearly isn't going well, so if you go to time, it's likely nothing to do with you.

I’ve had a interview where the people interviewing laughed and joked among themselves. In retrospect I’m glad I didn’t get that job as I think they would have been a nightmare to work with.

Well done for going and getting through the interview. Whatever they were smirking or laughing about is not your fault in any way. They were totally unprofessional to be doing this in an interview situation. Ignorant people.

It might have been that they liked your answer, or it may be that they were slightly unprofessional and were laughing at something they’d been discussing before you came in, which your answer reminded them of.

Whatever it was, I don’t think you should necessarily assume they were laughing at your reply. Please continue to be proud of yourself for going. Whatever they did, that is an achievement for you so don’t let them distract you from it.

Unless it's a really shit company run by children, they'd be deeply unprofessional to smirk at each other in a piss-taking way during an interview.

If it was a smirk, you don't want to work there with these idiots.

More likely, in a state of high pressure, you misinterpreted a smile as a smirk.
They might have really liked the answer. They might have been in the situation you describe together & it reminded them.
They might have seen a humourous typo in the question set.

You just don't know.

But we do know you faced your fears & gave it your best shot and that's something to be proud of.

That sounds more like they were in shared agreement that your answer pleased them!

Possibly your answer reflected some internal company issue. They might be pleased that your answer confirmed their personal views. Don’t overthink!

This is what I was going to say.

It is still unprofessional. But very unlikely to be a reflection on you or your answer.

See the interview as a two way thing; they are seeing if they want to employ you, and you seeing if you want to be employed by them.
If you're right about what you saw, then you probably wouldn't want to work for them anyway.
You did well to overcome your anxiety and go for the interview.

without knowing the question and answer its impossible to have a real opinion!

Hey, you got picked for an interview, and when it comes down to it, you got through to the end.
Do not be worried either way.
Being yourself is what is right.
Anxiety I wish I could magic away for everyone.

I had a similar response to answer once and I worried at what I had said . Tried to recall what I'd said, always felt i would ramble, what could have caused the response.
I got the job and a while after, when I felt more comfortable, I asked about it. The HT said they had had no responses of what they were wanting from any of the other candidates. I had mentioned something that they were looking for and that was when they smiled/smirked and looked at the other interviewers.
I took it as an negative but it wasn't however that didn't alter how much i had thought about it for several months!

My guess is it was a hot topic/in joke for them.

• How would you do X
• I have taken actions ABand C when faced with this in the past
• (Thinks that’s exactly what we recommended to the boss this morning, so glad to get external validation)

Whatever the reason was, THEY were being unprofessional to laugh in that way.
Even if you did say something laughable, that is not a reason to be humiliated by them.

When my husband and my manager were interviewing, they were already convinced of candidates’ aptitude, experience and calibre. The interview itself was to check that a person would fit into the team. Their smiling during the procedure confirmed a happy choice. Maybe this is what happened for you, OP.

I hear my husband laughing a fair bit in interviews. (WFH) they tend to go better when the candidate is relaxed.. good luck Op. hopefully you’ve just misinterpreted it. I bet you said something they were looking out for. Buzz words for example.

Maybe they laughed at you. Maybe they didn't. Who cares? If they did, you won't be getting the job, so you will never have to see them again.

Please come back and update us either way

Please don’t worry about it, I’ve had it happen to me, felt so worried about it. Eventually got offered the job and she said they were sorry for the laugh and look they had between them but they had been talking about putting what I had mentioned into practice just before my interview and they thought what a coincidence.

good luck let us know how you get on,

Well done for going to the interview but I'm sorry you feel a bit deflated now.
Like others have said, they either liked your answer, or they're unprofessional idiots and you wouldn't want to work with them anyway!
When will they let you know?

Obviously none of us were there but that was my first thought - they liked you and your view agreed with theirs about a current issue.

Omg people are so rude. Honestly. I have a job where I have to pitch a lot and people are just fucking awful. They love to put you down as you’re in the weaker position as you’re going to them asking for something (a job in your case)

I used to over think and let it drag me done but then someone told me they literally just sit down with a cup of tea, feel the embarrassment for a minute, do a big shrug then let it go and think well they were a tosser lucky escape!
She said we ALL do thinks that embarrass us but we need to just cut our selves slack and think oh well.

try it. And every time your mind tries to go back to that embarrassment do it again. It’s hard but over time it gets easier I promise.

it is likely they are just telling you something about themselves and the company as a whole - and if you don't get the job then it's a good thing, because if they were professional and worth working for, they wouldn't have laughed in that way.