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 overthink this.

Getting an interview is a HUGE success - your application, CV, background etc were obviously very promising, hence the invitation. You're in the running.

People laugh for so many reasons - pleased, surprised, recognition, acknowledgement, understanding, ... Don't automatically crash land onto the worst case scenario.

Put it behind you and move on to your next application.

See what happens next. If you don't get it, ask for constructive feedback from the recruiter. If you do, fantastic!

Ah that's a horrible feeling to think someone laughed at you, but I think it is more than likely something between the 2 of them.

Very unprofessional though of them, I agree. Try not to overthink, they are probably seeing loads of people and sometimes the professional mask slips a bit.

That sounds so off-putting. I reckon it could have been an in-joke or something, or something they're having issues with and you've hit the nail on the head, difficult to say without knowing the question or answer you gave.

It's a shame it put you off, I'd have been the same I think. Just see how it goes. If they speak to you to turn you down or offer you the job you could always ask for feedback on how they felt your interview went? It might shed some light or make you feel better about it.

Could it have been a smirk to his colleague, in that he was pleased you'd come up with an answer, were managing to say what they wanted to hear and he was pleased.

A different thing, but I was once asked a question in an interview (already told them early on I hadn't got any experience of that area) and he rudely told me I'd given the wrong answer. I still got a job offer.

I had an entire interview with 2 women laughing and smirking at each other.

I honestly had to refrain from punching them and walking out, as it was humiliating!

It turns out that they absolutely loved me and rang to offer me the job before I had even got to the bus stop.

Chances are you gave the perfect answer and they were smiling to each other because they liked you!

Who knows what the context was - could have been an in-joke about a colleague of theirs, but I would consider this interaction unprofessional and a bit of a red flag. Unless you really really want that job, I'd proceed with a lot of caution if you get a call-back.

Wow.
Fortunately an interview is a two way process, do they like you, but do you like them...
Whatever was behind that smirk, personal to you, personal to them or the company, whatever it was... That was very unprofessional indeed and would put any interviewee off their stride.
I think you've got all you need to know about whether you want to work there.

Well done for getting yourself to the interview and coming so far down the process... They were chumps, try not to let them get into your head and look elsewhere.

All the best.

So he didn't laugh, he smirked. Very different things.

I've smirked when interviewing people (including people who have then been my top choice). Reasons can often be:

• The candidate has said something amusing that's resonated
• The candidate has said something so diplomatically that it's clear they're holding back from saying something really rude (and probably more accurate) but the entire panel has got the gist anyway
• I've remembered something amusing that happened earlier in the day
• The candidate has said something that I thought 'Yes that's the one I want'

Bad reasons:

• Male candidate made a huge point of going on about general equality in the workplace, to a point where I knew he didn't believe a single thing he was saying and was trying to get bonus marks from me (as the hiring manager)
• You've said something rude or unprofessional

Unless you've done either of the two faux pas above, relax.

This is my thoughts exactly - it sounds like you described a situation that was very familiar to them and of course you don't have that context. But that does generally mean something has struck a chord with them rather than that you've said something way off base (if you had actually said something awful, they'd probably keep a straight face and laugh about it later! In front of you generally means they think it's fairly innocuous and not aimed at you).

Disrespecfful and rude and I'm not surprised it threw you off your stride.

I once had an interview where one of the panel just stared unblinking at me throughout with no expression on his face - no nods, smiles, anything. That was offputting too. All body language becomes amplified in interviews.

An interviewer laughed at me when I was at a job interview for a shop assistant. I'd said I hadn't brought my record of achievement because it was so out of date, my personal statement said I wanted to be a blue Peter presenter. I ended up getting the job. The manager said she interviewed 4 people. 1 turned up wearing shorts, 1 was late and it was between me and another boy. I got it because they thought I would be fun to work with and because I lived 10 minutes walk from the shop so I wouldn't be relying on buses. A month later a job came up in the branch near the other boy's house so my manager suggested the other branch took him on.

My boss smirked at me when we were interviewing. The candidate had just made a statement which in one paragraph ticked ALL of the things that I wanted to hear.

To be fair, boss then explained to the candidate why I was grinning like a loon and why it was amusing. Candidate got the job and has been amazing.

I do a lot of interviewing and you’ve had some fantastic responses from others here that I completely agree with.
I wouldn’t be so unprofessional but certainly after an interview we might immediately say ‘YES finally someone who said they would consider data privacy in that scenario’ (or whatever). Probably just triggered something they’d already discussed.
Sorry they put you off. One of the main roles of an interviewer is to put the candidate at ease so they failed, not you. Good luck.

I was interviewed by a couple of smirky bell ends who proceeded to also ring me after and fill me in with why they were smirking, and what was said about me afterwards.

I’m actually glad I had the experience. I got some confidence in realising some places aren’t worth my time and it taught me a lot about what to look for. Years later I had a similar experience start, in a place with the same obvious red flags. It felt so good to calmly be unbothered and walk out politely as I just didn’t care. I got a job with a good team easily, I’m someone who has good relationships. I don’t need toxic and the confidence I’ve got in recognising that really helped me progress and stop people pleasing idiots. People tend to respect me more nowadays!

I don't do a lot of interviews, but interviewers seem to have become much less professional in the past decade - not that there was ever a golden age.
In a world full of social media, it seems incredible that those representing an organisation to the outside world don't understand that long-forgotten applicants might be sharing their experiences years later.
Respectful, attentive and punctual isn't too much to ask after expecting hours of research and sometimes expensive travel.

Absolutely this

Happened in my last interview and I was offered that afternoon.

this happened at one of my interviews and one of the interviewers explained it was their question and I was the first person that understood what they were looking for and they laughed and said "see it wasn't a stupid question" to their colleague. Could be something similar, well done you for going and for completing the interview when you were made so uncomfortable and don't forget you are also "interviewing" them too, they haven't come over well!

Honestly do not sweat it, I was asked once in a very junior sales job what I thought of the current economic climate in the far east? I was about 22 just out of uni and liked Big Brother, clubbing, clothes, shopping and boys. I literally had no idea what to say. So I think I said ‘oh god, sorry I’ve got no idea’. Looking back it was probably two blokes taking the piss. On the way out of the board room I tripped over in my high heels. I didn’t get the job, but like others have said, you’re interviewing them as much as they are you. Seriously, if they call you you, great, take it from there. If they don’t, you’ll never see them again. I’ve interviewed loads of people and trust me, you will not be the worst person they see. If you were otherwise personable and friendly and answered most questions then you did well.

I don’t want to discount your interpretation because you were there and it is possible he was totally rude, which is a reflection on him and the company, not on you at all. How did the colleague he was looking at react?

I do think it’s also possible your anxiety at the situation influenced how you interpreted it. I’ve had situation where I’ve laughed in an interview - I would always explain “Sorry, I’m laughing because you’ve just described exactly the discussion we were having this morning and I completely agree with you but Dave here is on the opposite side!”, so I’d still think he’s in the wrong for not explaining his reaction to you, but it doesn’t necessarily mean your answer was bad!

You might have given a similar answer to other interviewees who also struggled with a reply and they were amused at how everyone is responding to the question.

You can choose to feel humiliated or you can laugh at how ridiculous interviews often are.

Expressing humour and laughter is a stress relief and having to interview candidates can be tedious so I highly doubt they were being unkind but simply having some light relief.

You could have joined in and smiled.

I had this happen once a few years ago. Thought they didn't like me and when they offered me the job I was shocked. I actually starting getting on well with the person who had smirked/laughed and it turned out I was the only person who gave the right answer all day and he had actually thought he was going to go all day with nobody knowing it (like a secret joke to himself). Try not to worry too much. Interviews are scary but until they say no, you won't know how you did x

Honestly I think you need to toughen up.

Eveyone sometimes says something silly or ridiculous in the workplace and sometimes people will laugh at that and sometimes they will roll their eyes and sometimes they will think, well that solution is a bit out there, but its a possibility if we can't come up with anything better. Sometimes its the solutions that we come up with under highest pressure that best demonstrate our ability to work through problems.

Especially when people are brainstorming ideas, or when the number of options is vast running out.

Don't overthink what happened. And whatever job you get realise that some people are going to react in different ways to your suggestions and you have to learn to accommodate that and not let it worry you. And at the very least you know that if that question comes up again you will be better prepared to answer it.

Interview panels can contain wankers. As any grouping of humans can.

I was once in an interview where one of the panel rolled his eyes and made a scoffing sound at some of my responses. I hadn't said anything ridiculous, I just assume he took a different view to me. But after a couple of these I called the interview to a close telling them I was unwilling to continue due to his lack of professionalism. And that he really didn't reflect well on the company.

I received a very apologetic phone call and email from them afterwards asking me to come back in, they really liked me, he wouldn't be on the panel etc. I didn't bother.

Only you know whether they were being unprofessional or not. If you don't receive a job offer from them maybe some feedback, nothing emotional just factual, wouldn't be a bad thing. Maybe there wasn't any malice, maybe there was, but let them know that as an interviewee you found it intimidating.

If you’re anything like me you will be raking over every little thing you “did wrong” during the interview. You should pat yourself on the back for answering all the questions. They will have noted that - even if your answers to the difficult questions weren’t “perfect” which is impossible. You stand a good chance of getting this. If you don’t this is a step in the right direction. Keep going. You sound like someone who would be an asset to any company.

I generally smile in interviews when the candidate says something I was really hoping they would say. I might also look to see if other panel members noticed. I probably also do a wry smile when someone mentions a topic that we know is internally a bit of a shit show! I would however never make smirky laughs or point at my notes and snigger, that is really unprofessional.

I'm sure you did really well, and you probably had just picked up on something that resonated with them internally as a bit of ongoing issue.

As a bit of a side story, I was on a zoom interview panel recently and the candidate took his time after every question to type the question down. He never pre-warned us he'd be doing that and at first it looked like he was just replying to emails and expecting us all to sit there waiting. I have no issue with him noting down the questions but he could have given us the heads up. It was really odd and I admit I had to really stifle a laugh. It was hard work keeping a straight face while he spent his time typing away while we all sat there waiting on his answers. We still would have hired him though, but he ended up just not having the right skills.