AIBU to ask you to make me feel better about this absolute howler of an interview? Or should I just leave the country?

[TattyOldOwl]

So I had an interview today and it was over Teams in front of a panel of 3. I prepared well, and was sat in my home office at my desk on my new office chair

Anyway, before the interview, I’d been fiddling with the height adjustment of the chair as it wasn’t quite high enough for me. Finally got it sorted and all good.

so, I’m sat there and half way through an in-depth answer to a multi pronged question. I’m all animated and talking away when I suddenly feel myself descending but ever so slowly. I kind of stutter a bit as I’m SO distracted by this and I try to hold myself up by gripping my desk but it’s no use …. Literally, one moment I’m in their line of sight and then next, i gradually disappear from view as my hydraulic chair takes me all the way down as low as it will go.

I end up inches from my floor, desperately trying to scrabble myself back up and then I sort of PING back into view like a jack in a box to find one of the women on the panel literally helpless with laughter.

I just can’t. So mortified. Please tell me you’ve had worse?

During an online interview with three interviewers for a position that the organisation was creating a panel for:

In spite of doing a practice run which went fine, I couldn’t log on at the time on my laptop. I ended up using my phone, started the interview 15 minutes late and halfway through the interview realised my battery was almost dead so started TalkingReallyFast.

I explained the problem and asked their forbearance whilst I plugged in the phone, then had to finish the interview sitting on the floor beside the socket. This was 2 years ago and I am still cringing.

I was placed 5th on the panel so I can only imagine the interviews those poor people had to sit through if I was the 5th best.

Best of luck to you OP, you have brightened up a lot of evenings

After a shitty week, this actually made me belly laugh out loud, so thank you. I do hope you get the job!!

The same thing happened to me at work in front of a client.

Honestly, if they don't see the funny side of this then I wouldn't want to work for them anyway. Good luck.

Reminds me of the Friends episode where Rachel goes back to work and has been replaced with Gavin.

My husband shut the door on his head as he was leaving a job interview and doing the nervouse goodbye thing.
Hw didn't get the job

OP you showed yourself to be quite normal in a predicament, don’t worry.
If you haven’t seen, look up the old American lawyer on Teams with a judge, where his DGD had been playing with settings, so his face was a picture of a fat Persian cat and he couldn’t remove it. He kept repeating your honour I’m not a cat as he was panicking and trying to change the settings- hilarious as it was meant to be serious and he was probably very distinguished in the law but not IT
good luck

This has really cheered me up!

I had a job interview this morning - I was shattered after working all week and applying for other jobs in the evenings, while DP is away.

So when I saw 'panel of 3' I thought maybe it was the same post. But mine were all men!

Mine was for the civil service and towards the end I just gave up on the 'behaviours'. I had prepared answers to standard questions, but was too tired to remember them, and started improvising, which is never a good move.

Somebody posted on a thread on here years ago about job interviews.

She misunderstood a question , something along the lines of future ambitions , which they meant in terms of the career and which she seemed to think meant personally.

She said that she hoped to learn to make balloon animals.

I have often tried to find the post because it did tickle me!
If you are here, please re tell the story.!!

Email them & thank them etc etc
Say that if in the unlikely event they decide not to offer the job, would they please let you down gently
It’ll swing it

Sorry but this is hilarious. If I were the interviewer I employ you on principle of you being an absolute riot

was it like this OP? One of the best adverts ever IMO.

and I worked out what firm you’re interviewing for. They’d be daft not to recruit you.

I had a bad interview for my very first permanent job: I'd been temping in a factory, just working on the production lines. When a job was advertised in R&D, I put in an application. One morning, it started raining when I was walking to work. As I was a poor ex-student working in a physical role, I was wearing old clothes - an old t-shirt, fringed 'hippy' skirt and espadrilles, all of which had got rather soggy.
Unexpectedly, the head of R&D came to find me that morning, and asked if I'd be prepared to interview there & then. I agreed, and walked upstairs making swirly marks like a mop with my skirt fringes, and squelching in my espadrilles.
I was amazed when I got the job.

Best thread I’ve read for a long time! Hope you get the job.

@TattyOldOwl your tale had me laughing until this. If you were interviewing for a serious law type role, but demonstrate in an interview that you easily blaspheme when something untoward happens, I would question your ability to act professionally and avoid causing offence in serious situations. Still an amusing story though.

Forgot to turn my phone off and it rang out from my bag playing an especially loud and corny Christmas song (it was Dec) and as I scrabbled in my bag to find it and turn it off I knocked my bag over and all my things fell out. Phone rang off and then almost immediately began again. Managed to turn it off and smiled sweetly at the panel and then on we went with the interview. I got the job, I thought I came across as a bumbling fool, but the panel obviously thought otherwise

This is absolutely brilliant

I would want to work with you 🤣🤣 do keep us posted. You deserve this job hahaha

😂😂😂

I can beat that. Went for an in person interview in the 80's that I knew I was unlikely to accept (long story). I was sat across from the male interviewer on a swivel chair. Having an indepth and animated conversation and feeling comfortable, so I sunk back into the chair and as I did the back disappeared and I fell backwards off the seat and landed unceremoniously on the floor with my legs in the air and skirt over my head - good job I had my Brigit Jones Knickers on!

He apologised whilst trying to stifle a laugh and said he didn't realise they had put the broken chair in there. I was beetroot red.

At the end of the meeting, the cheeky beggar said it had been very illuminating and that he had got to know me better than he expected (!!! cringe!!!) and said I would fit in with his team, did I want the job!

@TattyOldOwl
Thank you for sharing this it has made me laugh and I have no doubt it that as you are qualified that you are in the running for the job. I hope you get it.

I think you did well to hold your own and finish. It would have been funny for those on the other side, (who would also be having to try and control their reactions to it), they would know this is something out of your control and therefore not react. Although, if it was me, I would be the woman laughing because we are all human.

Don't worry at all about saying "Jesus bloody Christ" It is a natural thing to say in that circumstance.

So you didn’t have s bad interview then?!

Blaspheme? How very … quaint. She wasn’t interviewing to be the next Pope or Archbishop.

Presuming OP is in the UK we are a secular society. Religious in the minority now. Who cares if she says JFC, I certainly don’t.

You've clearly not met (m)any litigation lawyers. Swearing is very much in the vocabulary! Nobody would bat an eyelid at 'Jesus Bloody Christ', not even the clients!

Brilliant. Please do this!

Thanks for the laugh, OP!

I had a zip go down the back of my dress during an interview. I was broke so bought it from a charity shop and it was a bit snug so I wore a cord jacket over it. It was mid summer and baking hot so I had to take the jacket off as I was overheating. I ended up trying to struggle back into the jacket whilst backing out of the room so she didn’t see the back of my dress gaping open. I was so flustered then but now would make a joke about it but I was young and inexperienced.

Love it 🤣🤣🤣

I once burped mid sentence in an in-person interview. I didn’t even say “excuse me” or “sorry” I just carried on talking and didn’t even acknowledge it. I think I was too embarrassed to acknowledge it.

I got the job. And a few weeks after my manager was telling me one of the reasons she liked me was because I didn’t let the burp fase me and I just carried on.