Totally messed up my HEO civil service interview today, please tell me about your interview disasters!

[Nisbet]

So the first thing that went wrong was I was doing a written exercise for the interview in my office and my pen stopped working so I had to run downstairs for another one as I needed to make some notes.

The cat which has been locked safely in the kitchen then darted upstairs and started leaping around distracting me. So it took a good 8 minutes of my 45 minutes allotted time chasing her round and putting her out.

Then I answered some of the questions really badly in the interview 😢 I had really good examples taped to the wall but the way that they asked the questions just really didn't fit in with the examples I'd had ready so I waffled.

I found myself talking and had to ask them again what the question had been as I'd forgotten.

In fairness to myself it was my first interview for 20 years and being over Teams really didn't work for me. I think I did come across as passionate about the role and likeble so there is that but that won't be enough for the civil service.

Anyway, any disaster stories you have?

Once went to full panel interview and was mid presentation and someone knocked the table which in tandem knocked over my hand bag and inside handbag was a box of novelty condoms that my pal had jokingly given to me when I met her for coffee earlier that day.

She got them for me because I had told her I had a first date in years (after leaving my ex husband) and thought it would make me laugh and I had forgotten they were in there.

The man who picked up my bag and subsequent items kindly showed the room them and put them bag in my bag like he had found a severed limb hiding in my bag.

Oh and all the panel was white old guys and it was a very very senior role.

I actually wanted to die of embarrassment and felt like I was 16 teenager again.

Had a fairly memorable cat teams interview where my cat would had been locked in my room away managed to open bedroom door and insist on sitting front row centre on laptop and hissed and turned feral when I tried to remove him.

He scratched me on the face and post interview I realised I had been bleeding for the last 5mins of interview. They did offer me the job but I also got the pet name of Carrie and gentle ribbing about my cat with no manners lol

Cats and teams interviews do not go well!
Shut them out they'll wreck the joint and make a noise, presume they'll stay quiet- they won't.
One teams interview my girl cat (after walking in front of the screen) sat next to me politely for the remaining interview like a little sidekick watching the screen with me on camera 😂

Love these!! She was actually fast asleep on my bed before I moved her. She sleeps like the dead so I should have just left her asleep!

I had the worst interview in the history of mankind about 6 years ago. I was so wrong for the job and I have no idea why they shortlisted me (or why I applied - well I do, lovely colleague said 'Oh you're bound to have lots of transferable skills' - no I didn't). Anyway, about ten minutes in I contemplated just saying 'I think this is a waste of everyone's time and I'm going to leave' but stuck it out, just saying 'yes' 'no' to the questions. It was hideous beyond belief. So: you sound as if you'd be good in the job and you did a lot of prep, so you're waaaaaay ahead!

Also I realised afterwards I had a bit of Dulux Brilliant White on my black jacket!

I cried in an interview once...still got the job!

So did you get the job?! They sounded keen.

I had an awful interview last year. Four panel members each had a four part question. The questions were VERY lengthy.

I answered a lot of the subsequent questions in the previous ones IYSWIM.

But still they stuck doggedly to the format leaving me to come up with the answers to things I had already covered.

it was like a marathon. I was exhausted and I think they felt sorry for me by the end.

I didn’t get the job and I wouldn’t have wanted it tbh.

Applied for a manger role at a firm I used to work for (in a lower role), got an interview and then half way through realised they were interviewing me for a role I hadn't applied for, not the managers one. It was only from the type of questions I realised this, so asked them to clarify the role. Didn't get it, was relieved.

Turned up a day early.

yes. A whole day early.

came back the next day and made a bit of a joke about it.
Got the job.

Had an interview whilst heavily pregnant. It was a massive national NHS recruitment round with literally hundreds of people being interviewed so it was strictly timed interview stations with panels sitting in different rooms and you had to move to the next room when a buzzer went.

I literally got stuck jn the sliding doors to the first room! One of the interviewers had to come and try to free me and because the time was ticking they were shouting questions at me before I even managed to sit down. I was completely flustered panicking and trying not to cry.

I not get a job offer.

I completely froze in a Teams interview earlier this year. Literally couldn't think how to respond to a question about something that I'd been doing for 20 years.

Feedback (which I appreciated, after lots of ghosting) was that I didn't sell myself. Too right, I could hardly speak.

I intensely dislike video interviews. They make me so anxious as you can't read body language in the same way as in person.

Isn’t this just bastard cats for you 😄 - best interview story ever!