I’m not really sure what I’m hoping to get from posting this - maybe just to vent and process. I had an interview last week and can’t stop overthinking it.
I work in a niche field with few management roles. I’ve been in my job for 9 years and was always encouraged to train for management by our department head. When a post was created two years ago, I couldn’t apply (it was ring-fenced). Fast forward to now, it’s been re-advertised, and I got an interview. I am highly trained in my field, but unfortunately, can't use certain elements of my qualification in my full-time job - overall though, I have the experience and currently do exactly what they're wanting the new manager to do.
The employment process is extremely transparent at our organisation, competency/score based - highest scorer on the day gets the job. There were 4 candidates in total.
Fortunately, I knew the panel as have worked with them all, and they were lovely - one even said they were rooting for me before we began, which helped put me at ease.
The interview had five competency-based questions. I felt positive about the majority of my answers, but now I’m worrying I didn’t mention key points like accessibility, diversity, being more community based, or explain my management experience clearly enough (it's from a second job, which they're aware of) - I feel like I kind of waffled. As it's score based, "buzz words" and the "STAR" style of answer are really important, and I'm just not sure I managed it.
And, for some reason, at the end I blurted out this emotional little speech about how I’ve prepared for years, have so many ideas to improve the service, and want the team to feel valued and recognised. I cringe just thinking about it.
Now I’m stuck replaying everything, thinking I came across as too soft or friendly rather than confident. The candidate after me strolled in (a man, all suited and booted) and just oozed charisma - it knocked any confidence out of me.
I really want this job, not for the money but because I care about the service and the people. I think this came across a lot in my interview and I got a genuine positive reaction on a final question where I mentioned caring about the people of our city, but I just worry that it made me look less "professional" in terms of being able to do the more difficult side of management.
I asked our robot overlord at Chat GPT for some guidance and it suggested sending a short "thank-you for the opportunity" email clarifying one or two things (like my management experience and values around diversity/accessibility), explaining that I know it can't change the scoring, but I just wanted to make it clear for my peace of mind. Would that be weird? Again, I have a good relationship with the department head, we often email about work related things, so it wouldn't be out of the blue.
Any thoughts welcome, I don’t find out until the end of next week, and my brain won’t switch off. I just feel like I've let myself down and it has really impacted my mood.