10 Things to Do When Your Interview Goes Badly
We have all been there, sat in front of an interview panel and nothing is going right. You just want the ground to swallow you up and for it all to be over. It may be that you have prepared for the wrong questions, or your nerves decided to take control. We are here to let you know that no matter how badly your interview went, there are always ways to salvage it. Here are the 10 things you should do after a bad interview.
1. Chill out straight away
Whether this means jumping into a hot bath, or going for a run around the block, do something that you enjoy and will help to destress you. You are not going to be able to think rationally straight after the interview, so take some time to yourself and revisit the situation later on in the day.
2. Don’t overreact
Whilst you may think you have completely ruined your chances of ever being employed at the company of your dreams, try not to get too carried away. Yes, you may have slipped up on a few questions but there will have been some aspects of the interview that you performed well in too. Everyone makes mistakes, and the interviewer will understand you were in a high pressure situation.
3. Work out where you went wrong
Pinpointing exactly where you went wrong is really important so that you can learn from your mistakes. Once you have let your emotions play out and calmed yourself down, you will be able to think much more clearly. Was there something within your interview preparation that caused you to fluff up your answers? Did you have a late night before the interview? Did you consume too much caffeine? Take the time to review the situation so that you can learn from your mistakes.
4. Focus on the positives
It is very easy to get consumed by all the negative aspects of the interview. There will have been some positive aspects too; so try and focus on those rather than letting yourself go into a downward spiral. By looking at the positives this will also help for your next interview as you can replicate those parts.
5. Send a thank you email
Saying thank you to your interviewer should always be best practice, no matter how badly the interview went. It not only shows that you have good manners, it also highlights how interested you are in the role. In this instance when things have gone badly, it is a great opportunity to cover anything that you forgot to mention in the interview. Remember to thank the interviewer for their time too.
6. Tell them what you meant to say
Within your thank you email, you have the chance to rectify what went wrong in the interview. If there are certain aspects of your skills that you didn’t get the chance to cover, now is your time to shine. It will help the interviewer to see that there is a lot more to you than they got to see within the interview too!
7. Don’t apologise for your mistakes
At the end of the day, we are all human, and mistakes happen. Try not to draw attention to what you did wrong – it may be that the interviewer didn’t even notice the mistakes that you made. You probably already apologised during the interview when things started to go wrong anyway, so there is no need to continue that afterwards.
8. Request a follow-up interview
So your thank you email is not only a great way to try and turn around the mistakes you made in the interview, it is also a chance to ask for a second interview to expand upon the points you missed out.
9. Stop overthinking
The interview is over, and unfortunately there is not much you can do about it now. There is no point sitting there dwelling on the bad experience. Learn from your mistakes and move on, there will be lots of other opportunities out there waiting for you.
10. Keep searching
It may be tempting to crawl into your hole and never come out again, but remain positive and keep going on the job hunt. Don’t let one bad experience put you off interviews for life. Keep trying and you will land on your feet eventually.
We hope this has helped you to put things into perspective slightly after your bad interview. It was probably a lot worse in your head than you think, so try to dust yourself off and move onto the next interview.