Interview Insights: When It Gets Weird

Interviews are nerve-wracking for us all. It’s hard to know where you stand sometimes, and whether or not you made a good impression.

However, sometimes it’s clear that you’re not making a good impression. You might have said the wrong thing, been thrown off guard, or just aren’t connecting with the interviewer. Seeing an interview go south right before your eyes is stressful, but it doesn’t always have to be the final outcome.

Sequioa Taylor has some tips on how to handle a few (of many) sticky interview situations in her article here. We’ve highlighted a few of our favorites below.

• The low-energy hiring manager: You’re in the interview giving it your all, but your interviewer seems disengaged and even bored. This could be for a variety of different reasons, so don’t panic and don’t assume it’s about you. Whether it is or isn’t, don’t match the energy level of the manager. Maintain high energy and engagement, and be sure to remain friendly and courteous.
• The botched answer: You get thrown a curve ball question, and your answer is less than great. The best thing to do for this is to just move on. We all give sub par answers at one time or another, and if you ruminate on it you’re more likely to slip up on more questions.
• The ringing phone: I don’t need to tell you that your phone should *never* be on during an interview. If it is by mistake and it goes off, all you can do is apologize and quickly shut it off. Don’t harp on it too much, but be sure that your apology is sincere.
• The “so why did you leave your last job” question: Any hiring manager is going to ask you this, so make sure you’re prepared for it. DON’T bad mouth your last position, especially not your last boss, no matter how hard the situation was. If they prod more into why it was a bad situation, try to be as discrete as possible and talk about the positive learning experience you had a result.

Image retrieved from Pixabay under the public domain.