Have I screwed up this interview?

[justeccentricnotinsane]

So I know I should try to stop worrying about what other people think etc but I've just done an interview and I feel really useless. I think the questions went ok, but I guess this role is the most senior I've gone for, it will actually be a challenge, and I felt I wasn't doing too well.

When I'm nervous, I feel like I act REALLY weird, because in my mind there's just chatter. I kind of zone out a bit and then doing things kind of by instinct. Like I tried to sit in the wrong chair and they said "no, no, no this one" (I'm always doing stuff like that!) and they took my coat off me and put it on a hook because I was going to hang it off the back of my chair. Then, at the end, my mouth was SO dry. They'd given me some water and even though we'd all shook hands and said goodbye and I had my coat on I didn't leave straight away because I just instinctively picked up the water to drink - which is awkward of course. I apologised and I was SO embarrassed. I still feel really embarrassed now. They said to me "you can take it with you if you want!" and I just tried to laugh it off and said "dying of thirst today", but I so, so embarrassed!

Sometimes I feel like people realise that I'm just a bit helpless and confused, although I always try and look really together. I feel like people just become my carer! I try to joke about it with my friends, because I have so little common sense and I'm so bad at remembering faces or noticing changes in people (like if they get their hair cut, I won't be able to tell because I can't remember what it was like before). But when I joke, it sometimes feels like people are going "yeah, that is pretty weird" and they don't help me laugh about myself (which is all I want to do - just trivialise it so I feel like it doesn't matter quite so much).

Eurgh, sorry for this rant. I'm so, so, so embarrassed. I constantly think people think I'm weird.

Do you think what I said about the interview - does that make me seem weird? I stumbled on some of the questions where I just knew I couldn't give them a good answer and I was trying to ad lib but my brain was not working quickly enough.

So do you think I came across really weird from the instances I said above - do they sound weird? Or do you think they'll just think think I was nervous?

 

[Sriracha]

Could be nervousness or inexperience. One of the best things you can do is role play an interview with a friend. You need to try to tame those stomach butterflies. I was the same way with one interview, and it was a long drawn out process (took an hour). I was nervous at times and confident at other times, long story short ... I did not get the job. (The reason why was not b/c of how I performed in the interview, but b/c I could not be on emergency 24 hour call.) HOWEVER; I look back and remember what to do and what NOT to do. It's all a learning experience.

If they call you back for a 2nd interview, do some role playing. In the meantime, don't beat yourself up over it.

 

[the]

It depends on what the job is. What did you interview for?

 

[justeccentricnotinsane]

It depends on what the job is. What did you interview for?

It's sort of like a careers adviser but more on the motivational and promotional side. It's going out and getting students to start thinking about their careers, teaching them how to do a good CV, how to give a good interview (at the point I was talking about this the interview was going well so it wasn't too bad!), and how to get work experience. It's setting up events to gather students and give them advice and just prepare them for their future. It's a completely new role, they need to someone to come in and make the role their own. I'm really excited about that aspect. They were nodding and smiling at a lot of the stuff I was saying. I think I did well on about 85 per cent of the questions, but there were a few where I got nervous. Because there was very little info about the role (since it's new) I couldn't prepare well or guess what they might ask me. There were some times where I was saying really vague things because I couldn't decide what to say. I'm usually pretty good at interviews but I guess it's because I've never really wanted the job before! I was just totally calm because I didn't care whether or not I got it (and 99 per cent of the time I got it!) but when I'm nervous, it's different. I just used to lie about myself a bit, basically, in the jobs I didn't want. I used to just say whatever they wanted to hear so I'd be able to pay rent! But this seemed more important and I wasn't sure what to do. I guess I need to realise that my way of being an interviewee - just saying whatever they want to hear - will not working every time!

The one question I always struggle on is what challenges do you think you will face in the role. I mean, there are obviously a lot of challenges to setting up a completely new role and finding your place in the business, and I tried to say something about having to make sure operations run smoothly because if everybody's off doing their own thing, some things could be missed or duplicated, or you could step on each others toes. But then I think I did the wrong thing. I felt maybe they wanted to know about my personal challenges and I was too honest. I said in that situation the thing that might hold me back is that sometimes I'm not assertive enough. As soon as I said it I was thinking "YOU ALWAYS LIE ABOUT THAT! WHY DIDN'T YOU JUST LIE!" And I just though - nobody NOBODY wants an unassertive employee. I mean, it isn't even true. I'm unassertive in some situations but when I've got a plan of action, when I know I'm right, then I start organising things. Oh God, I don't know. I'm over thinking. I was pushing my communications skills, which I do have and I think they saw that, but they pointed out to me that I'm a very analytical person. That's totally true, I'm very analytical, but I'm not sure they want that side of me.

Meh. must stop thinking!

 

[Lerxst]

Oh dear lord, how many times I have screwed up an interview! The worst was commenting about the fact that I didn't care for the town I was living in... turns out it was the Director's home town. Screwed the pooch before I even stepped foot in the room with that one!

Another one, half way through I closed my folders, stacked my papers and just told them the job wasn't for me (System Admin).

Then there was the time I applied for a completely off-the-wall job I had no experience in... and they called for an interview?! I was so full of shit the whole time, I had to scrub myself off for days on end before the smell came out! Not to mention, I gave just about every wrong answer I could... although I eventually realized how horrible it was going and just started making shit up half way through to see how long I could keep it up for.

Then there are the countless little things in between that happened throughout each of them. Now that I've been working in non-profits for the past 8 years on the rare occasion I place and get called about an application with a for-profit company, I get the "why would you want to make the change?" question. One interviewer and I made a quick, friendly connection right from the start since we're both from Brooklyn and ended up in the Southwest. That was the only time I gave an honest answer to that question - yours is the only place in 100 miles that's hiring. We had a laugh... I didn't get the job... I wasn't that upset about it.

Now I have a senior level job interview coming up for an organization I never thought would call back for the job I applied. Funny though, how I'm not nearly as nervous as I should be. After screwing up so many times in the past, there's really nothing I can say or do that would be any worse than some of the things I did in the past.

I really can't do any worse than I have in the past, short of cursing them out. So, in other words - practice makes perfect!