Interview didn't go so well

loisa

Hi, just wondering if anyone has ever thought they did badly in an interview but got the job anyway?

I just had a telephone interview for a customer adviser role in a bank and it went badly. It was scenario based and my mind went blank on the first question. It was about a decision I had made at work. I couldn't think of any and still can't! I sure I have made plenty but I don't file them away for future reference!

After that I was asked a different question and I managed to pull it back a bit. I'm just not sure if any of my examples were particularly relevant and I was a bit nervous and stuttery the whole way through.
I just feel completely useless and stupid now. Even if by some miracle I did get through I still have a face to face interview.

I have worked as a temp on and off for the last six years so to be honest it is a big shock suddenly having to find my own work and go through the application process. I can't believe how difficult it is to get relatively ordinary jobs!

I'm going to go home and cry now I think!

Horace

Try not to fret - I have had interviews where I thought I had sailed through and got the job only to discover later that I hadn't and there have been other jobs where I thought I hadn't performed well at all and I got the job. Remember that if, by chance you don't get the job, ring them up and ask them for some feedback.

Good luck.

Fragments_Of_Sanity

I have had interviews that I felt didn't go that amazingly and been offered the post. Don't know so much about the that in the current climate with the level of applicants for most jobs and competitiveness, but you never know.

I suppose it benefits you because it hits home the importance of preparing for an interview, thinking of what kind of questions they might ask you and being ready for them, with examples to back up what you're saying. I tend to note down the kinds of questions I found hard in interviews to try and be more ready for them next time.

reheat

loisa wrote: »

Hi, just wondering if anyone has ever thought they did badly in an interview but got the job anyway?

No, but there was one I thought I'd done really well in and had actually totally trashed it!

It was the first time I'd encountered the modern style of interviewing you speak of, which requires you to cite examples to illustrate certain skills. This interview style go by various names: behavioural interviews, structured interviews, etc.

I got my preparation all wrong, and went in with a list of possible questions and an example to use for each question. Doomed to failure: mostly asked different questions, and even ones I had hit on I failed to find the right bits of paper! But thought I'd done OK because she gave me no negative signals - later feedback showed I got loads wrong but she just hadn't let on ... so I thought I'd done well.

But from this - after much soul searching - came up with a much better strategy, which served me well quite recently:-

• Firstly list down all the skills and personal qualities you think they might try and test you on. This may bring a few examples to mind ... but don't panic if not.
• Carry pen and paper with you wherever you go, and any example that occurs to you ... jot it down. You may not use it, but jotting it down may bring other examples to mind anyway. Don't pre-judge them else your brain will get fed up with you and sulk!
• I find that examples stubbornly refuse to come to mind when I try to conjure them up, but do sometimes pop into my head when I've got nothing to hand to write them down on!
• The examples you decide to use: write them onto a single sheet of paper in a free pool - do not categorise them! ... even though you may have used categories to help think of them in the first place.
• Whenever you get the chance just run the examples through your head, so you won't have to dig too deep when you need them.
• At interview when asked to give an example of xyz, even if you never thought about xyz in your preparation, there's a good possibility that one of your examples will still fit the bill. Most example are often good illustrations for more than one category ... which is why you ditch the categories!

Interviewers know these are tricky questions, so an instantaneous response is not expected. I've developed the habit of cross checking if my answer/example was what they wanted, or would they like me to try something else. This tactic also gives you a little bit more control in the interview, which helps steady the nerves.

loisa wrote: »

I'm going to go home and cry now I think!

That's allowed, and sometimes part of the process ... so long as you pick yourself up again a bit later and get positive again . I really do know how it feels.

loisa

Well, a bit of an update. I just had a call to say that I had passed the telephone interview! I have a face to face interview on Thursday. It's another competancy based one though, boo!
The place I would be working in is about 15 mins walk from my house, yet they are sending me to some obscure town which is 2 train rides away, so that should be interesting! I won't be too upset if I don't get it as long as don't make a complete idiot of myself but I guess I shouldn't be so harsh on myself in future

catz1ct

Good luck.

reheat

Well done! Getting through the telephone interview is no mean feat.

Even if you're not that struck on the idea of getting the job, it will be invaluable interview practice.

Best of luck

_Andy_

loisa wrote: »

Well, a bit of an update. I just had a call to say that I had passed the telephone interview! I have a face to face interview on Thursday. It's another competancy based one though, boo!
The place I would be working in is about 15 mins walk from my house, yet they are sending me to some obscure town which is 2 train rides away, so that should be interesting! I won't be too upset if I don't get it as long as don't make a complete idiot of myself but I guess I shouldn't be so harsh on myself in future

Which bank is it? I can help you with the questions if it's HSBC.

lek3

Telephone interviews are bad at the best of times, the fact that you care enough to write sounds like you made the best of a bad situation. That is an accomplishment in itself! Well done