3 Signs That You Had a Bad Job Interview

Realizing you had a good or bad job interview is one of the trickiest things during the interview process, specially if you don’t have a lot of experience at interviewing for jobs.

These are some signs and strategies you can take into account to realize if you just blew it and get yourself ready for the next one. Then, you can add your creative ideas in the comments section to expand this post for all those lost souls who are despaired because they just had a bad job interview.

You didn’t know what to respond on key questions and made up the answer

Which is worse than simply saying “I don’t know” or “can you elaborate on that?”.

During my very first job interview I was asked if I knew anything about utilities -companies-. Back then, I thought that utilities were companies that manufactured tools -don’t laugh-. I don’t remember what I answered to the question, or most probably, I don’t wanna remember. But when I got home and researched what utilities were, the feeling wasn’t a good one… and yeah, I didn’t get the job.

Responding for the sake of responding will probably take you nowhere (as it happened to me). I was interviewing for an uber-junior position and looking back, I don’t think the interviewer expected a 18 year old with no work experience to be knowledgeable in everything. Sometimes, an honest I don’t know or asking for clarification or explanation is the safest path to take.

You had a panic attack during it

Okay, that was a bit extreme -even though I’ve never heard of someone having one, I don’t think we can rule that out-.

Still, do you think you appeared/were nervous during the interview? Did you stutter a lot, go blank or absent minded? Do you think you needed a towel on the desk to wipe out your sweat?

While you are interviewing for entry level jobs this is something forgivable. It’s true that it could hinder your chances of getting hired but it’s not something that will rule you out.

But, if you are interviewing for a job which requires some experience, the ability to handle stressful situations or managing others… well, you can rest assured that there’s a 99% chance that you won’t get it.

Round 2, Fight!

In case you don’t know, that was a Mortal Kombat reference. If you don’t know what Mortal Kombat is, then never mind; bad joke.

Being on the first, second or possibly third round of an hiring process have completely different implications.

Being on say, the second round of interviews means that there’s already less competition and that you are a desirable candidate.

At the same time, despite competition being fewer, it’s also gonna be tougher since only the best prospects made it to this round. Which means: this is the moment where you really have to make a point about why you should be the one they hire. Did you?

If you think you just had a bad job interview and that there’s a very slim -to nil- chance of you getting the job, then head over to 5 ways to avoid having a bad job interview and get yourself ready for your next one… oh, yeah: feel free to share your most awful ever experiences at job interviews. When you look back, they tend to be pretty funny; I know that for a fact.

More From FT Careers Blog

• Taking Control of a Job Interview
• Wearing a Suit for a Job Interview: Is it In or Out?
• The Science Behind "Having a Bad Job Interview" (and How to Solve It)

FT Careers Blog Recommends

• 6 things that job hunters do that piss off recruiters  (dankeller)
• How a Thank You Note Can Land You the Job  (YouTern)

Ask FT Careers Blog To Recommend Your Posts

Article by Fernando

The guy in charge of this blog - husband, Psychologist, former Manager, Blogger, Job Coach, Recruiter and Information Junkie. Yes, I am all that.

Fernando has written 237 awesome articles for us at FT Careers Blog

| Blog → Careers Blog

Write for us a Guest Post!