The Science Behind "Having a Bad Job Interview" (and How to Solve It)

My friend @jrapoport suggested me the article The Science Behind “Having a Bad Day (and How to Solve It) -link here- and prompted me to give it a twist. Last time I was challenged I ended up with an article I was particularly happy with so I’m taking the challenge once again.

Having a bad job interview can be looked from two different sides. You can have a bad job interview before actually having it or you can mess up while at it. Is there a connection between this two? Are they related or are they two different and unrelated things?

Failing an interview before it begins

The days and hours before a job interview can be a stressful time to some. Personal insecurities, not knowing what one is applying for and fear of being tested are some of the factors that influence people’s performance at the time of the interview. It all starts in our heads, when we start imagining the moment of the interview. Who’s gonna be the interviewer, how many people are gonna be scrutinizing me, what should I say, what if they don’t like me? This thoughts can trigger a chain reaction in your head which may impair your ability to perform well once you are seated in front of the interviewer. The original article says that “A bad day only exists in our interpretation of reality, which then becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy”. Well, it’s a bit different with interviews. It’s not just about our interpretation of reality. An interview can actually go wrong. What is true is that our mindset can sway us into a self-fulfilling prophecy.

If stress and anxiety cannot be avoided before an interview, it is advisable to limit how much we think about it. If you see yourself picturing situations that put you at risk of failing or under-performing, make an effort to avoid thinking about it. Even thinking “stop thinking about it” is not not thinking about those situations. So, in a way, interdict those thoughts with any other thoughts and try to take yourself away from those self-deprecating images. When you think about the interview and how it could go, imagine yourself in situations where you are doing well. Yes, imagination is a very powerful human tool (for good or bad, it’s up to you how you decide to use it).

So, our first element to consider before having the interview is mindset. The second one is preparation. If this is not your first interview, there’s a chance you might know what questions may be asked or at least have an idea of what the interviewer is going to be looking for. Do not rehearse your answers. This leads to stereotyped interviews, it will not make you stand out of the crowd and may ultimately decrease your chances of being hired. If the interviewer is also a stereotyped “asker” (see here) then the whole thing becomes a charade which neither helps you nor the hiring company. What you need to sell is your individuality, not your ability to answer questions by heart. Being yourself is your best weapon if your goal is to get that job (which I suppose it is).

Mindset and preparation should go hand in hand unless you want one of them to sabotage the other.

Realizing your interview is not going well

You are well into the interview and you have that gut feeling that things are not going as desired. You can’t ask for a time-out and fleeing out of the office won’t make you look any better. The show must go on, but how do you recover when you are getting your butt kicked?

Here’s where mindset kicks in once again. That feeling that things are going awry is just the beginning of a stream of thoughts that can take your mind away from the situation at hands. You start thinking negatively, you lose focus, you don’t pay attention to what’s being asked, you blank. And since you are being “beaten up” you start playing defensively.

First thing to do is to get yourself collected. Sometimes, letting the interviewer know you are nervous may cut you some slack, but there’s no recipe for that. Use that resource very carefully. If you opt out of this option, the other thing left to do is to start playing offense and seize the field. You need the questioning to stop for a while until you bring yourself back on your feet before you get knocked out. Meaning, you need to start talking. The problem is that at this point, words don’t come easy. Cognitively speaking, if your interpersonal skills are not showing up, if your imagination is taking you the wrong way and if your overall cognition is not in its best shape, the best solution is to resort to one of your most reliable systems: Long Term Memory.

Memories stored in LTM are crystallized and easily accessible without much cognitive effort. Think about your previous experiences and tell a story which relates to the last question the interviewer did. While doing this, you will gain lost ground, your confidence will increase since you are talking and “in charge” (at least of yourself) again. Moreover, just being able to put a couple of sentences together is a great way to reduce anxiety. Speak!

The mere fact of remembering may trigger more useful material and ideas for the interview.

What to do after you had a bad interview

OK, you blew it. you walk out of that interview with a complete sense of worthlessness and failure. You start thinking about all those neat things you had to say and couldn’t. The picture of yourself working in that company, in that office, shatters.  It’s time to pick up the shards and get that mirror back in one piece because that’s the mirror you have to look yourself into every day.

Give yourself some time to mourn the lost opportunity, but for no more than one day. You don’t want to become melancholic just because of an interview. Besides, feeling pity about it won’t make things get better and it will certainly not help you in your next interview.

Revisit the interview and think about what went wrong. First of all, think about what triggered your lapses. Usually, this triggers are very tangible thoughts that crossed your mind for a second and blocked your trend of thought. Identifying this though-process interdict-ors will make you be prepared the next time they show up.

Did you say something you now regret? Why was that information inconvenient at that time? How did that portray you? Finally, think about those things you wanted to say and couldn’t. How would you fit them in your next interview? At what point in the interview will it be appropriate to say them? Ask yourself a lot of questions and make the best of that experience. Sometimes, failing is the best way to learn. It happened to me in my first job interview. I talked about things I wasn’t knowledgeable of, I asked questions that were not pertinent, I didn’t have enough work experience to relate to the interviewer’s questions. That day, every possible thing I could’ve done wrong, I did it. I learned from it and I’ve never failed another interview ever since. Maybe it’s time I do, so I can learn more about it.

Image credit, Anya Quinn

Article by Fernando

This is my blog - I write about careers, talent management and organizational development. I've been featured at Monster.com, Alltop, WeBlogBetter and BloggingPro among others. I hope you leave this blog with more than you arrived and I look forward to discussing your ideas and projects with you. See you in the comments section.

Fernando has written 230 awesome articles for us at Fernando Tarnogol – Careers Blog

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