5 Ways to Recover from Job Interview Failure

Sometimes you know right away. You’re in the middle of an interview and things take an awkward turn. Your face gets hot. You struggle to answer questions. The conversation is stiff. You know you aren’t going to get a call back.

Other times, it isn’t so obvious. You think everything went well from the application through the interview. Then you get the phone call (or email). Long story short; Thanks for coming in, but we’ve decided to go with another candidate.

Either way it stings, and it’s discouraging. However, it doesn’t mean that all is lost. You just have to figure out what needs to change, shake off the disappointment, and get back on track. Everyone suffers job interview failures. The ones who land great jobs are the ones who learn how to recover. Here are five ways to turn interview failure around.

1. Learn Tricks to Calm Your Nerves

Nearly everybody is plagued by nervousness during interviewers. But, for many people the problem is much worse. They may freeze up completely. Lose their train of thought and stammer through their answers. That’s not what anybody wants when they’re trying to seem as together as possible.

If this happens to you, it’s absolute misery. The interviewer might think you’re a flake. They might think you’re being deceptive, or that you don’t know the answers to their questions. They may even question your social skills.

What can you do? You can start by controlling your breathing. When you breathing rate goes up, even a little bit, all kinds of things start to happen. Your body temperature rises, your heart rate increases, you sweat, and you feel nauseated. This can throw you right into stress mode.

To avoid this, practice square breathing. Breathe in for four seconds. Pause for four seconds. Breathe out for four seconds. Pause again for four seconds. Be sure to practice in front of a mirror until it looks natural.

Also, don’t forget to rehearse answers to common interview questions. This can take the pressure off. So can taking a practice drive to the interview location, even planning what you will wear way ahead of time.

2. Ask Your Interviewer For Feedback

This can be a tricky one. Not every interviewer wants to give feedback. Some fear revealing something that could be interpreted as bias or unfair hiring practices. Others are prevented from saying anything because of company policy. There are also those who simply don’t have the time.

However, if you do have an interviewer who is willing to talk to you over the phone or have an email exchange, that feedback can be so valuable. Of course, you aren’t going to have their ear for very long, so ask some good questions. Here are some examples:

● Can you tell me some soft or hard skills that I am missing?
● What question could I have answered better?
● What attributes did the chosen candidate have that I am missing?

Remember that they are doing you a favor by giving you feedback. Keep things brief and ask questions you can get the most out of.

3. Double Check Your Resume

If you make it to the interview process, it’s easy to assume that there’s nothing wrong with it. However, if you keep blowing it at job interviews, something could be amiss. It may be time to take a second look.

Could your resume be unintentionally misleading? If you’ve been called into an interview, then quickly realized you aren’t a good fit, this could be the case. Maybe you are emphasizing the wrong keywords? It’s amazing how something as simple as sequencing and spacing can draw attention to some things on your resume while causing the reader to virtually ignore others.

You might consider hiring a professional essay writing service. They can’t help with career advice, but they can talk to you about your job search goals, and help write and format custom resumes work in your best interests.

If you feel like resume writing is a bit more than what you need, keep an open mind. A good resume editor service can add just the right touches to a complete document that just needs a bit of resume editing.

4. Have a Few Stories in Your Arsenal

Remember that in large part, the interview is a social experience. Think about it. Your education and career experience can be vetted through a background check or by simply contacting your references. If you make the short list to get the job, your potential employer can have you take a skills test.

During the interview, most hiring managers want to see how well you will fit into the company culture. Others want to see how relaxed, yet on point you can be under pressure. There’s a reason why the best interviews tend to be conversational rather than like an interrogation.

One way to keep interviews going smoothly is to have a few relevant stories in your arsenal. Here’s an example. You’re interviewing for a job as a field biologist. The inevitable question is, ‘How did you get into this field?’

At this point, you could talk about getting good grades in science as a kid. You could talk about picking your major and getting into a great research university. That doesn’t make you stand out, and it certainly doesn’t keep the interview interesting.

Now, imagine what would happen if you told a story instead. You could relay a story about a summer spent with a relative who taught you to appreciate living things, or talk about your experiences doing field research as part of your thesis. The idea is to keep the interviewer engaged while also sharing your passion.

5. Do Some Cultural Research

Speaking of fitting into the company culture, how much did you really know about the last company you interviewed with. Too many job candidates walk into interviews knowing very little about company culture. This is often because they rely on the company to educate.

Now, this isn’t to say that you shouldn’t research the company. You absolutely should. Check them out on social media. Read their tweets. If they have a web page that highlights their company events and activities, look into that as well.

Just don’t stop there. Google them, and read the relevant news stories. Check them out on websites like Glassdoor.com where current and former employees can read reviews.

Remember that you want to fit into the actual culture of a company, not their idea of it.

Conclusion

Don’t sweat a blown interview. As long as you can use it as a jumping off point to improve your interview skills and further focus your job search, you are in great shape. Future employers are sure to be impressed.