"You'll be lucky if you meet a good interviewer," she says. "Very
often they are managers who interview very frequently." So don't worry
too much if the interview does not flow well: it could be their fault and it
may happen with every candidate.
But you should avoid the other main cause of bad interviews. "The worst
things happen because people are unprepared," says Bunston. We warn you of some of the major interview pitfalls - and how to come up smiling
if they occur. Ten awful interview experiences and how to handle them 1. You go blank
This usually occurs when people are extremely nervous. If it happens, you will
need to take a couple of deep breaths (which will calm you down by getting oxygen
to your brain) and try to get your perspective again. You can stall for time saying something like: "I couldn¡ít
quite hear you exactly could you repeat that?"
If you need to, you could come clean and say "I'm sorry: my mind has gone
blank." You could then explain that you are prone to nerves in interviews and your
disarming honesty may save the day unless you are applying for a job as a firefighter,
croupier or something else requiring nerves of steel. 2. Your interviewer becomes aggressive
When he or she exclaims: "Why should I take you on rather than that tramp
in the street?" you can be sure that you are up against a poor interviewer
who probably had a troubled childhood. Fortunately, few people go in for this approach anymore. Any who do are usually
line managers who have limited interview experience save with a few qualified
staff from personnel. Stay calm, answer the content of the question rather than
the emotion behind it and avoid getting angry back. 3. You are interviewed in a noisy and crowded room
This is a sign of an inexperienced interviewer who may be trying to suggest
that he is so important that he cannot leave the centre of his powerhouse. In
most cases, you will just have to put up with it and concentrate hard to keep
out the interruptions. You could drop them a line afterwards, underlining a
couple of points which you think may not have come across well because of the
background noise. 4. The questions don't make sense
Ask them to repeat or rephrase the questions. If you give a good answer in the
end, they will probably forget a little bit of clumsiness along the way. But
if you get hold of the wrong end of the stick to start with, your interviewers
are more likely to assume that you are a bit dim. 5. The interviewer clearly doesn't like you Again this is a sign of
a poor interviewer. Try not to be put off. They could well have some problem
in the background which you could not be aware of their partner left them that
morning or they may have some other agenda such as wanting to give the job to
their son-in-law. But you cannot do anything about any of this so just carry
on as positively as possible. 6. You don't like your interviewer
Don't let it put you off if you really want the job. Try to "like"
them as much as possible during the interview because feelings such as these
can communicate themselves through body language.
If you discover you will be working closely with this person, you may decide
later not to take the job.
Similarly, if you think everyone in the organisation might be a clone of the
same type, think through your emotions carefully later. 7. You are interviewed by a panel of eight
"Try to respond to the person who asked you the particular question,"
says Hazel Bunston of Penna Sanders & Sidley. "But include all the
people in the panel." There could be a voting mechanism that gives each
of the eight the same voting powers, so you will want to engage with each panel
member, even if it is only through eye contact. 8. You got some bad news on the day of the interview Getting upset whatever
the cause in an interview will be very bad for your chances. If you felt under
par, you could drop a line afterwards explaining what happened. But the best
solution in this situation may be to ring beforehand, explain the situation
over the phone and see if another appointment can be found. 9. You know your interviewer
Don't let this worry you. If it is a one-to-one, the interviewer may need to
consider their position and the onus would be on them to do something about
it. If there is more than one person interviewing you, your contact is under
less pressure. 10. Your interviewer suggests you have not got the job
Consider this story from Martin Jon Yate's book Great Answers to Tough Interview
Questions (Kogan Page, ?8.99). "I recently heard a story about a young woman who was doing very well
in an interview for a high-pressure job in a television studio. The interviewer
wanted to know how she would react in the sudden, stressful situations common
in TV, and he got his answer when he said: 'You know, I don't really think you
are suitable for the job. Wouldn't you be better off in another company?'
With wounded pride the job hunter stormed off in a huff. She never knew how
close she was."
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