I had the worst interview for an internal position this week and I am really embarrassed about how it went. How would you suggest bouncing back from that?

I personally would bounce back by reminding myself that one interview does not define who I am as a professional. You are human and everyone has an off day, so grace is absolutely deserved. The worst that can happen is that you don’t get the job. I know you probably wanted it, but trust and believe there will be other jobs that you want just as much if not more! For that reason, there’s no sense in tearing yourself up about one interview that didn’t go well. Next,
As someone who has interviewed many people over the years, I can usually tell when someone’s nerves got the best of them. I’m willing to bet that will be considered. Kuddos to you for looking for growth opportunities!! Do not let one interview discourage you or derail you from continuing to strive for change and and advancement. Let’s identify exactly what happened and refuse to let the situation be distorted. It was 1 bad interview (according to you). It holds no bearing on you as a professional, your work ethic, your knowledge of your field or your capabilities. We can take this one on the chin and start preparing for our next interview.

Would you be ok sharing a little more detail what you mean by worst interview? Did you have trouble answering questions, if so which ones? Or was it to do with you asking them questions? We can provide more help with little bit more background of what happened in the interview

I’m 50. I’ve had lots and lots of interviews over the years. The older you get the more you understand people are people. When you get older, you realize the person giving the interview doesn’t want to be, and the person interviewing doesn’t really want to either. It’s a weird setting that can make either side look silly. Either they ask stupid questions, like “your greatest weakness” and you give stupid answers like, “I work too hard”

Those questions waste time and aren’t really what either person wants to know.

The real questions is, how will you mesh with another group of people that are already here, who will be the first to tell me if you suck or you are wonderful,

One trick, technique, strategy, I try to use is to break the ice as soon as possible with the interviewer. Just pick something you see about the interviewer you can relate to.

Like when you first meet them say, it’s so nice to meet you, thanks for making time to meet me, seeing you in person is so much better.

By the way I like your watch, I’ve got one similar to it. Do you like yours?

By the way, I’ve never been here before, this is a really nice facility, it looks like it’s pretty new.

By the way, I wasn’t sure how traffic would be, I hope it’s ok I’m a little early?

By the way, I wasn’t sure where to park, I parked in lot such and such, is that ok?

Essentially I ask a rather innocent question or two, to show that I’m a person just like they are. People love to give directions or offer help.

Have you ever asked someone, what’s the fastest way to get to A or B, or what’s the best place for lunch around here. Most people can’t wait to answer those questions. It’s a weird thing, but when you help someone it makes you feel good, even if it’s just directions.

For me, the sooner I get past the weirdness of an interview, both sides can relax and even have a little fun with the questions.

I generally have these innocent questions asked and answered before I even sit down for the interview.

However, in 2 minutes I’ve already shown the interviewer, I’m curious, I ask questions when I don’t know, I can give compliments, I can adapt, easy to get along with, and, I’m a planner, I’m prompt, and most of all I’m friendly.

Now that the ice is broken, the next round of questions are a piece of cake.

Now….in the event they ask if I can do something I can’t or don’t know the answer to. I say, I haven’t necessarily done abc before, but I have done cba when I was in school and at my last job. I would be excited to have more time to do abc as I enjoy learning new things, and I’m sure I could be up to speed quickly. Out of room on my answer, best of luck!

Try to forget it and move on. You cannot go back in time. Learn from your mistake.

We are all human, and sometimes you’re just going to have a bad interview. Definitely have been there before. I would take some time to think about, what will you do to learn from it, and then tell yourself you have done all you can to fix it now. Everyone will have a regret or two, so don’t feel bad!

I would wait and see if it generates a second interview. Some of the worst interviews I have thought in my mind were losses turned out to be gains.

It happens. Been there. Chin up, you know your worth, your skills and abilities, and learn from it. Use it as a learning experience (yes, albeit it embarrassing) but you're human. We all make mistakes.

I’ve done that. I didn’t get the job and eventually quit. But deep down I knew it wasn’t the interview I was set up to fail by that manager. If they value you your hiring manager will see past a bad interview or your nervousness.

Same thing I felt last week. I sent a follow up email thanking the manager for his time and asked about shadowing opportunities so that I can get a better feel for the role.

He hasn’t rejected me and my interview was over a week ago. I’m trying to remain hopeful and think “no news is good news” but I’m definitely anxious.

I wanted to chime in here because what everybody says is true, but I feel there is something missing, which is the evaluation, learning, and adjustment opportunity a bad interview (or any bad performance) offers.

As someone who has been seeking practice interviews for a while (so that when the right job comes along, I am more ‘well oiled’), my first thought was that when something goes wrong, you can almost always learn from it.

Try to evaluate ‘why’, and ask yourself how it can be prevented or mitigated in the future.

Some of the reasons my interviews have not gone as well as possible include the following. Most of them are something I can mitigate and improve:

-failing to truly think about what their concerns and needs are for the position
-8:30am Monday interview. The interview panel was still half asleep! There was no energy in the room. And my voice/mouth/brain had not talked about work for three days so my ‘work chops’ were rusty. I learned that the timing of the interview is very important. Now I schedule interviews for middle of the day when I’ve already been talking about work so there is more of a flow, everyone is awake, and they go much better.
-forgetting to prep experience examples that specifically address those needs and concerns
-giving too much unnecessary detail (you can totally feel it internally when this happens!). Now I practice talking about my experiences out loud to make sure I’m not rambling.
-Not really knowing what the position was about beforehand, so operating in the dark when answering questions. If I’m unable to do my research before the interview, I will start the interview by asking the panel to clarify what the position entails. It’s OK and even critical to ask this at the beginning if you don’t know !
-And my worst interview of all time: getting flustered due to failing technology right before hand and failing to do an effective internal reset. In this case, they asked me if I needed anything and I said no, which was not true, I needed to take two minutes to review the questions I had not been able to see when they sent them 15 mins before the interview, or possibly even rescheduled the interview. I lied and said I was OK. Lesson learned!

Summary: evaluate, learn, and adjust.
The more interviews you do, the better they will get.

Good luck to you!

The first time I heard this I learned about employees work ethics the hard way.
Some people know how to interview very well to get the job. Then once their foot is in the door they show their true colors, they suck at their job. The truth.
Other people interview poorly and show a resume that qualifies them for the position ... and yes, they can be amazing at their job. By luck and faith they get called for the job. They kick butt. The truth.
I suggest you send a thank you email to everyone in the interview and add a few additional comments what better qualifies you for the position of you still want the job.

Bouncing back is hard but you now know where your errors lie and can fix it from there with help if needed. Did you make mental notes? Good luck.

Hey don't sweat it. Some of the best things that happen to me, where things that didn't happen. Maybe the universe has best job in the world just waiting for you and that is the reason the interview went south because you wouldn't be able to find it

One thing to remember is that interviewing is a skill that can be developed. Would you consider asking for feedback from the interviewer regarding any changes that you could make moving forward to improve your next interview?

We have all been there. We have all felt the post cringe. This job is probably not the right one for you at this time. But don’t write off the entire interview as a complete failure. The more interviews we do, the better we get at them. I know it’s hard, but don’t let this interview define the next one, but rather learn from it. Write notes of everything you can remember, especially the parts where you felt you didn’t give enough, and work on them. Just chalk this one down as a practice run and dust it off.

One of the interviews I had where I wished that I had spoken up was when asked "How many sick days did you use in the last year?" Obviously, this employer (a major healthcare network) didn't have an attorney review the questions. I regret that I answered it and didn't call them out on such a blatant discriminatory question. BTW, I didn't get asked back for a second interview. This is probably a good thing. Who would want to work there?

Cowgirl up

Practicing for your next interview and taking some self-care time

Turn it into a positive and try to learn from what went wrong. It's okay to review and try to improve. Then take that new improved you and use that in future interviews. Don't think of interviews as going bad but just not as right as you would have liked. You can find the silver lining in it. If anything that interview made you a better person and you will interview better going forward. We've all been there.

We all have bad days. It is important that you review your qualifications and maybe seek out a friend to help you with your interviewing skills. Like every thing interviewing is a skill and practicing helps improve any skill set you have.

I doubt you did anything more embarrassing than me and I like how you’re sort of laughing about it on here. Keep your head down a bit and keep laughing- who the hell cares?! It’s ok and it’s a nice little humble pie lesson. Keep being you! Sending you love