Failed Your Job Interview? 5 Ways To Know (And How To Save It)

It is a feeling that is all too familiar. It begins once you take a pause too long, and does not really leave even when you step out the door. Your mind is racing, trying to remember if you really said that your previous employer was a screw-up. Or maybe you thought your answer to the last question redeemed you of that mistaken statistic.

"I was not that bad, right?" You try to convince yourself as you show yourself out. Maybe they will call. Just maybe. 

On the flipside, there is also that situation where you thought you did great, but the interviewer felt otherwise. Whatever encounter you had, we compiled a list of fool-proof signs of a failed job interview"“and how to turn it around!

How do you know if an interview went badly? 

But before you raise the white flag, we offer you a little bit of hope. Just like the Titanic and its lifeboats, there are still ways to salvage a tragedy. With this, we give you a list of the signs and how to turn them around. 

That interview was really short

While we do acknowledge that our attention spans cannot fathom a 3-hour meeting, you will know what a short interview really means. Much like cutting it short and "thank you for coming in" after an actor's callback, this situation feels the same. 

You both barely touched on your resume, nor have you gotten the chance to speak your mind. "Maybe they just feel they know me inside out," you think as you sneak a peek at your watch. To your shock, it had only been fifteen minutes since you started. 

"However, the industry standard is 45 minutes at least," you think to yourself as you stand up.

How to turn it around: Before you make your way to the door, rewind a little bit. Find the moment where you felt the interviewer lost their interest. Take a quick second to reassess and see where you felt the wrong note struck. You can go back and ask the interviewer questions related to the job to show your interest and dedication. 

If you are feeling a little bit brave, you can even ask to begin the interview again. Go even further and admit that you both started on the wrong foot.

Also read: How to Follow Up on Your Application or Interview (With Email Templates)

Interviewer is uninterested

A sign of a good interview is if you and the interviewer share good chemistry. You are laughing, slotting in the occasional jokes, and the questions come flying. But if your interviewer is fidgety, keeps looking at his watch, and displays bored body language, there may be a problem. 

Diving deeper into this, here are some signs of a disinterested person:

• Shrill, impatient voice
• Little to no eye contact
• Frowning
• Crossed arms
• Body is facing away from you

How to turn this around: You can steer the conversation and find out what their pain points are. But take note that you can only blame yourself so much. These kinds of interviewers also present themselves as signs of a bad interview. So as much as you want to salvage this, it may be difficult if they are the problem themselves. 

Unless you really want this job, reflect and think if taking on this job is worth it; or if the company culture is one you can fit into. Having this type of interviewer, especially if they end up being your supervisor, may be difficult in the long run. 

They ask bad questions

While you may encounter interviewers that may seem standoffish, you realize that there is some sense in their questions. On the other hand, you can tell if the interviewer is not taking you seriously. They may end up asking you about questions outside of your job scope or worse, tread on the personal. 

Questions on gender, race, religion and assuming that they will affect your work life are terrible to tread on. 

How to turn this around: This is yet another waving red flag. If you feel uncomfortable with the questions, steer the conversation back to the topic at hand. If they persist, you may politely decline to answer the question. 

Just like in the previous sign, take this as a snapshot of what your working life will be like. Your interviewer (who you could directly be reporting to) harassing you about your personal life without your consent. Would taking on this job be worth all the discomfort? 

You failed to answer a critical question

Before going into a job interview, it is best to know about the company and its products. Skimming through the company website and its digital platforms are good ways to go about it. Failing to do this could dampen your chances of scoring that job, especially if you fail to answer an important question. 

Critical questions include questions on your skillset and how it connects to your job. For example, you are interviewing for a data analyst job and you do not know the answer to an Excel question. The interviewer could take this to mean that you may not be capable of taking on such related tasks. 

If the interviewer asks you and your mind draws a blank, here is how to save yourself.

How to turn this around: If you feel like you failed to deliver an answer, take a quick breather. Inform your interviewer that you would like to reassess and switch out your answer. Should you make it to the next set of questions, take a pause and absorb them before answering. 

They do not mention your skills

The resume may be present for them to refer to, but there are telltale signs to an interested interviewer. Examples of such would ask more about what you can bring to the table. Disinterested interviews just eyeball your resume and barely ask anything. 

If your interviewer does not open up, that is already telling of this interview's future.

How to turn this around: You can be proactive enough to open the floor regarding what you can bring to the company. Go even further and provide situations regarding the job and your capacity to take it on. With this, you can help the interviewer see your interest. 

Is it okay to fail a job interview?

Now you may ask, "is botching an interview normal?" Yes, failure is okay and the best thing you can do is pick yourself up and learn from this experience. 

On top of that, failure does not discriminate. All of us will have our share of terrible encounters with employers at any point in our career, whether you are a fresh graduate or a seasoned professional.

So take your bad interviews as lessons to improve for the next one.Practice always makes perfect. So prepare better by using our Interview Practice Tool.

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