If there is a more miserable experience in the entire job search process than a failing interview, I’ve yet to find it. You know how it is – you prepare well, you arrive on time, you even look the part, but for reasons unknown to man or beast, it starts to go wrong and the interview turns sour.
What are you going to do?
My guess is that most people would do nothing – accept it as a lost cause, go through the motions and get out of there as quickly as possible. ‘Not meant to be’, you’ll tell yourself, ‘better luck next time’ or whatever pick-me-up cliche you prefer to use in circumstances of failure.
Well, Wise Man Say has a different tactic; when it’s clear it’s a lost cause, there’s nothing for it but to attempt a restart. The interview’s lost in any case, so you lose nothing by calling a halt to proceedings and attempting a do-over. Of course there’s been a some kind of breakdown in communication – so apologise for your part in it and try to start again. Try this:
‘Can we stop for a moment? I think we might have got off on the wrong foot. I’m sorry for my part in that. Do you think it would be OK if we started over?’.
He or she can always say no. But there are many reasons why this is a good move. Here are few.
1. You’ve Taken Charge
The outcome may be irretrievable but at least you have shown the ability to take action when confronted with a failing situation, rather than simply allow failure to be the outcome. You may not be able turn the interview around but you’ve shown character in making the attempt. By calling a halt, you demonstrates courage and leadership, qualities that every employer will be impressed by
2. You’ve Recognised A Problem
There has been issue and you’ve spotted it, showing that you have at least sufficient EQ to know when something isn’t working. It is a key skill in modern business to be able to work together with individuals with whom you may not have a ready rapport or natural affinity – and a big part of this is the ability to recognise when relationships are going wrong. By calling a halt to proceedings, you’ve this demonstrated self awareness and ability to work with people.
3. You’ve Taken Responsibility
Regardless of who is at fault, you have apologised for whatever part you played and underlined your maturity as a consequence. Furthermore, by offering to accept the implicit blame, you remove any reason your interview-antagonist has for defensive hostility, giving you the best chance to recover the situation or at least ending the interview on good terms. By calling a halt to a failing interview, you demonstrate accountability and ownership. Who is not going to like that?
4. You’ve Provided Solutions
By suggesting a fresh start, you are proposing an end to the unpleasant experience – a way out for both parties, neither whom is likely to be enjoying the situation. This an attractive alternative compared to tortuous continuation, and you might just be rewarded by magnanimity from your antagonist as a reciprocal gesture. You demonstrates the ability to problem solve, think of others and mediate – even more impressive for that for fact that you may have been a key reason for the problem in the first place.
5. You Might Just Pull It Off
You never know. You may still get kicked out of interview, but you’ve given yourself a chance by essentially manufacturing a second interview within the framework of the first. The interviewer on the other side may well be relieved or impressed enough to actually give it second chance, especially as you’ve also demonstrated the ability to assess the situation and take calculated risks to recover a failing situation.
Final Thoughts
Fortune favours the brave in the case of the failing interview. There is no reason to persist in an unpleasant and unproductive interview. By calling a halt to it, you give yourself a chance to recover it, and even if you don’t succeed, you will emerge from the experience with heightened self esteem, greater confidence and with your pride intact.
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Thank you for this excellent suggestion. I hope that I can avoid the experience of a failed interview, but I am thankful that this information has supplied me with a positive response if it does occur.
Donna Serino
This is a wonderful piece of advice I have just read. I hope this will surely benefit me in the near future. Keep up the good work.
sounds like a good plan/strategy, but more likely will result in a soften the blow of the blown interview – AFTER the fact. If an interview heads down the wrong path, there was a reason for that, and I have to suspect that no matter what, there will inevitably be a retrace of footsteps, in the unlikely event that some interviewer even grants the option to start over. Yet, on the other, and more positive side, I think that if it is possible for the interviewee to actually pull this act off, he/she will be forever emblazoned on the memory of the interviewer, and may even get the job. At a minimum, it will surely become the water cooler story de jour.
I agree, it’s better to take control than to fizzle out. If you think you know what went wrong, ask questions to verify it and then attempt to explain your true thoughts. As the author says, you may not salvage this interview but you may keep yourself in consideration for another position (even with another company if the interviewer is impressed and mentions you to his contacts). Or, at least you can halt any further waste of time.