No one wants an interview to go bad, but sometimes there’s nothing we can do. You might meet with a recruiter that doesn’t mesh well with your personality or who is only asking basic questions. Regardless of what it might be, it pays to know how to adapt when you feel an interview is starting to take a turn. With these helpful tips, you should be ready to salvage any interview that’s turned sour.
Don’t Point it Out
One of the fastest ways to make an awkward situation worse is to point it out just how awkward it is. While it may be instinctual to apologize or poke fun at any awkward silence or situation in order to brush it off and make it seem better, you’re better off leaving it alone and focusing on responding better to future questions. Don’t overthink the responses you give. You want to make sure your future answers are stronger, so you don’t want to spend your time worrying about past responses.
Take the Lead
If you find yourself in an interview with a recruiter who’s only asking simple questions and not asking any follow-ups, SPEAK UP! Don’t sit and wait for a question that’s never going to come. Take the lead and steer the conversation in a direction that allows you to explain your qualifications in-depth. You will also want to elaborate on your answers, even if you are asked simple yes/no questions. While it may seem like you’re talking too much, you want to make sure your experience and skills come across clearly. It will also help to ask questions of your own. This way you can get more information about the company and respond to their answers with your own insightful comments.
Change it Up
Not liking the way things are going so far? Change your approach. While consistency is definitely something you want to aim for in an interview, there are situations where you should adapt to ensure the interview goes well. Do you usually throw a few jokes into your interview routine, but this recruiter isn’t laughing? Switch to a more serious tone for the remainder of the interview. Its better to change your approach in an interview than to continue along and allow things to continue to get worse and worse. Try to pick up on the personality of your interviewer and adapt your approach to match.
Take Inventory
Like we said earlier, you don’t want to point out when something is going wrong, but you still want to take note of it for yourself. Don’t ignore things that may be turning the recruiter off. Take a moment to assess what may be causing the interview to head south. Are you rambling in your answers? Are you not keeping good eye contact? Did you make a mistake in your last response? Whatever it may be, don’t let past mistakes bog down the rest of your interview. Before answering again, take a moment to remember to sit up straight, keep steady eye contact, speak clearly, and limit any fidgeting.
Follow Up
After a bad interview it may not seem worth it to follow up or send a thank you note. Here’s the thing: ITS ALWAYS A GOOD IDEA! Even if you had the worst interview you could ever imagine, it always pays to follow up with the recruiter. In many cases, the interview didn’t go as bad as you thought it did; and until you get an answer as to whether you got the position or not, you shouldn’t count yourself out. Always keep things professional by sending a thank you note or email regardless of how your interview went. Maintaining a professional demeanor is critical and can be the difference maker that lands you the job.