How to survive an Interview
Outlining some of the major interview pitfalls and how to come up smiling even if you do fall foul of them.
You will be lucky if you meet a good interviewer. 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.
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 couldn¹t 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.
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. 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 just stay focused and carry on as positively as possible as there is still the chance the interviewer may warm to you.
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, 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 either your consultant at Fawkes & Reece or the person who is going to interview 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."
