Bad interview

Just had a really bad interview. I get home a few hours ago and before I have a chance to sit down and relax I answer a call for a phone interview. I don't know if it was bad timing or me just being really under prepared, but I have nver felt so small. I got drilled with questions that I didn't know how to answer and fumbled alot. To my suprise he wants to meet for a face to face interview, but after that phone interview I feel scared of going. I really need to brush up on a lot of things and this call brought that to light. Have any of you ever been in the same boat?

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lsud00d

First off--was the phone interview scheduled? If so, you should have been prepared. It does not matter what the reason/excuse is; if you knew it was coming, you should have been ready for that phone call for at least 10 minutes.

All interviews should be prepped for the same way:

Review the job posting/requirements
Go line by line and make notes of how you have direct or indirect experience with each point
Brainstorm questions that could be asked from each point and have a general rehearsal of your response
Review the resume you submitted and be prepared to answer questions about anything you put...in depth
Keep your answers concise while informative; expound upon when needed but rule of thumb is you don't
Review the company. Are they private/public? If public, how are the stocks doing? How many employees are int the company? What are their business goals? What market are they in?
Prepare questions for the interviewer. The interviewer will generally be HR, the hiring manager, a higher-level exec, a technical team, or any combination thereof. Pander to your audience.

Now, you had a bad interview, so what? You already have positive feedback that they want to move forward with the process and do an in-person interview. Pick yourself up and get ready for round two. You can do this by:

Review your notes from the phone interview
Be EARLY to the in-person interview
Make at least 3 positive changes from your deficits identified in the phone interview
Parlay these changes into next interview. It's possible you won't have an opportunity to bring them all up, but employers find it very positive when you take steps in the short-term--it shows initiative

This is all of the top of my head and I'm sure I'm missing some important things...others feel free to chime in and add to the list.

Good luck @snunuez889 and let us know how the next interview goes!

snunez889

Thanks for the positive feedback, and no the interview wasn't scheduled. From the information I gathered after the phone call, the guy I was speaking to is the owner of the company. Looks like I have a lot of ground to cover in the next two days, and I will keep you posted on the out come.

apr911

I dont take unscheduled interviews for exactly this reason even if I requested the interview (in other words, not a recruiter who found my resume and wants to chat).

Even if I think "now might be a good time" I politely decline and tell them "now just doesn't work for me but Id be happy to schedule something later today/tomorrow/this week/etc" just because you're schedule is free now doesnt mean you'll be free from interruptions or that now really is a good time.

If I requested the interview, than chances are I applied to a number of places and/or positions and I want to review the job description before proceeding just so I know what to expect. Also, it helps to be in the right frame of mind for the interview.

In your case, you just got home and before you could even put your stuff down you're interviewing. Certainly not the right frame of mind.

Additionally, its about respect. A potential employer should respect my time and if they expect to be able to spring things on me before I work for them, then what will they spring on me at the most inopportune time when I do work for them?

White Wizard

snunez889 wrote: »

Just had a really bad interview. I get home a few hours ago and before I have a chance to sit down and relax I answer a call for a phone interview. I don't know if it was bad timing or me just being really under prepared, but I have nver felt so small. I got drilled with questions that I didn't know how to answer and fumbled alot. To my suprise he wants to meet for a face to face interview, but after that phone interview I feel scared of going. I really need to brush up on a lot of things and this call brought that to light. Have any of you ever been in the same boat?

You have A+, N+, and CCNA. If it was anything network related you shave known the answer unless you have little experience.

What type of position is this?

tescosamoa

Yea that is strange getting a call like that and then technical questions on the spot. That would be a red flag for me to question them on process , change management, documentation and items like that. See how they hold work and people accountable.

snunez889

Most of the questions were about the desktop environment. The questions were not all that difficult, I was just drawing a blink and not prepared to answer them.