It can always be tough to admit that you just had a bad interview, but you cannot do good interviews if you do not recognize and learn from bad ones. The most difficult part of recognizing a bad interview is to stop trying to rationalize your interview performance and convince yourself that everything actually went just fine. The smart thing to do is to own up to a bad interview and take away something positive.
Long Pauses
Interviewers normally like to maintain a brisk pace to interviews and keep things rolling along. An experienced interviewer will always wait for you to complete your response to each question before moving on. If you find that your interview is riddled with long and awkward pauses, then that rhythm is probably not there and you are involved in a bad interview. The most common reason this happens is that your qualifications are not matching what the company is looking for and the interviewer is looking for ways to conduct a professional, but brief, interview.
You Are Not Asked For Your References
A good sign that the interview went well is when the interviewer asks for your references. Contrary to popular belief, not every interview ends with an exchange of candidate references. On the flip side, if you are not asked to produce your references, then you probably had a bad interview.
The Interview Feels Like It Was Very Short
Most interviewers come into each interview with preliminary questions that are used to screen each candidate. If the interviewers feel that there may be a good match with the candidate, then they will move into a secondary set of questions that help to move the interview process along.
If your interview seems to end abruptly or seems short, then the chances are that you did not impress the interviewer during the initial screening questions. That means that your interview process is over and you had a bad interview.
The Interviewer Stops When The Script Runs Out
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A good interview goes beyond the script and gets deeper into the candidate's qualifications and history. If the interviewer shows no interest in going beyond the script, then your chances of a second interview are very slim.
The Interviewer Does Not Escort You To The Exit
One of the more subtle signs that you had a bad interview is when the interviewer does not accompany you to the office exit. The interviewer may walk you out of the conference room door, but if they point the exit out to you then you had a bad interview.
You can use the resources at LiveCareer to avoid having a bad interview, or to learn from the bad interview experiences you have. With professional interview advice and resume templates, LiveCareer is your resource for the very best job search advice you will find.
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About the Author
About the Author
LiveCareer Staff Writer
At LiveCareer, we live and breathe the belief that we can help people transform their work lives, and so do our contributors. Our experts come from a variety of backgrounds but have one thing in common: they are authorities on the job market. From journalists with years of experience covering workforce topics, to academics who study the theory behind employment and staffing, to certified resume writers whose expertise in the creation of application documents offers our readers insights into how to best wow recruiters and hiring managers, LiveCareer’s stable of expert writers are among the best in the business. Whether you are new to the workforce, are a seasoned professional, or somewhere in between, LiveCareer’s contributors will help you move the needle on your career and get the job you want faster than you think.
