Mistakes happen. It’s an easy enough thing to say, but it’s much harder to embody this attitude. Although mistakes do indeed happen to the best of the best, you may find yourself upset when they happen to you. In a job interview, you may feel a mistake means you’ve blown the entire opportunity. You may think that there’s no way they’ll call you back after that mistake.
In order to reduce blunders, it’s best to practice before heading into an interview. In the event that you do make a mistake, you can always work on redeeming yourself with one of these four methods.
1. Ask for More Time
If an interviewer asks you a question and you blank, you might respond with “I don’t know.” This is considered a fairly big blunder. It might suggest you’re inexperienced or you don’t have the knowledge necessary to do the job. It might also suggest to the interviewer you’re not someone who thinks outside the box. It could even communicate to them the idea you’re someone who gives up quite easily. Of course, you know none of this is true.
While you can avoid this blunder by knowing common interview questions you might be asked, you can follow up and redeem yourself after your initial answer. You could ask the interviewer to clarify the question. You can also ask the interviewer for more time to think. Say something such as, “It’s an interesting question I’ve never considered before. May I follow up with you about that?”
While it’s not a perfect answer, it does show initiative and a willingness to dig deeper.
2. Give It a Positive Spin
A question such as “why did you leave your last job?” or “why are you looking to leave your current position?” may seem like it gives you free rein to air your grievances about your former employer. However, no potential employer wishes to hear a job candidate speak ill about the company they previously worked for.
If you did happen to let some negative language slip, particularly if you were faced with a challenging situation, recover by offering a positive spin on the experience. Was your last boss a harsh taskmaster? Suggest you still respect this person and you did learn a lot from them, such as how to manage your time more effectively. Highlight the ways the challenges of your last position helped you grow.
3. Craft a Strong Closing
In many interviews, you’ll be offered a chance to deliver a “closing statement” of sorts. If you’ve made blunders elsewhere in the interview, you can overshadow some mistakes with a strong closing statement. Reiterate why you think you’re a good fit for the position. Ask for the interviewer’s card.
You should also inquire about the next steps to demonstrate your enthusiasm and your interest.
4. Follow Up
Many job candidates make the mistake of not following up with a “thank you” email after the interview. You may mean to but simply forget. In some cases, you may feel you’re too busy or that you’ll be “bothering” the interviewer.
Sending a follow up email thanking the interviewer for their time is never a misstep. It’s particularly important if you made a blunder during the interview. It offers you a chance to correct any lacklustre answers you gave. You might be able to provide an in-depth answer to questions you answered “I don’t know” to, for example.
If you forgot to thank the interviewer, now’s the time to do so. You can also offer up apologies for something that happened during the interview, such as a cell phone going off or being late. While this may not make up for the initial error, it can help showcase your professionalism.
The best protection against an interview blunder is to prepare in advance and be on guard so they don’t happen during the interview. If something does go wrong, however, these tips can help you redeem yourself.
