When you fail on a job interview, do what actors do
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Let us share some advice on what to do afterward and what advice not to follow in any circumstances.
Let's face it, we all went to a job interview that failed. From workers to managers, there are times when an interview just ends badly. If you didn't fail an interview that means that you are either very lucky or a genius. All other people know that feeling when they didn't get the job and how bad can it feel.
There are some advice on what to do after that and among them there are some that are borderline stupid, so let's go through some of them to see what to do and what not. Never. Ever.
First, there is a known advice to send a thank you note. Like, that's polite.
Listen, there's nothing polite in the business and we really don't know why we should send a letter to anyone who said "You didn't get the job." They will not change their opinion after your letter, they won't think you are a better person, they won't consider you for another interview, they won't think they made a mistake not hiring you.
They will however do one thing: throw your letter in the garbage maybe even without reading it.
Second, don't send a letter asking for another chance reading like this: "After taking some time to think, I think I can better answer your question." That's what some "experts" advise.
If you think about it for more than a second you will realize that people are hired to do their job now, not later. What use of you if you must think about how to do something and will come later, the job can't wait for you to think. That shows that you can't think when it's time to think, and anybody can't tell their client "Wait please, our employee must think."
There is also advice to send a letter to explain what went wrong and what you didn't understand before but understand now. Again, a company needs an employee who can act when needed, not later.
Then, another advice is to think about what went wrong. Well, that's better advice compared to the previous two "Pleeeeeeese hire me".
Then there is another piece of advice coming from the people who don't use their brains: practice in front of your friends before the next interview. Unless your friend is a part of a CEO family or HR expert, that's useless.
They don't know what a real interview looks like and they don't know what the company you go to do in real life. A waste of time.
If so happens that your friend is a CEO he most probably isn't in the desired company and doesn't know company culture. And if he didn't already employ you that means that you have a real problem.
Then, some say to ask for feedback from the interviewer. That's a laughable one. There's a better chance to get lottery numbers right than to hear honestly what you did wrong. If you hear anything at all. There are job interview consultants to teach you what to do, a company employee won't waste his time to teach you how to get a job.
Here is another "good one": explain if there are any outside distractions that affected your interview. If we get such a letter, we would never hire you. Life is hard sometimes, we know, but when you go to work you must leave your troubles behind. If you can't who knows when it will affect your business life.
Think about doctors and nurses, you can't tell how hard their life is and they still do their best saving lives every day. So if you are going through a divorce, your dog is biting your uncle, you smashed your car, or you have a headache, we don't care!
"We want you to leave your troubles at the door. And every other company wants that too. So don't explain what problems in life you have, everybody has problems and they come to work and work well.
List to this one: apologize for things that went wrong, for example if you called the interviewer by the wrong name. I love this one. If you can't remember a simple name, no matter how stressful the situation can be, you have a more serious problem than the lack of a job, you need a doctor and we mean it, that may be a sign of a serious issue.
Under every stress you should try to give your best and that means you must remember simple things. Imagine if the doctor says "We cut the wrong leg, sorry, I'm under stress". If you can't handle stress then you can't work. Period.
When thinking about it don't go over the top. Don't analyze every detail but try to see why you didn't get that job.
First, skip the nonsense advice such as maybe your tie was wrong, your shoe color was wrong, you sat uncomfortably, or you didn't click with the interviewer.
Think about the direct connection between what you can offer and job requirements. You will be surprised to discover that those two don't align, or you don't align with the company you were in for the interview.
Think about the way the interview talked to you. If he was rude or the interview took a long time, you made a mistake: you should've been leaving before the interview ended because those two are sure signs they don't even want to consider you as an employee and they are conducting an interview because they must, that's in their job description.
Then think about the job you wanted and your real expertise. Not what you are convinced you have but real expertise, what the company expected. Think can you give what they want, do you need more experience or more learning.
Think about the company you went into and the real reason you want the job. If you want the job just for the money you won't get it. If you are passionate about it and it shows, your chances are much bigger even if you are not the best candidate in the world.
Everybody will consider a person in love with their job because you can learn as you go. If you don't have that spark the chance is you never will.
When actors don't get a role in an audition, they do two very simple things: they think about why they aren't suitable for that role and they move on.
They learn more about their job and what they can do better. After that they simply move to another audition, they don't send nonsense letters and beg for the job. They will go through 100 auditions and they don't fall into depression or bad mode. Or if they do the next day they are again on their feet. So do what actors do.
By the way shoe color is important. Black shoes mean you are a leader, brown that you are a follower. That means you will never get a managerial job in a really important company if you go in wearing brown shoes, you will lose the job you didn't even get the moment you stepped into that company. If you invest in good black shoes that is better than following a bunch of empty advice that never helped anybody. ■