Why bad job interviews happen to good people, and what we can do about it

They happen to everyone; don’t beat your head against a wall

Bad job interviews happen to everyone, including great candidates.

Bad job interviews and failed interviews are wastes of time.  We all have them.  There are usually just a few reasons why interviews go bad. There is also plenty we can do to avoid them.  Why and what you can do in the future to avoid bad job interviews:

1. Sometimes, we don’t “click” with the person conducting the interview or the culture of the company.  This is OK.  Whether we like it or not, it’s not just a skill set.  There must be SOME chemistry between the candidate, the company, and the hiring managers conducting the interviews.  We can prepare for “culture fit” with prior research.
2. If we were not prepared, we would know better next time.  There is plenty written here and elsewhere on how to succeed at interviews, even when the person giving the interviewing is the dumbass.  Although you may not be able to control the actual outcome of the interview, I believe that you CAN control the tone and dynamic of the interview, which will help in the long run and put things in your favor.

Sometimes, bad job interviews happen because the person conducting the interview makes the experience miserable. These people shouldn’t be conducting interviews. Ego, incompetence, power-hungry. Don’t worry.  This isn’t your fault.

There are logical explanations for why the person interviewing you delivered a bad job interview, so you don’t take it personally.  I also believe that, to a degree, we can influence the outcome of these experiences in the future.

Why the person interviewing you sucked/delivered a bad job interview:

They have a huge ego and probably shouldn’t be interviewing

Some companies take pride in making the candidates feel that they aren’t as smart as they think.  For some companies, this is a way to set the bar and let the rest of the world know that it takes “X” amount of brains to get into this company.  The thought process is that if you leave the interview feeling intellectually crushed, you know you aren’t worthy of that company.

• I believe that you can let someone know they didn’t have what it takes both from a technical and an experience aspect without making them feel like shit.  After all, this candidate could be a customer, vendor, or referral for other candidates.
• Many companies don’t have the resources to train folks on interviewing skills.   They will send someone in to interview a candidate at the last minute.  There are assumptions from both the employee and the HR department that this person DOES know what they are doing because they are a high performer or have years of experience.  A high performer does not equal a great interviewer.

Training to interview takes time

Especially training someone to interview well.  If you want to learn how to do anything well, it takes time and experience.  Interviewing isn’t just filling out answers to a questionnaire.   Just a few training topics could include:

• • Handling illegal questions 
  • Representing a specific image of the company and why
  • Interviewing for technical fit and culture
  • Behavioral Interviewing
  • Agreement with the entire interviewing team on what skills are being looked for.  If everyone interviews independently, with no direction, everyone has their agenda. All interviewers are looking for what they want. Not what the job description requires. 
  • Mock interviews

I haven’t learned how to do anything well with a single lesson

If anything, I became more dangerous in that particular activity and, in this case, a liability to the company.

1. Just because the questions are written on company letterhead doesn’t mean they will be delivered correctly.  No one wants to read an interview question to a candidate word for word from a questionnaire.  It lends no credibility and sounds worse to the candidate.  The result is that these questions are interpreted/misinterpreted and then asked, with no follow-up questions.  Initially, it is the candidate that suffers. In the end, it is the company that suffers because decisions are made based on wrong or bad information.
2. A lot of employees just shouldn’t be interviewing.   “Period”.   They don’t take it very seriously.  They look at it like a burden and are usually looking forward to their next meeting.  Not uncommon.

• • Some interviewers consider interviewing a way to discover why you should NOT be hired.  They don’t want to take a chance on being the employee who said “hire” a candidate who doesn’t work out.  These interviewers look for reasons NOT to hire.  This is an express lane to lousy job interviews.
  • Unfortunately, there can be a dynamic between interviewer and candidate where the person doing the interviewing feels superior and thinks they have the upper hand.  They think they are better because they are employed. It’s unfair, not fun, and results in bad job interviews.

It’s an honor, not a right because of tenure

Everyone should consider it an honor to interview candidates and represent the company.  I know I do.  If you are interviewing, you are the very first step to building a successful team and a successful company.  As someone in HR, I don’t ask anyone to conduct interviews.  Interviewing employees must be presentable, intelligent, social, and gracious.  You may scare off a potential candidate if you are missing one of these qualities. They don’t call it recruiting for nothing.

I want candidates EXCITED to work with the team, not scared.  As the person conducting the interview, you have a DIRECT influence on who you will be working with.  When companies don’t ask teams to interview, they are “assigned” new hires to the team. This is similar to how hires were made in the 1960s, circa Mad Men.  If you aren’t going to participate in or don’t want to be involved in interviews, don’t complain about co-workers.

Don’t let it affect future interviews

There are plenty of reasons why we experience bad job interviews.  The important part is not to let bad interviews affect future interviews. This is especially true if you are scheduled for multiple interviews on the same day with the same company. If you are still interviewing, then chances are your following interview doesn’t have a clue as to what happened prior.  If they did, they would have cut the interview loop so no one’s time is wasted.  You need to get your ass back in that saddle and ride.  If you feel you failed the interview, I would still write a thank you email.  Just because they made your life miserable doesn’t mean we should sink to their level.

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