Anyone thought they did terrible during the interview but got a job offer anyway?

[Anonymous]

Just looking for some good news stories here. I think I did terrible on an interview but hopeful that I'll still get an offer. We are, after all, our own worst critics.

[Anonymous]

I had an interview for a federal job that was only about 10-15 minutes long. After I left, I said to myself, "well...they either knew who they were going to hire, or they decided before I walked into the room that they were going to hire me."

I got a call later that day that I was being offered the job. I've been there for 6 years now.

[Anonymous]

yes- gvt contractor job. i could not read their interviewers' faces AT ALL. Their face remained hte same for the entire interview. I left thinking WTF?? I got a call later that day. At the time I was desperate for a job and I took it and it ended up being the weirdest group of people I've ever worked with. I left after a year

[Anonymous]

I started a thread about a phone screen interview that I didn't think went so well. I'm moving onto the next round of interviews though! We are definitely our own worst critics. And every interview is going to have hiccups.

[Anonymous]

Interviewed for a government attorney position and was quizzed on the law by senior attorney. Thought I flunked it and I didn't feel that I clicked with anybody at the panel interview. Got the job. A lot of times, it feels like they have somebody in mind already...

[Anonymous]

You are competing against other candidates who applied for this job. If all of their interviews were even worse than yours, you have a chance.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You are competing against other candidates who applied for this job. If all of their interviews were even worse than yours, you have a chance.

+1

I went to a panel interview and the questions were awful. Long and convoluted and I felt like I didn't even understand what they were asking. Driving home I felt like it had been a waste of time, no way they would be interested in me, then reminded myself that if I felt this way about the questions then most others probably did too. Got called for a second interview which was much better and got the job. It's actually a great place to work despite the terrible 1st round interview.

[Anonymous]

I thought I did pretty poorly on my 1st job interview for a professional position but I ended getting a call a few days later for a 2nd interview which went great and then was offered the job! I've been there for 4 years.

During that same job search, I had several more interviews at other agencies and I had prepared much more thoroughly and none of them even called me back for a 2nd interview.

I had an interview on Tuesday for a new position and I feel like it went pretty well, not amazing though! We will see! I should hear back in the next 2 weeks.

[Anonymous]

I didn't feel like I did a terrible job, but I definitely could have done better and I was stepping into a new industry. I was also unintentionally late to my interview. I got the job and progressed well for years after that. I always try to give others some room to err when I interview them for jobs, now, having had the experience that I did.

[Anonymous]

OP here. Thanks all! I got an update that I should be hearing back today or next week. I'm still not confident I'll get it though.

[Anonymous]

My current job had 2 hours of interviewing, one hour with mid-level managers and one interview with a very senior manager. I forget what the question was that she asked me but after I gave my answer she just looked at me and said that she completely disagrees with that answer. I was mortified that I totally blew it and tried to recover as gracefully as possible but I felt terrible at the end of the interview. A few weeks later they gave me an offer.

[Anonymous]

I had a phone interview with an org in a different time zone. I planned my day so I would be home well before the interview started, but the interviewer and I had miscommunicated about the time. They called while I was on a bus. I got off at the next stop, totally flustered, and did the interview standing on a street corner. I was horrified, but they thought I did really well and I made it to the next round (didn't get the job in the end, but it wasn't due to the street corner).

[Anonymous]

I had an all-day interview and was sick as a dog, but had taken a ton of OTC meds and powered through. I knew I hadn't answered 100% of the questions accurately, but I didn't know whether the bar was 70% & up or 100% to move onto to round 2. The recruiter had also told me I'd know within 24-48 hours but took a week to get back to me, so I was sure I hadn't made the cut - turns out I did!

I'm still at the job a year later and killing it, if I may say so.