So, I totally bombed an interview...

[legion]

I did bad. I did so bad that I knew I was blowing as I was blowing it but I was unable to stop myself from blowing. The interview was supposed to be in person, but moved to online for obvious reasons. I feel like I am good at reading people, but I tend to ramble and fill the silence when I don't see cues that it is time to stop talking. There were at least three questions that I flat out did not know the answer to but attempted (poorly) to answer anyway. I felt like several of my answers did not address the questions being asked very well. Before the interview was over I had resigned myself to having blown it yet pushed myself to keep a positive attitude and still try my best.

Last night I consoled myself and tried to have some fun with the kids despite being angry with myself.

I had a meeting with my current manager today and she asked me how the interview went (this is a lateral move within my company so I made her aware all along of what was going on). I basically told her what I said above.

So I was shocked.....SHOCKED to find a job offer in my inbox when I got off the Skype meeting with her.

[sammyg2]

It's been my experience that when it comes to internal promotions, the decision is usually made by the time it gets to the interview stage and the interview is a formality.
But not always

[KFC911]

They REALLY good ones don't interview well in IT and many other fields

I always got the job....

Rock on!

[Dantilla]

Apparently, your company likes a good BSer. Important info going forward. Congrats!

[Rikao4]

congrats's..

and just to Corona poke you...
perhaps some of the other candidates looked too hungover..
and other's forgot to dress accordingly..

years ago I just knew I bombed 'that' test ..
and was going home..
one chance that was it..
no retest..no excuses..
came back after lunch just to confirm..
graduated a few weeks later..

Rika

[KFC911]

Originally Posted by sammyg2

It's been my experience that when it comes to internal promotions, the decision is usually made by the time it gets to the interview stage and the interview is a formality.
But not always

Even from the outside....I had the job (position was magically created when I came knocking)....interview was for HR purposes only .

[Noah930]

Congrats. Just move along/ahead and show them they made the right choice.

[flatbutt]

Maybe they knew, that YOU knew you were having a bad day and you handled it well so overall...you done good. Congrats.

[masraum]

Outstanding! Congrats!

[Eric Coffey]

See, I told you that wearing nothing but a tie for your Skype interview would pay off.

[legion]

In this case, I knew none of the people who interviewed me. There are a few people floating around that department that I have worked with in the past, but I was far from a prime candidate. One of the interviewers was a VP, which was a little intimidating.

[john70t]

You were mostly honest with yourself and others. That's probably better than average. They can work with that I guess.

I've read that some companies have extremely strange application processes that have nothing to do with abilities of the specific task. It is more of a psychological profile. How well an employee can work with other people. How someone thinks. How they react to situations which they can't solve. Are they loyal. Are they a motivated go-getter or a chair hurricane weight device. All that. And perhaps it tests what their 'other beliefs' are without getting into trouble with fair employment issues.

Some companies are big enough to have middle echelon play all day and think and get bored while the real numbers are crunched out at the working level. There is a seat made for everyone in this world.

[KNS]

Congratulations!

I bombed an interview once - really bad. I wouldn't have hired me!

And I ended up getting the job so you never know.

[KFC911]

You just sucked less than everyone else

[fastfredracing]

Congrats by the way, my thread is in no way poking fun at yours.

[KFC911]

.....and didn't stagger in reeking of weed

[legion]

Originally Posted by fastfredracing

Congrats by the way, my thread is in no way poking fun at yours.

Thanks. I've been guilty of trying to make funny thread names inspired by other threads as well.

[gacook]

Your company must use the same hiring manager as one of my contractors...some of the people we get for very specialized positions don't have the first clue about how to do the job (said in reference to you not knowing answers to 3 questions).

But congrats! Internal hires are often about personality, fitting within the team, and them being sure they can teach you what you need to know. For my less specialized positions, I understand that unless you have worked for me, you have never done what I'm interviewing you for (we have a very unique job), so it's more about capacity to learn and how well you'll fit my team's dynamic.

[LWJ]

FYI, after a decade or so of struggling with my career, I came up with a system to move my career forward. 1/3 of this is interview skills. I have a list of 15+ year old questions that at the time, were perfect.

Interview questions have absolutely changed since then. But, if anyone wants my questions which - if you answered with a polished response circa 2004- got many people hired, you are welcome to them. PM me with an email.

There is no excuse for feeling like Legion in an interview.

[legion]

The questions that I bombed were very technical in nature.

Here's an example: "How would you prevent a class from being instantiated?"

My answer: "I'd mark it as abstract."

Their response: "We're looking for a different answer." WTF?