This Is *also* How Job Interviews Can Go Wrong

Stop the self doubt now

Stating the obvious, job interviews are very critical, and difficult and can cause peak mental stress. The difficulty level varies from person to person based on their profile and skill set.

The stress is directly proportional to the difficulty but also to the fact that how badly you need this job.

Why do people look for jobs?

In my case, I was looking for a change because of internal goal misalignment with the organization. I was stressed but I was not freaking out because I was not out of work.

Nevertheless, we must keep evolving and moving up the ladder. It becomes even more significant if your current role doesn’t align with your current expectations and future aspirations.

So, I had been preparing for this interview and made it to the final round. I was almost sure that I would get through that but you can tell I did not, don’t you?

The morning of the interview I woke up earlier than my usual time so I could finish my morning routine on time and leave with an extra buffer to beat the traffic.

As I had expected, I reached before time and as I was working towards the office building, I began to realize the mistake I had made by selecting the wrong pair of shoes.

I was not aware that the walk from the parking lot to the office building would be rather long and uncomfortable. Something to consider because you do not want to aggravate your already sensitive stress levels

But there were bigger problems than my shoes with this interview.

I reached the interview venue, finally…

…and the security staff was rather uncooperative. I learned there was some miscommunication between the HR team and the Admin team and they had received no updates regarding the scheduled interview.

Another 30 minutes were wasted to get approvals, do front desk responsibilities, and give me a visitor’s card.

No matter how technologically advanced an organization is, if people are not in sync, things can fall apart very quickly

The interview started and so did the actual problems or let’s call them signs of a bad interviewer:

1/ Seeking too much personal information-

It is natural to ask a few questions about a person’s background like where they come from, their education, sometimes hobbies, etc. This helps the candidate get comfortable and also establish their authenticity.

However, there is a thin line between asking what are your hobbies and what do you like to cook for dinner. Needless to say, those interrogations were unnecessary and took away another 15 minutes from the scheduled time.

2/ Some more unrelated questions-

I work in data and product development and a lot of questions on unrelated industries made me wonder if I was interviewing for a different role.

It is given that the job descriptions are mostly indicative and a lot of behind-the-scenes work comes in the package, but if you are being evaluated on the skills that are not related to the role, the whole process goes for a toss, an early sign of things that can go wrong later.

3/ Remarks about the body language —

I was invested in explaining a framework on the whiteboard when I was told that I had been underplaying myself the whole time. That did not make sense to me. I disagreed but was considered unassertive because I should have pushed back more.

The conversation digressed from evaluating my domain knowledge to testing my personality type in a rather unorganized way. Thankfully, the time was about to be over and I could get rid of those pair of eyes that were also scanning me throughout the time.

4/ Constantly looking at their phone instead of paying attention to the answers-

It is unfortunate how few senior leaders get away with their problematic behavior and put other genuine leaders in jeopardy.

As I mentioned I did not get the job but I can’t help but wonder if I had gotten the offer, would I have let go of the chance to get a bigger position and a fatter paycheck or would I have succumbed to it?

While I am glad I did not go through that decision making, it made me realize that it was a no-go from the very beginning.

*A confession*, my older version would have blamed myself for not securing this job and dismissed my skillset for being below average.

Luckily, I am not the same person anymore and know how to prioritize my mental health, work-life balance, self-esteem, and safety. The newer version of me will never blame myself and understand that the process was problematic.

I hope we keep fighting self-doubt in times like these and choose the right option.

What do you think? What would you do in this situation?

TC,

P.