Job search is not always fun.
Face it, it can be a soul sucking experience. But it is necessary to maintain a positive point of view throughout, be happy and positive in the face of the unknown. We all have our ups and downs. We need to time our outreach activities to those moments to coincide with our positive biorhythm days.
What happens if you have an interview during one of those down periods? An Interview Doctor client just had that experience.
Maria was feeling down one day. Not sure why but she was. Unfortunately it was the day of an important phone screen. She mustered all her positive feelings and tried her best to put her best foot forward. But in hindsight it might not have been enough. When she followed up a few days later Maria’s contact seemed a little cold. Did she really blow it?
Now what?
Admitting it was a bad day is risky because maybe the hiring manager did not notice. Are you being too hard on yourself? You don’t want to overemphasize a weak point that was not as obvious to those you interviewed with.
Here are some tips to recover from a down-biorhythm interview experience. Use one or all of these tips depending on how much you messed up the opportunity.
- Try to fix it in the thank you letter, not with an apology but by adding a few comments in the thank you letter that emphasize the point you wanted to make.
- Focus on building a relationship. Connect on LinkedIn with a personal note reinforcing the main point you want to make. Ask the person a question or make an observation that prompts a response. They are more likely to overlook a down-biorhythm day if they like you.
- Write a blog on an topic the other person might be interested in. Then send a note with a link to the article saying something like: “I really appreciated our conversation on TOPIC at our interview the other day. I wrote an article on TOPIC that I thought you might find interesting. How do you see this TOPIC impacting the upcoming initiative?”
- Send an interesting article on a topic reinforcing your point to the person you interviewed with. Include a note with an observation about that topic, particularly how that topic can impact the other organization or role.
Learn from the experience. If you know that there are certain days or times when you perform better than others then try hard to schedule interviews when you are more positive. Exercise is a great way to improve biorhythms if you are having a bad day. Pump up those positive endorphins before that big interview and you will feel great and bring that kind of healthy glow that makes all the difference.
Maria might not get that particular job. She might not have gotten the job anyway even if she performed flawlessly. Maybe it was never in the cards or maybe that is not the job she should have. But it is important to do your best every time you interview, regardless of how you feel.
An interview is a terrible thing to waste but sometimes you can salvage a poor interview by emphasizing your positive points. Give it a try!