Things happen.

By Yameng Zhang

When we prepare for interviews, we always follow some certain types of protocols because we assume everything would just go as we planed. But the truth is, things happen.

w  You are late to the interview.

A flood swept your apartment, the elevator crashed with you in it and your pregnant sister was not feeling well are acceptable excuses, while traffic jam on I-65, alarm didn’t work are not. Tardy not only makes you an annoying candidate, but also makes recruiters question about your responsibility.

If you have a legitimate excuse, call to inform the recruiters immediately, don’t wait till they call you or hours later. If you do wake up late or have no acceptable reasons, get yourself together, tell the truth and hope for the best. 

w  They call you by the wrong name.

“Dan, you went to a great university, that’s nice,” says the interviewer. Well, it is a good university I went to, but, I am John.

Everything goes well and you feel you are in good chance getting the position, so you keep the conversation flowing. Wrong choice. Recruiters see many applicants everyday, if you don’t make a solid impression, even though they intend to call you for good news, they may not be able to find your information because you are called by the wrong name. In addition, that can be just a trick the recruiters played to test your personality. Because the thing is, not correcting when people call you by the wrong name, it shows something about you.

When you know you are right, it is never shame to say it. Just interrupt saying “I know you see a lot of people everyday, it is hard to keep track with everyone. But I am John and it is nice to meet you.”

w  Your phone rings.

Your cell phone is the least thing you can take control of. It is a basic knowledge to shut your phone or switch to silent mode during interviews. You may never realize how much damage a phone can make until it rings in the middle of your interview. It may destroy all your fantasy with the outcome of the interview. What makes it worse is that you check it to see who is calling. Don’t look down the phone, don’t even glance who is calling, because the key is to let the recruiters know there is nothing more important than the interview. Apology, it is the only thing you can do in this case. Moreover, you’d better say you thought you shut it off, and never let it happen again.

Maybe you have a better way to deal with those things, since there is never a best solution when those things happen in interviews. There is no protocol to follow when it comes to interviews, because why the recruiters make interviews is to see who you are in person, and that is not something you can learn by going through protocols. When the bad things happen, react like you always do, it works or not, you did your best, that is the only thing that counts.