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Old 02-23-2019, 09:33 AM
 
Location: Wisconsin
345 posts, read 251,451 times
Reputation: 347

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Looking for some advice from hiring managers. I have been trying to get a job with this company for 3 years and finally landed a face to face after 6 phone interviews. I had to fly to CA from WI on Wednesday and because of weather delays I ended up with limited sleep on top of having a terrible cold. I had to give a 45 minute presentation in addition to 45 minutes of questions with an audience of 6 people. I would give myself a C-. I really liked the team and the hiring manager. When the hiring manager walked me to the lobby he asked me how I thought it went. I said I thought it went well because I didn’t want to sound whiny and make excuses. I haven’t written my thank you notes yet (still unsure if I should bother based on feedback from this forum), but I was wondering if there is any way to recover from my C- performance or if I should just sit back and let the cards fall as they may? A friend of mine suggested mentioning something in a thank you to the hiring manager, but I am wondering if that may sound like I am the type of person who makes excuses. Thanks in advance for any advice.
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Old 02-23-2019, 09:45 AM
 
Location: Willamette Valley, Oregon
6,830 posts, read 3,202,683 times
Reputation: 11576
You may be too hard on yourself. There is usually more to it then the face to face interview. Do you have references? I put a lot of stock into what other supervisors said. If your application, or resume is in good shape you may still make the cut. You should have been more honest talking to the hiring manager. You have strong reasons why it might not have gone as well as you hoped. You can be honest with out being whiny. I would still thank them for the opportunity to interview.


Good luck!
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Old 02-23-2019, 12:50 PM
 
Location: Middle America
10,977 posts, read 7,062,061 times
Reputation: 16860
That's a hard one. Sometimes an email can help clarify, and/or possibly a follow-up call.

For the most part, I file "bad" interviews into two groups: ones where I tripped up; others where the company showed their faults. For the first, I try to retain the lessons for use towards improving future interviews. For the latter, some companies just show their negatives, and it is beneficial to see the company early on, to avoid a poor match.
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Old 02-23-2019, 01:09 PM
 
Location: Honolulu/DMV Area/NYC
30,562 posts, read 18,061,935 times
Reputation: 34367
^^I agree with the above generally. If applying for a job with a lot of similarly qualified applicants, however, it can be hard if not impossible to come back from a bad interview.
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Old 02-23-2019, 03:08 PM
 
607 posts, read 974,983 times
Reputation: 1004
Quote:
Originally Posted by milesfive View Post
Looking for some advice from hiring managers. I have been trying to get a job with this company for 3 years and finally landed a face to face after 6 phone interviews. I had to fly to CA from WI on Wednesday and because of weather delays I ended up with limited sleep on top of having a terrible cold. I had to give a 45 minute presentation in addition to 45 minutes of questions with an audience of 6 people. I would give myself a C-. I really liked the team and the hiring manager. When the hiring manager walked me to the lobby he asked me how I thought it went. I said I thought it went well because I didn’t want to sound whiny and make excuses. I haven’t written my thank you notes yet (still unsure if I should bother based on feedback from this forum), but I was wondering if there is any way to recover from my C- performance or if I should just sit back and let the cards fall as they may? A friend of mine suggested mentioning something in a thank you to the hiring manager, but I am wondering if that may sound like I am the type of person who makes excuses. Thanks in advance for any advice.
There is no hard rule on this. You can try but odds are against it changing anything. Life can suck at times.
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Old 02-23-2019, 05:37 PM
 
Location: on the wind
23,077 posts, read 18,456,708 times
Reputation: 74661
Quote:
Originally Posted by Willamette City View Post
You may be too hard on yourself. There is usually more to it then the face to face interview. Do you have references? I put a lot of stock into what other supervisors said. If your application, or resume is in good shape you may still make the cut. You should have been more honest talking to the hiring manager. You have strong reasons why it might not have gone as well as you hoped. You can be honest with out being whiny. I would still thank them for the opportunity to interview.


Good luck!
This^^^^

Honestly, by time they select you for a face-to-face interview they are already seriously considering you. It they are still serious, you'll find out and maybe have a chance to redeem yourself. So you had bad luck...it happens. They probably picked up on the fact that you were not at your best too, though everyone interviewed is also under stress. I think you could "hint" at this in your thank yous...thanking them for their gracious reception. Maybe a gently witty/humorous comment...such as your voice not being great or sniffling during Q & A due to a cold.
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Old 02-24-2019, 10:34 AM
 
Location: Wisconsin
345 posts, read 251,451 times
Reputation: 347
Thanks for all the good advice. I was going to include these sentences in my thank you email: "I am not sure my interest and enthusiasm for the job came across in our interview. I was feeling under the weather and don't believe I adequately expressed my aptitude and passion for the position. If these things did not come across during the interview I want to assure you that my initiative, high level of motivation, and positive attitude make me a prime candidate for this position."

Thoughts?

Last edited by milesfive; 02-24-2019 at 10:49 AM..
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Old 02-24-2019, 04:21 PM
 
Location: on the wind
23,077 posts, read 18,456,708 times
Reputation: 74661
Quote:
Originally Posted by milesfive View Post
Thanks for all the good advice. I was going to include these sentences in my thank you email: "I am not sure my interest and enthusiasm for the job came across in our interview. I was feeling under the weather and don't believe I adequately expressed my aptitude and passion for the position. If these things did not come across during the interview I want to assure you that my initiative, high level of motivation, and positive attitude make me a prime candidate for this position."

Thoughts?
Mmmm, sounds like begging their pardon, fawning. Your first sentence basically admits you were unsure about something...you were not confident, thrown for a loop. Probably not the impression you want to give. You are sort of repeating the expected vague buzz-words (passion, initiative, high motivation, positive attitude) unnecessarily. No one hoping for a job is anything BUT those things.

Curious; how would any of them have known you were under the weather? An ill-timed cough? Hoarse voice? FWIW, if it really seems like you need to explain yourself I wouldn't lay it on so thick. Doesn't seem genuine. If it wasn't blatantly obvious I'd say nothing. If you did actually make a slight faux pas during the presentation because you were sick, at most I'd make a very brief humorous quip about that and then drop it. You want to give the impression that you can have a little chuckle about unavoidable annoyances instead of take them too seriously.
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Old 02-24-2019, 09:11 PM
 
3,882 posts, read 2,354,186 times
Reputation: 7440
Quote:
Originally Posted by milesfive View Post
Looking for some advice from hiring managers. I have been trying to get a job with this company for 3 years and finally landed a face to face after 6 phone interviews. I had to fly to CA from WI on Wednesday and because of weather delays I ended up with limited sleep on top of having a terrible cold. I had to give a 45 minute presentation in addition to 45 minutes of questions with an audience of 6 people. I would give myself a C-. I really liked the team and the hiring manager. When the hiring manager walked me to the lobby he asked me how I thought it went. I said I thought it went well because I didn’t want to sound whiny and make excuses. I haven’t written my thank you notes yet (still unsure if I should bother based on feedback from this forum), but I was wondering if there is any way to recover from my C- performance or if I should just sit back and let the cards fall as they may? A friend of mine suggested mentioning something in a thank you to the hiring manager, but I am wondering if that may sound like I am the type of person who makes excuses. Thanks in advance for any advice.
Send the "thank you" notes for their time and express in the note your interest in the job and company. That's it.

I will tell you why. You are always going to be your own worst critic. Because only you knows what you were expecting to do. Only you know what you were really bothered by. So I wouldn't call attention to your concerns, because they may very well only be a concern to you, not to them.

Primarily during your interview the panel is wondering how you will fit in with the department and group, and if you would be a good co-worker to work with.
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