“Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day. You shall begin it serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense.” ― Ralph Waldo Emerson
Perfect Storm of Bad Interviews
Bad interviews: we’ve all had them, we’ve all hated them, and they are impossible to avoid. At least once, and more likely than not, more than once, we have all stepped into the perfect storm of the career search: an off day, bad chemistry with the interviewer and some external factor, for example: a snowstorm (thanks Canada), traffic and/or TTC delay (thanks Toronto), or a misplaced coffee stain.
You fumble your words, your papers, and your thoughts. The practice, the poise, the perfect answers you had rehearsed all go flying out the window, along with your dreams of that dream job. It is the worst. There is nothing that is as gutting and disappointing as falling flat on your face at an interview that you know you should have enjoyed sweet success. There is something incredibly painful about knowing that the only thing standing between you and your prospective position – is you.
Stop. Take a Breath. Re-set.
Bad days and bad interviews, they happen; but tomorrow is a new day. There is nothing to make a bad interview better, all you can do is take a deep breath and re-set for the next one. There are some mistakes you can learn from, there are others that you just move on from. Don’t pack bad interview baggage into your briefcase. Let go and move on. If all else fails, take solace in Ralph Waldo Emerson’s words, “Tomorrow is a new day.”