r/interviews • u/KeynesCrackpot • 6h ago

Bombed interview. Spiraling

Ugh venting to get this off my chest. I feel pretty senior (7-8 years of experience) but haven’t interviewed in the past two years. I feel like I shouldn’t be bombing technicals.

Company asked for a take home assessment to be completed in 3 days, over the weekend. Asked HR how this should be formatted, no response before the deadline. Responded to everything with written responses, submitted, interview was scheduled two weeks later.

I follow up with HR three times asking if the focus on interview will be on the take home, no response. I have a busy work week with no time to prep and my heart stops when they ask to present this during my interview.

It’s a terrible start and I’m shaky. I couldn’t figure out the question one guy was asking, spent 5 minutes clarifying before I understand and rattle off responses. He smiles and says “that’s perfect”. That’s probably the only highlight.

It’s downhill from there with them guiding me through responses. This is an area of financing that’s my weak point, I’m not actively managing it in my current day to day. I know they’re gently guiding me through mistakes but it feels awful.

I realize some of my simple calculations are messed up. My sensitivity tables are likely showing extreme values but I can’t explain it well. I miss high level questions.

I’m just so overwhelmed and upset. My feedback at my current job is good, but i feel like I’m viewed as a team player that will get work done at the expense of my own growth/upward learning. Sigh. I’m spiraling and can’t stop thinking about how badly I bombed.

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u/Loganslove 6h ago

It's your first interview in 2 years. For me, interviews are like tests, and I'm horrible at test. I can barely remember my name. The thing is, im great at what i do, and i know the answers to the questions they ask, but for some reason, i sound like a dumbass with no experience for about the first 10 interviews. Then i get my groove going, and i nail the interviews.

I end up with the job i don't really want because i applied to the good jobs first.

So my advice is to apply to the jobs that don't pay what you're looking for so you can get the interviews down. When you are prepared and you'll know when that is - that is when you go for the job you want.

Not everyone will agree with this, but it works

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u/KeynesCrackpot 6h ago

Thanks. I’m also a terrible test taker and just have terrible nerves. I think I’m just spiraling and wondering if I’m any good at my job anymore..or if I’ll never able to interview elsewhere because my current job’s skill sets are too niche. Sigh.

I’ll try to keep interviewing for stuff I don’t really care about and see how that goes.

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u/tautous2 5h ago

I find I spiral for a day. Then I’m ready again. Apply for everything that seems a likely good fit. That way you always have hope

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u/KeynesCrackpot 4h ago

thanks for sharing. I’m still spiraling and rethinking really terrible parts of that interview….sigh. I’ll just brace myself for the rejection email and be ready to move on

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u/ivegotafastcar 6h ago

I feel this. I bombed a contractor interview. I thought I did great, used the STAR answers on the questions, seemed genuinely interested, asked questions, formed a connection with the hiring manager… the feedback was I could do the job but I was all over the place. What? We had a conversation.

I think I know where I derailed it. It was when I asked if they had an AI program in the future to automate the job since the job I was being hired for could 100% be done by a CRM LLM. I’ve been training on them plus have a background in automation. I think he was thrown that I even brought up AI. He made a point at the end to let me know they don’t use AI at all and fire people for it. So much for bringing new ideas to an interview.

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u/Loganslove 6h ago

Another trick is about an hour or 2 before the interview, google interview questions for the position you're applying for. Look at several different posts that come up. Look at the answers as well. I write my answers down so it helps me remember what to say. Cause even if i know I'm ready, i can get thrown off by something, get nervous, and forget. So, by writing it down, it helps me remember i got this.

Good luck, i know you got this as well

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u/lwiseman1306 3h ago

Sounds like you just have a case of the jitters. I like use Glassdoor to research the company and get a feel for the company culture and types of interview questions. Also memorize the STAR method for answering interview questions. Job hunting is a job in its self. You’re not spiraling down you just need more practice interviewing.

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u/KeynesCrackpot 3h ago

Yeah I’m great on non technical interview, good at pulling company’s public disclosures and ask hard hitting questions. I think I suffer and get jitters when it’s more technical, especially for a company that runs its financing/strategy a little more differently.