r/interviews • u/KeynesCrackpot • 13h 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/lwiseman1306 9h 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.