I just finished taking a webcam interview. I knew that I was going to struggle, and after an hour of practicing I was finally feeling comfortable in front my webcam. I had stopped looking down and pausing awkwardly, and I was even talking clearly. I felt really good.

The actual interview was awful. I instantly turned into garbage again. I struggled to speak, and I paused often to look like an idiot as I tried to think of something relevant to say. I must have looked completely incompetent. I know I won't be getting called back for the in-person interview.

I suck at life. Here's to being broke because I'm incapable of being impressive. Cheers.

I have difficulty with interviews. I think I'm a fairly good employee but I fuck up so bad during the interviews. http://theundercoverrecruiter.com/top-interview-questions-infographic/ ^^ my husband found me this to help

Oho that's a handy link! Thank you for sharing it with me ^^

I have similar feelings. I'm confident that I'm a good worker, but I get very uncomfortable when an interviewer asks me to explain my past experiences and why they should hire me. I'm much more comfortable with situational questions because it focuses on my ability to sort out a problem rather than on how well I can sell myself.

I'm sorry to hear your interview didn't go well. But who knows, maybe you did better than you thought?

I've been fortunate enough to have had mostly pleasant interviews, but one of my first ones was a group interview with twelve other candidates. As if the interviewing process isn't difficult enough, I had to do it in front of all of my competition for said job. It was so awkward, and we had to try and sell things to everyone (which I was ghastly at). Thankfully, I've never had to do one of those again.

My first few interviews were horrible. Really, I was just sitting there, being my shy self and my answers were so very stupid I feel still ashamed. But, in time it will get better. Just don't forget to breathe and not think too much (at least that made things way worse for me all the time because I just didn't know what to say in the end) - just try to be yourself.

ugh, I hate interviews. The worst one I've ever done was over the phone. I absolutely hate talking on the phone even for normal everyday conversations with friends/family. I knew I wasn't doing so hot because I kept repeating myself and just rephrasing the same thoughts for half his questions. And then when he asked for me to list off 3 qualities about myself that made me a good candidate for the job, I completely blanked on the third one and just sat there in dead silence for a couple minutes. It was suuuuuuper awkward and I hated every second.

Ugh I feel u when it comes to shitty interviews. I had done an interview with GameStop a second time after I originally quit (it was under new management and they wanted me on so, why not try??)) and it was HORRIBLE. I was doing pretty well and it was your basic interview questions that I had read up on and went over and practiced for, BUT THEN the dude asks me as a legit question: "If you could be any superhero, which would it be?" I blanked out for a good couple minutes straight because I had to sit there and try to think of superheros and then I didn't get the job and was unqualified because I couldn't remember fucking superheros.

ugh man I feel you. I once had an interview for Petsmart, and I was doing okay I think but then the interviewer asked something like, "Tell me about a time when you disagreed with authority and what you did," and I was just totally silent besides some "ums" for what felt like 10 minutes. Needless to say I didn't get called back.

But I've had three jobs since then, with not amazing interviews but good enough to get the jobs apparently. It sucks because you don't know exactly what questions the interviewer will ask so all you can do is prepare to the best of your ability with common questions...

Don't fret too much though, everyone has bad interviews and good interviews that don't get them the job. Just take this in and learn from it and use it for your next interview :)

What is every interview I've ever had? I didn't even get the job I have now. HR called me and asked me if I wanted it because the person they originally hired fell through. I only got the one before that because I was the only person willing to be there by 6 AM.

I don't know. I just can't handle interviews. I'm a hard worker. I don't have trouble talking to people afterwards. I practice and read and reread questions and answers. My employers see and know that, but potential employers don't really want to hire maybes.

How I wish my family owned a business of some sort.

(I'm sorry for the slow replies! Thank you for sharing your experiences with me. I hope all of our interview skills will continue to improve. Because struggling sucks. And we need jobs, haha.)

Thank you. I spent a lot of time feeling bad about it, but somehow I made it to a second interview, and then a third one (!!). Once I was able to interact with an actual person, I started to handle the interviews better. I might even get the job because I'm the only applicant to have made it past all the interviews O__o It all depends on whether one of their employees comes back from their long sick leave.

Group interviews are really cruel! I'm sorry you had to go through something so stressful.

That's sort of amazing, haha.

Not thinking work against me too. It's even worse when I'm so stressed/nervous that my mind will just blank out on me. So even when I want to say something, I can't find the words to!

Phone interviews are bad for that. The time spent in silence as you think feels quadrupled! It really adds to the pressure I'd already be putting on myself, and I end up killing my confidence.

Oh man, that's an awful question to ask at the end of an interview! I thought those opinion type questions were supposed to be at the beginning to ease the tension :s That would thow me off too. That's crazy that you didn't get the job because of that!

Thank you. Questions that stump me really stump me. It's so hard to recover when it happens, because I'll be beating myself up over it for the rest of the interview.

I've also never really gotten any of my jobs. My first job I got trough a recommendation from my high school counsellor, and I got my second job with my cousin's help. I don't feel like a "maybe," but I'm sure I come off that way when people meet for the first time .___.

I went through a phase where I bombed every interview I went to. I went to one at a hospital an hour away and the guy butchered and grilled me. I almost started crying during the interview. I was able to keep my composure until I got out to my car where I sat and cried for 15 minutes. Not to mention I formed a giant blister on my heel from the shoes I was wearing. I got home and my dad started to ask how it went and I started crying again. It was horrible.

When I went in for my current job (the same position as the one in the previous story), I was so nervous, I was shaking. The guy left the room and brought me a cup of water and told me to drink it and take a few deep breathes. Then he took me to meet the supervisor and he told her how nervous I was and she gave me a few small pieces of chocolate from the huge bowl she keeps on her desk. I calmed down and rocked the interview. I was pretty much hired on the spot.

Don't give up. I personally believe I wasn't meant to work at any of those places and I take it all as a blessing in disguise. I probably would have hated the jobs. There are times where I really dislike my current job but I mostly like it.

Eep, reading all of the replies here is making me on the verge of having an anxiety attack ;x; (social anxiety/phobia, whee)

Anyways, I just wanted to stop by and wish you luck c: Interviews are one of my worst nightmares, and they're difficult for many people. Hang in there!

Don't feel so bad about yourself, interviews are really hard and I would imagine online interviews have their own unique challenges (not being abler to read the other person's body language from the neck down... yeah I can see that being a challenge!)

My only advice would be to perhaps start off with, "Sorry if I seem a bit nervous, I'm just so excited about the opportunity to be interviewing for a position at your company."

I think this could be helpful in that it shows you are very interested in working for _____, you are honest, and I do not think it shows "weakness" such as saying "Sorry I'm anxious" or something like that. Just my thoughts though!

Augh, interviews.

I've had some good ones and some okay ones and one really bad one. The really bad one was with a new restaurant opening in town and they decided to go with the stupid as fuck "trendy" new way to interview. Ask questions that are random and weird just to see how you think on your feet. Like you can't get that from a traditional one with maybe ONE random question. It was for a fucking burger joint anyway.

The guys interviewing me were younger and kind of hipster looking. I bombed it bad, I stammed and couldn't think at all. Oh well, though, I've had other good ones. Even the one I did in high school for my co-op was good. By the end of it the interviewer and I were making some jokes and she slipped up saying, "When you start you'll need to wear this," instead of, "IF you start here." I walked home and got in just as they called to say I got the position. :)

So you won't always have bad interviews! Think of the one you bombed as a learning experience. Sometimes it just happens even when you're prepared and while it sucks you can always move on from it.

I hope I can come across employers that are just as great as yours. In time, I suppose :')

Thank you for your support!

This particular interview didn't even have someone else to talk to :( It was an automated process that cycled through five rounds of 30 seconds of reading/processing a question and 2 minutes of recording. I really hope that I never have to go through something like that again ._.

I'll try saying that next time when I'm really nervous. Thank you for your advice c:

Thank you for sharing your experiences with me. Most of my interviews were really bad ones. Maybe that means the next ones are all going to be mostly okay? I hope so, haha.

i currently work as a content writer/ ghost writer from home.. [on odesk]. and i decided i needed more money [who doesn't, right?] and i started to search for an offline job. i found this position as a content writer, applied, got a call for an interview, only to receive [just earlier] a negative response of 'how i don't have enough experience] for the position' excuse me?? i'm doing this for like 4 or 5 years now? how can you say i don't have experience?

Whoah what?! .. how. Was that the only explanation that they gave you?

of course, they tried to phrase the reply in a nice, non-offensive way, and that it was hard to make this decision... >.> basically this is all they said. i hope your interviews start to get better soon ((hugs))

You know what? Pausing to speak doesn't make you a failure. I feel as though letting yourself pause to think with out fillers such as "um" or "and" over and over conveys a sense of confidence.

I totally understand the pressure and stress involved in putting yourself out there to judgement. I recently had an in person job interview, I promise it makes everyone super nervous!

Wow, okay, now you REALLY shouldn't feel bad, because that sounds like just about the worst kind of interview I can imagine! I don't see many people doing well at that AT ALL. The only people that company will hire that way is super fast readers who are also good bullshitters on the spot. Damn.