What If You Are Late At Interview?
“I’m sorry, this is not ordinarily how I conduct myself.” [1]
My story is different from everyone else’s. A few weeks ago, I have a chance to attend a Simulate Interview. Because of some reason, when I go to the place, I found that most of them have already finished their Interview. I feel embarrassed, nervous and worried.
I hesitated and walked into the classroom, explained the situation to the instructor and apologized. The instructor looked at her watch, then patiently explained the interview process and S.T.A.R method to me, and asked me to prepare a bit. She arranged a group for me to prepare mock interview questions for me.
Although I felt awkward and ashamed standing in the middle of the classroom, I still tried to calm down and review the S.T.A.R answer method that the teacher mentioned before.
Time passed quickly and I sat on that chair.
“Introduce yourself.” “What are your future plans for yourself?” “What qualities do you think are good about you?”. . .
One question after another came one after another, and I tried hard to use the S.T.A.R answer method to tell the difficulties in the story and how I solved them. But there are many problems, but I have only prepared one or two stories. Soon, my answer turned into the same story, and I also saw a trace of boring on the face of the “interviewers”.
After the interview, I stood in the corridor to calm down, and when I looked up, I saw a person in a formal suit. I immediately realized another mistake I made – not taking an interview seriously, mock or not.
”Forgive Yourself for Making a Mistake“ [5]
For days after the mock interview, I couldn’t fully forgive myself. I can’t forgive myself for being late and dressed, and I can’t forgive myself for showing my weakness with too much body language during the interview. So I searched all kinds of information, hoping to find a way to “save me” from it. Glad I found it.
First and foremost is being late. I thought that being late was a completely unforgivable mistake, especially when I saw that many interviewers were late and the interviewer suspected whether they would be delayed in the subsequent work process, I felt suffocated.
Fortunately, the root of this problem is that the interviewer doubts your time management skills. So if you share with him your professionalism, whether you are fully prepared for a project, your usual attendance rate, etc., you can show that you are reliable in person, and this time being late is just a special case. [3] From another perspective, this matter can even help the interviewer to better understand your character and ability. On the other hand, being late only requires a sincere apology and doesn’t need to bring it up all the time. [1] People make mistakes, the important thing is not making mistakes, but how you will correct your mistakes after making mistakes.
On the same level, I feel like my body language is largely revealing my nervousness. At this time someone said: S.T.O.P, then relax. [4] When you feel tense, slow down and take a deep breath. Watch your emotional and physical changes and think about why they are there. Finally, tell yourself what you need right now.
Feeling nervous is normal and we all feel nervous. If you can define this “nervous” from different angles, you can actually understand it as “excitement”. [2] Because the experience brought to you by these two emotions is actually similar, the only difference is how you define them. When you turn your mind around, things go a lot smoother.
When you find yourself dreading an interview, identify your fear and challenge it. [6] Because you need to tell yourself that if you really don’t deserve to be here, you won’t be invited for an interview.
Storytelling is also very important. According to the S.T.A.R theory that the teacher mentioned in class, storytelling is an important part of it. [7] As long as your story is well told, the questioner can hear your growth, your character, etc. from the story. So prepare more stories, and be careful not to tell irrelevant details when telling the story.
“Remember It’s Just a Conversation” [2]
Since seeing more suggestions and opinions, I feel that the interview is actually more of a conversation. When you feel stressed, you might as well tell yourself from another angle that this is not actually feeling nervous, but feeling excited. You are excited to now have the opportunity to express yourself and express yourself. In addition, if you accidentally make a mistake, such as being late for an interview. Adjust your mentality, sincerely apologize to the interviewer, and use S.T.A.R skills to show your reliability.
In normal study, work and life, prepare more stories that can show your personal characteristics, find opportunities to practice more. In the end, you will find that you find more comfotable during the interview process.
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Bibliography：
[1] Alterman, Elizabeth. “How to Recover from Arriving Late for an Interview.” The Muse, 19 June 2020, www.themuse.com/advice/how-to-recover-from-arriving-late-for-an-interview.
[2] Charyk, Chris. “S.T.O.P Is a Mindfulness Trick to Calm You Down.” The Muse, 19 June 2020, www.themuse.com/advice/the-mental-trick-you-can-use-to-get-through-any-stressful-situation.
[3] Indeed Editorial Team. “What to Do If You’re Late for an Interview.” Indeed, 18 Oct. 2021, www.indeed.com/career-advice/interviewing/late-for-interview.
[4] Kalish, Alyse. “12 Ways to Calm Your Job Interview Nerves.” The Muse, 25 Jan. 2022, www.themuse.com/advice/12-different-ways-to-calm-your-interview-nerves-because-youve-got-this.
[5] Llewellyn, Anthony. “14 Ways to Fix a Mistake in a Job Interview.” AdvanceMed, 2 Oct. 2021, advancemed.com.au/fix-mistake-in-a-job-interview/.
[6] Robert Walters Group. “Top Tips for Dealing with Pre-Interview Nerves.” Robert Walters Group, 2014, www.robertwaltersgroup.com/news/expert-insight/careers-blog/how-to-calm-interview-nerves.html.
[7] Zhang, Lily. “7 Interview Skills You Need to Land Your next Job.” The Muse, 15 June 2021, www.themuse.com/advice/interview-skills-examples-improve.
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