If You Mess Up in a Job Interview..!

THE MANAGEMENT TIP OF THE DAY: Harvard Business Review

December 29, 2017

If You Mess Up in a Job Interview, Just Fix Your Mistake

Job interviews are stressful. Even when you’ve done a ton of preparation and practiced your answers, the pressure might cause you to say the wrong thing, respond to a question incompletely, or leave out a critical piece of information. Of course, you can’t ask for a do-over, but you can try to correct your mistake. If you’re still in the interview, you might politely say: “I just realized that I haven’t mentioned…” or “I don’t think I fully answered your question. I’d like to add…” If you realize your mistake or omission after the interview has ended, you can send a thank-you email that says, “I want to add to [or clarify, or revise] what I said about x…” That way you don’t have to lie awake at night worrying about your flub. You can know that you did your best — and that it’s now up to the hiring manager to decide.

Adapted from “How to Handle Stress During a Job Interview,” by Anna Ranieri