Getting thrown off during an interview

[sbuxaddict]

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During one of my interviews, the interviewer kept giving me a funny look each time I responded with an answer (tilting her head, squinting her eyes, making a "hmm" noise).

It threw me off so much that I panicked and couldn't recover from it. She kept doing it with each response I gave and even when I was just describing my current job. 😕

My question is, how do you handle/recover from that? I'm not socially awkward and I don't think I'm a bad interviewer either. I've just never had someone react so strongly and repeatedly to every response I gave, and I doubted myself more and more as the interview went on 🙁

 

[sliceofbread136]

During one of my interviews, the interviewer kept giving me a funny look each time I responded with an answer (tilting her head, squinting her eyes, making a "hmm" noise).

It threw me off so much that I panicked and couldn't recover from it. She kept doing it with each response I gave and even when I was just describing my current job. 😕

My question is, how do you handle/recover from that? I'm not socially awkward and I don't think I'm a bad interviewer either. I've just never had someone react so strongly and repeatedly to every response I gave, and I doubted myself more and more as the interview went on 🙁

Ignore it. If a school had that unpleasant of an interviewer why would you even want to go there?

 

[MusicJunkie]

Some interviewers are taught to not react to an applicant and to remain neutral throughout the process. This is more done in MMI formats though and it may just be that the interviewer didn't have any questions or comments to add and that's how she naturally responds in situations like that. She could have been the socially awkward one, who knows. There have also said to be instances on SDN where the interviewer will say/do things to see how you react to stress.

At the end of the day though, the interview is done, which means that at this point the only thing you can do is sit back and relax.

 

[La Presse]

Probably one of "those" tactics to psych you out. Ignore it and focus on how you structure your answers.

 

[appleman123]

During one of my interviews, the interviewer kept giving me a funny look each time I responded with an answer (tilting her head, squinting her eyes, making a "hmm" noise).

It threw me off so much that I panicked and couldn't recover from it. She kept doing it with each response I gave and even when I was just describing my current job. 😕

My question is, how do you handle/recover from that? I'm not socially awkward and I don't think I'm a bad interviewer either. I've just never had someone react so strongly and repeatedly to every response I gave, and I doubted myself more and more as the interview went on 🙁

no such thing as "getting thrown off". only means you didn't prepare enough.

key in an interview comes from confidence, and confidence comes from practice.

 

[sbuxaddict]

Some interviewers are taught to not react to an applicant and to remain neutral throughout the process. This is more done in MMI formats though and it may just be that the interviewer didn't have any questions or comments to add and that's how she naturally responds in situations like that. She could have been the socially awkward one, who knows. There have also said to be instances on SDN where the interviewer will say/do things to see how you react to stress.

At the end of the day though, the interview is done, which means that at this point the only thing you can do is sit back and relax.

That's true. When I reflect back on that interview I feel like she may have done that to see how I reacted. And I didn't rise to the challenge :/

Ignore it. If a school had that unpleasant of an interviewer why would you even want to go there?

I guess I'm just asking for future interviews.

Probably one of "those" tactics to psych you out. Ignore it and focus on how you structure your answers.

Will do, thanks.

no such thing as "getting thrown off". only means you didn't prepare enough.

key in an interview comes from confidence, and confidence comes from practice.

It wasn't the questions that threw me off, it was her reactions to my responses. I guess I didn't prepare enough in the sense that I didn't expect her to make funny faces at me.

 

[tpsreport]

no such thing as "getting thrown off". only means you didn't prepare enough.

key in an interview comes from confidence, and confidence comes from practice.

Bleh totally not true!
I prepared quite a bit for my interview. Third interview coms along, and it's an MMI. Never been in one before, and the first interviewer of eight just straight up DEADPANs me. No reaction, nothing. Anything I say he just stares at me like I'm a Tootsie pop and he's got effing Superman laser eyes and is trying to melt his way to the Tootsie roll center.

Halfway through he asks me, "what can you bring to our school?".
Such a generic question. In fact, I'd already been asked it before, TWICE, and I had my answers ready to go BOTH TIMES. But for some reason I just couldn't answer him, and froze up. So I ask "can you rephrase the question?". Effffffffffff

I ended up getting in so ya it worked out lol

Long story short. Murphy's Law of an interview. People try to do all kinds of things to throw you off. Just do your best to have your answers ready for each question ready beforehand. If you screw up, it happens. Don't beat yourself up over it.

 

[Renaissance Man]

no such thing as "getting thrown off". only means you didn't prepare enough.

No.

No amount of preparation can prepare you for any and every question, personality, or comment that can come up during an interview.

 

[MusicJunkie]

No.

No amount of preparation can prepare you for any and every question, personality, or comment that can come up during an interview.

I agree.

I think you need to prepare enough to answer some of the more basic questions + the SDN Interview Feedback questions for each particular school (these may include ethical questions, scenarios, healthcare reform, etc). Aside from that though, it's just making sure that you're comfortable in that setting and not riddled with anxiety. Interviewers could be trying to bait you with questions meant to raise your stress level, but stay calm. Relax. Recognize it for what it is, show that you can rise to the occasion with a clear head, and be confident in the fact that you did the best you could. Ultimately, interviewers know that this is a stressful situation.

 

[pre med 2014]

If it was in response to your answer on an ethical question or the new health care law it is not a good sign, when someone says 'hmm' it usually means they disagree with your viewpoint

 

[Planes2Doc]

Is it just me or is it the interviews that you think you bombed are the ones that go well, and the ones that you thought were great end up being bad? 😕

 

[pre med 2014]

Is it just me or is it the interviews that you think you bombed are the ones that go well, and the ones that you thought were great end up being bad? 😕

Do you have a medical school acceptance to back this claim?

 

[tpsreport]

Do you have a medical school acceptance to back this claim?

It says 'Medical Student' right under his name 🤣
But of course if he lists the schools he got accepted to that will make it more believable.

 

[MedPR]

During one of my interviews, the interviewer kept giving me a funny look each time I responded with an answer (tilting her head, squinting her eyes, making a "hmm" noise).

It threw me off so much that I panicked and couldn't recover from it. She kept doing it with each response I gave and even when I was just describing my current job. 😕

My question is, how do you handle/recover from that? I'm not socially awkward and I don't think I'm a bad interviewer either. I've just never had someone react so strongly and repeatedly to every response I gave, and I doubted myself more and more as the interview went on 🙁

I've had two interviewers like that. One resulted in a wait list, the other in an acceptance.

At both I just kept smiling and, in my head, saying "lol interview is a dbag trying to throw me off." You just have to keep going and not worry about what they're doing or saying. Interviewers are supposed to appear neutral.

 

[MedPR]

Is it just me or is it the interviews that you think you bombed are the ones that go well, and the ones that you thought were great end up being bad? 😕

Hasn't worked out that way for me.

I thought 6/8 interviews went well. 4 wait lists (2 of them are "deferred until later") and 2 acceptances.

The other 2 I thought went poorly and I got wait listed there also.

 

[pre med 2014]

It says 'Medical Student' right under his name 🤣
But of course if he lists the schools he got accepted to that will make it more believable.

I can't see that on my iPhone

 

[sliceofbread136]

Do you have a medical school acceptance to back this claim?

He's a med student...

 

[TheShaker]

Is it just me or is it the interviews that you think you bombed are the ones that go well, and the ones that you thought were great end up being bad? 😕

Kinda like the MCAT.

OP, it sucks but I think it's just something you get used to. I just try to go into an interview without having any prediction or preconception on what my interviewer is like. It helps when they turn out to be usually quiet or unusually difficult because it takes the shock factor away (at least a bit). Just remember, the game is to stay confident and look alive, and you have to do that in anyway possible. Your interviewer's personality is likely part of the act or a part of their personality and it likely has nothing to do with you.

 

[BlackSwan]

During one of my interviews, the interviewer kept giving me a funny look each time I responded with an answer (tilting her head, squinting her eyes, making a "hmm" noise).

That's probably just her thinking face. Did it look like this?

 

[circulus vitios]

Call them out on their idiotic games.

"Is there something wrong? You keep squinting and tilting your head."

 

[sbuxaddict]

If it was in response to your answer on an ethical question or the new health care law it is not a good sign, when someone says 'hmm' it usually means they disagree with your viewpoint

It was in response to every answer I had, unfortunately.

I've had two interviewers like that. One resulted in a wait list, the other in an acceptance.

At both I just kept smiling and, in my head, saying "lol interview is a dbag trying to throw me off." You just have to keep going and not worry about what they're doing or saying. Interviewers are supposed to appear neutral.

You smiled? Wow, that's really admirable because I almost cried 😛

Kinda like the MCAT.

OP, it sucks but I think it's just something you get used to. I just try to go into an interview without having any prediction or preconception on what my interviewer is like. It helps when they turn out to be usually quiet or unusually difficult because it takes the shock factor away (at least a bit). Just remember, the game is to stay confident and look alive, and you have to do that in anyway possible. Your interviewer's personality is likely part of the act or a part of their personality and it likely has nothing to do with you.

Duly noted, thank you!

That's probably just her thinking face. Did it look like this?

IT DID! Hahahahaha 🤣

Call them out on their idiotic games.

"Is there something wrong? You keep squinting and tilting your head."

😱 I don't think I have the guts to say that

 

[MedPR]

It was in response to every answer I had, unfortunately.



You smiled? Wow, that's really admirable because I almost cried 😛

Well, the first time it happened was at a school I already knew (based on the tour and other stuff) that I wouldn't matriculate so it was easy not to get flustered. My interviewer was questioning (aggressively) every one of my answers so I pretty much laughed before answering the follow up questions.

Before the second time it happened, I realized that I hadn't really been smiling at my previous interviews, so I made it a point to really focus on smiling/appearing friendly and pleasant. This interview ended up being my first acceptance, so I guess it worked.

 

[Lollygag]

Call them out on their idiotic games.

"Is there something wrong? You keep squinting and tilting your head."

maybe if their some random dude on the street, not when their someone who can decide my fate for the next 4 years

You would have to have some serious guts and multiple acceptances to say that

 

[MedPR]

maybe if their some random dude on the street, not when their someone who can decide my fate for the next 4 years

You would have to have some serious guts and multiple acceptances to say that

I think it might be easier for an older applicant to pull something like that. For them a faculty interview might feel more like chatting with a peer than it does for a 20 something being interviewed by a middle-aged person.

 

[EarthtoneJon]

If you dress, gesture, and speak like you belong, then you're 90% of the way there. How do you think that couple crashed Obama's party at the White House? How do you think that fan got onto the field for pictures with a professional European League soccer club? Faking it...or on a deeper, sicker level, believing it.

The way to regain your composure in a chaotic situation or awkward social encounter, is to truly believe that you are doing it right, and your interviewer is the one in the hot seat, potentially embarrassing her/himself. Don't be cocky, but train your body language to clearly state that you are comfortable in your skin, and that you are past worrying what others think about you. In other words, if someone thinks you're weird, THAT'S weird.

 

[BlackSwan]

If you dress, gesture, and speak like you belong, then you're 90% of the way there. How do you think that couple crashed Obama's party at the White House? How do you think that fan got onto the field for pictures with a professional European League soccer club? Faking it...or on a deeper, sicker level, believing it.

The way to regain your composure in a chaotic situation or awkward social encounter, is to truly believe that you are doing it right, and your interviewer is the one in the hot seat, potentially embarrassing her/himself. Don't be cocky, but train your body language to clearly state that you are comfortable in your skin, and that you are past worrying what others think about you. In other words, if someone thinks you're weird, THAT'S weird.

👍
This bro knows wassup.

 

[Planes2Doc]

👍
This bro knows wassup.

Word.

 

[circulus vitios]

😱 I don't think I have the guts to say that

Playing social games with interviewees is idiotic and amateurish. I'm pretty reserved but I would definitely call them out.

 

[Planes2Doc]

Playing social games with interviewers is idiotic and amateurish. I'm pretty reserved but I would definitely call them out.

Yeah but definitely be careful doing this. At my last job, the interview I had was extremely intense, and the interviewers were definitely playing good cop bad cop with me. I thought I bombed it for sure. It turned out that I did very well and the rest was history.

When I actually met those people when I started the job, I was surprised at how different they were compared to the interview.