Bombed the interview. so worried!

Question

R2 applicant who just had my first interview today.

I was just really nervous and felt like I was stumbling all over the place. It was just SO BAD!! There is no other way to explain this. 
I was feeling embarrassed about my interview skills throughout my interview. I did do a couple of mock interviews, but really think I could have and should have done better.

This was my first Skype interview. I think I am usually a lot better face-to-face, but I just couldn't pull it through this time. 
I think my applications is otherwise very strong, but I am afraid that I might have blew my chances of admission because of this bad interview....

DLEmba · Answer

Let me say that the following is my experience and I am sure there is someone who will say, "don't worry, I had a bad interview and I got in." but that wasn't the case with me. I had 4 interviews during Round 1. As I walked out of the interviews I felt that 2 that went great, 1 that was so-so/bad, and 1 went absolutely horrible. This is the way I felt immediately afterwards, not a week later as I sat contemplating every answer. I got into the schools that I had good interviews at, WL'd at the so-so school, and denied at the horrible interview school. After reflecting on the entire process I think there are different types of bad interviews. I think what makes an interview bad with Adcom isn't the same as what makes an interview with a second year student bad, you really have to know your audience. I actually think if my horrible interview had been with a second year student instead of with Adcom, it wouldn't have been bad at all. I'm not trying to scare you, I'm just trying to give you my experience, because after my horrible interview, I posted a similar post to your post and only received the typical "I'm sure it wasn't that bad" responses, but it was. No matter what, what is done is done. Just try to think about what went wrong and why it went wrong. Spend some time practicing with mock interviews and hopefully the next one will go better. Who knows, maybe it wasn't that bad :wink:

If you want more details, feel free to PM me.

wmay · Answer

I presume the one that was very horrible was the one at HBS? HBS' interviews are designed to get under your skin and push you way outside your comfort zone.

DLEmba · Answer

Yeah, it was HBS. They definitely did push me out of my comfort zone, where I did not do well. I didn't fully understand that before the interview, but about 5 minutes into it I figured it out and just couldn't get back in sync and settle down. That's why you have to know your audience.

manymore · Answer

Mine was not HBS. It was top 20 so I thought I had a pretty competitive application...well, until I screwed up my interview.

My interview was with a current student. I had never done a skype interview before and for some reason, the whole process was really nerve-wracking. 
It was like, I was answering the questions but at the same time shouting to myself "what the xxxx are you doing?" kind of feeling?! 
Besides, there was nothing that clicked between me and the interviewer. Actually, he was going into the very industry that I am trying to get away from. There was literally nothing in common except for the fact that we were career changers. I've conducted many interviews myself, and if this was a job interview, I would have never given myself an offer. I am just hoping that the MBA interviews work differently, but cannot put aside the disappointment I have in myself and my performance.

As of now, this was my only B-school interview. I am waiting to hear back from one more school. We'll see how things go. There is nothing I can do right now anyways.

Thanks for you inputs, guys. It's just good to put it out somewhere. I just really need to put myself together.

MBAbot · Answer

Automated notice from GMAT Club MBAbot: 

A member just gave Kudos to this thread, showing it’s still useful. I’ve bumped it to the top so more people can benefit. Feel free to add your own questions or solutions.

 This post was generated automatically.

Bombed the interview. so worried!

Prep Toolkit

Top 5 GMAT Debrief Videos

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards