So what do you do when you've done all the prep work for the interview, psyched yourself up, but then the interviewer seemed to be a moron in a business suit? You silently seethe as they ask you inane and irrelevant questions. There's even those true nightmares where you're being sexually harassed in the interview. What do you do?
In cases where you're not in physical or emotional harm, but where you simply know that you would never willingly work for this company, my advice is to keep going through the interview rather than attempting to terminate it, simply because it's great practice. Take note of the questions they ask you and your answers. How do you feel while you're answering? I'm guessing that you're much calmer once you make up your mind that you don't want this job, and you actually find yourself giving better answers than you did in the past, because the pressure's off. Maybe you've always wondered if it's possible to take effective notes in an interview--give it a shot. Were you too nervous to laugh in other interviews, or did your small talk feel a little stilted? Relax and make a lighthearted joke about the weather being so changeable you have your wool suit and gloves in your car in case it turned snowy on the way to the interview. See how they react. Take an interest in the company and ask questions that might have made you a little hesitant in the past-like "Can you tell me the biggest challenge this company is facing in the future?" to try it on for size and gage their reaction. Uncomfortable bringing up the salary question? Now's your chance to broach the subject with something bold like "I would expect that this position at my level of experience would have a salary in the X to Y range." You've got nothing to lose. Just by making that statement doesn't imply to them that you're going to take the job if offered either-you're just trying to see where they stand.
So take the opportunity to use the interview as a good practice interview. The only condition is that you take notes immediately after as to what worked, what didn't and what you'd like to try in future interviews. It will probably be a very interesting experience.
On the other hand, if you're being harassed or as you're walking around a job site-feel like you're in any physical danger, you are completely within your rights to excuse yourself to the restroom and get an emergency call that will force you to leave. The psychological damage it could do to your ego is not worth using it as practice. It should be considered a terrible anomaly and you should just move on.
My last point is this. If you have one of these terrible interviews-get over it. Everyone does this, but do NOT count it in the mental list all of us make of "Things I Screwed Up." This should be in the "I Didn't Want That Job" list-completely exonerating you of the guilt of feeling like you screwed up an interview. Too many times job seekers I talk to will be completely beaten down because they feel like they've been on a lot of interviews but are not getting any jobs. Once I start to talk to them and we break it down to specific instances, I point out to them that they probably didn't really want that job anyway, so in the long run, it worked out for the best. Often I will actually have to WORK to convince people of this. I think it stems from everyone's desire to want to be wanted by everyone, regardless of the circumstances. Nice thought, but we need to collectively get over it. Worry about being wanted by the people you want to work for, and let everyone else fade from your memory.
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