How to deal with hardo interviewers?

Within the last couple of weeks, I noticed that some of my interviewers were pissed off and were in bad moods from the start (literally right off the bat, meaning I didn't say or do anything to piss them off - they sorta just hopped on the call that way). Of course, this doesn't happen all the time and I am thrilled when I get chill/positive interviewers. With that said, how should I navigate an interview when my interviewer is a bit of a hardo? I find that it is a bit difficult to form connections when someone is mad (I understand this from both sides since I get under the weather sometimes too).I totally get that this is a stressful job but I would like to know how to overcome this obstacle when I face it.

4 Comments
 

Just smile, remain positive and don't let their negative energy bring you down. Still try to connect with them even if they appear to be mad. Some people are just reserved/shy and it comes off as them being a dick. If they're pissy with you that's on them, has nothing to do with you. This is also why it's important to be interviewing with more than one shop in case you run into an asshole, you can just forget about it and focus on your next interview which may be better.

 
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I myself had a number of issues with such situations, including people who refused to shake my hand, people who didn’t give a salutation (i.e. no “Hi, I’m so and so, nice to meet you, literally just looked down at a paper and asked “So…, why are you here today?”), and people who consistently (and intentionally) addressed me by the wrong name. I think in some of these cases, as annoying as it may be, they may be trying to see if you can keep your cool or remain professional even when others are not going to afford you the same respect. If you think about this, this happens all the time to them, so they want to make sure you can also handle others being this way. I also have to admit, when I told others about these experiences, many were very surprised, (I.e. How could they treat a woman like that in an interview?!), but in IB sometimes that’s how it goes. 

Just stay calm and smile. Better yet, make it your goal to make their day a bit better. Really put the effort in to trying to connect with your interviewer. If you can turn their frown upside down, they’ll be sure to remember you!

 

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