How I Bombed My Interview

Here’s how I bombed the interview I had (the ONLY interview I’ve had) by answering interview questions wrong, being unprepared, losing confidence during an interview, and talking about old experience.

First: the background.

My interview was at Medicine Wheel Productions in Southie. They are an arts-based community outreach organization that gets its name from one of their past projects: the creation of a massive stone medicine wheel by members of the community affected by the AIDS epidemic. It is an art installation project that enables mourners to have a vehicle to physical embodiment of their grief. MWP was looking for a Development Associate (my prime career choice). I don’t have much experience in development besides my internship (5 months proposal writing and program development), so I know I only got the interview because I mentioned in my cover letter that “I have witnessed firsthand the healing power of art when I recently helped my mother create a stone walking labyrinth to help cope with the loss of her sister.”

Mom's Labyrinth in Marshfield. Please visit if you have some free time, the entrance is right off the Bridal Path at the end of my driveway. If you feel moved to do so, you may also bring a stone to contribute to the path.

Now: how I bombed the interview.

I did all the necessary research on the organization to prepare for the interview. I read every single word on their website and looked them up on various social media outlets. I looked into their collaborators, and Google image searched the building and the people so I wouldn’t be taken by surprise. Then I moved on to myself.

I made lists of why I’m interested in nonprofits, development and fundraising. I discerned the difference between development vs. fundraising. I read my book “101 Smart Questions to Ask on Your Interview” and made a list of smart questions in my notebook. I printed out three copies of my resume and two copies of my cover letter. And then I prepped myself for the question I always bomb in interviews:

“What are your strengths and weaknesses?”

My strengths are easy: I am an excellent writer, as proven by my academic success. I have excellent interpersonal skills that enable me to be a successful member of any team. I am professional, show up to work on time, always work my hardest to succeed, and I’m honest to a fault.

After Googling the best pocket responses for weaknesses, I had put some thought into my REAL weaknesses. Fortunately, I was still working full time in the week preceding my interview, so I was able to ask my coworkers and consider real time examples myself. I came up with two answers. I can be hyper-focused, so when I am working on a project, an employer may need to be explicit if they want me to change directions. Also, I can be a black-and-white thinker, so I sometimes need to step back and consider other people’s points of view before answering or making a move.

Unfortunately, she didn’t ask this question.

Instead she asked me what three words describe me and why. Such a pocket question, yet I was unprepared. BLARG! And since I was unprepared, I responded by making a lame joke. BLARG!

First I answered, “wicked hella pissa” (we had spent a lot of time talking about Southie, so it was somewhat relevant). The 19 year old intern from the neighborhood chuckled at it. The interviewer, an out-of-state transplant, didn’t like it. My confidence disappeared.

So I recouped with real answers. “Driven. Flexible. Motivated.” Yes, I know driven and motivated are the same thing (and I admitted that to her! BLARG! some English major I am), but I was squirming in the hot seat and was out of my comfort zone.

Another question she asked me that I wasn’t prepared for was what kind of project I would create or bring to MWP if I was hired. I wanted to play up the experience that I had, so I talked about databases and how successful I was doing that in my previous office position. Unfortunately, that’s HER job. I should have focused on the grant writing, which is what she wanted her new hire to take over and is also what I want to do with my degree.

This BLARG! goes back to my weakness of being a black-and-white thinker. She had already said that she wanted her new hire to take over grant writing so she could be freed up for other things, but I didn’t extract that pertinent source material (one of the key skills in grant writing) because I was too focused on highlighting my old experience. This also lost me a chance at an internship earlier this year. I need to start focusing on what I want to do and what I can do, not what I’ve done. If I always did the things I’ve done, I’d never succeed at doing something new.

Worst of all, she asked me if I’ve ever had to deal with a conflict with a coworker and how I dealt with that. As I mentioned, I’m honest to a fault. And even though I know never to bring up negative work relationships in an interview, I answered her honestly. I told her about a coworker who’s been harassing me for a year because of her own unhappiness, and that I try to just avoid her and focus on getting my own work done and supporting the team to the best of my ability while remaining out of her way.

What I should have said was that I find I’m very easy to get along with and so long as everyone works their hardest and stays focused on the final goal, conflict should never be a problem.

Oh yeah, she also answered the phone right when I was about to talk about my mom’s labyrinth (my real selling point) so she could teach the intern to transfer to voicemail, and I missed my opportunity. BLARG!

Next, find out how I tried to save my chances with a handwritten thank-you note, but blarged that up even worse than the interview!