TIFU by tanking an interview due to a joke.

Had an interview for a media manager role within a relatively small company, it wasn’t my dream job but it certainly would have done for the time and the company itself seemed to have good reviews and a good reputation online.

I go there and meet with the two interviewers, a guy and a girl, and from the start it’s a very casual and friendly vibe.

The interview goes fantastically, I have a good answer for every question, I ask questions that impress them and make them realise I’m serious and have done my research.

Above all however, this interview, while going well, is full of banter. The three of us are just straight vibing, laughing, smiling, firing jokes out there, the body language is as relaxed as it gets.

We get to the end of the interview and they throw in right at the last minute, ‘Now this is just a fun little question we’re asking the candidates, if you were an animal, what animal do you think you would be?’.

I’m not expecting the question so I panic a bit and say the first animal that comes to mind, and I say, ‘Oh, probably an owl’.

They ask me why and I panic again because I really just threw an animal out there but I regained myself and said ‘Well, like the owl, I think people who knew me would consider me a wise person, plus when it comes to my work I have 20/20 vision’

They really liked these answers I could see, and I’m thinking, I have absolutely smashed this interview, there is no possible way I can lose at this point. So, I throw in one last joke, ‘Plus, I like to hunt and eat mice at night’.

The entire atmosphere changed, their body language changed, they’re not smiling anymore. They go, ‘Oh, okay.. well thanks for coming in, we’ll be in touch soon to let you know the outcome’, I say it was just a joke, I was adding on to the own thing from before, they don’t care.

I never even heard back from them to say I was rejected, within two seconds I destroyed an interview. In my defense however I will say I do feel a bit cheated, because the tone of the entire interview led me to believe they would appreciate the humour.

TL;DR

I tanked a job interview after it went well by telling a stupid joke about owls.