This happened a couple days ago and I’m still cringing thinking about it
I had a Zoom interview for a remote position. It was full-time, had benefits, seemed like a solid opportunity, so I actually took the time to prepare. Had my notes, practiced my answers, even changed into a decent shirt (pajama pants still made the cut though)
So I’m sitting there waiting for the host to join and I’ve got my AirPods in like always. Didn’t even think twice. Zoom said “waiting for host” so I figured I had a minute to just relax
And for some reason I started talking to myself out loud. Not loud, just kind of mumbling pep talk stuff like, “Okay, just be normal. You got this. Don’t ramble. Smile. Pretend like you have it together.”
Then I muttered “You’re not a mess. You just look like one right now.”
And that’s when I heard it:
“Hey! We can hear you by the way. No rush though.”
Turns out the interviewer had joined silently and Zoom defaulted to my AirPods mic, so I had been broadcasting my little self-deprecating pep talk straight into the meeting
I froze. Couldn’t even think of a recovery. Just awkwardly laughed, turned on my camera, and tried to power through like nothing happened
Interview went okay (I think) but now the HR guy definitely knows I’m running mostly on vibes and caffeine
TL;DR Forgot my AirPods had a mic during a Zoom interview and accidentally gave the recruiter a live feed of my pre-interview meltdown
Comments
honestly he was way too chill about it… like did he hear one line or my whole TED talk?? either way I’m retiring my AirPods from all future Zoom calls
Don’t worry, everyone is running mostly on vibes and caffeine. Maybe a lil coke if you’re in finance
gl, i hope you get the job :))
If I was interviewing someone, this happened at the beginning and they were able to pull it together and deliver a decent performance, I would consider it a plus. Shows resiliency or something.
Eh I don’t think it’s a big deal.. They just know you wanted to do well, which isn’t a bad thing.
At least you weren’t cranking it
They probably saw it as endearing – don’t sweat it!
Eh, if I were an interviewer I absolutely wouldn’t consider that a deal breaker. Awkward? Oh yeah. But not that bad I don’t think, especially if the meat of the interview you performed solidly.
Meh, I would probably end up being more likely to hire you. Job interviews are lame. The most important thing to learn about somebody is just that they are the kind of human you can tolerate being around, and there are few things more human than embarrassing yourself…
As one who sometimes interviews I would count this as a plus. These would be marks of; Being aware of yourself, also making likely to be considerate of others. Self deprecating, yet self affirming. This makes me believe that you will constantly try harder. Even when preforming well you will feel the need to do better. Likely to suffer form imposter syndrome.
I thought you were going to say you wore them into the bathroom or let out a giant fart lmao. This seems not as bad 😂
Honestly that would have made me consider you a little more closely. It shows that you care about how you come across. Nothing wrong with motivational monologues.
Honestly, that would score points with me. You humiliated yourself, actually stayed for the interview, and then powered through like nothing happened. “Works well under pressure” is so cliche. Forget that. Give me “makes a mistake and then recovers gracefully.”
Let us know if you got the job! I think it favors you actually.
You need to update if you got the job though.
I think this is just normal. I wouldn’t be upset or hold it against the candidate. I would have a small chuckle afterwards. Many people get nervous before interviews.
Could be worse. Personally I’m very chill and forgiving when I’m interviewing candidates because I know it’s nerve-wracking. We hired a girl who had red lipstick on her teeth for the entire interview and she’s a great employee.
To me this would just show that you actually care about getting the job and making a good impression and that you prepped. Not everyone does.
Ahahahhahah this is actually kind of cute
I interview people on the daily and i would love this
If I were your interviewer, I would have found that endearing.
So did you get the job?
At least you had pants-like clothing on. Not everyone does that on Zoom.
Definitely not the worst thing you could have said lol
Always set Zoom to mute your mic automatically when entering a meeting. Always.
Tbh, as a manager who has done plenty of interviewing, this would mostly just stand out to me as a memorable thing. We’re all human. We all get nervous in situations like that, and anyone who expects that someone won’t be nervous has unrealistic expectations of humans. Hell, the most recent guy I hired, who turned out to be an absolute rock star, shook like he was having withdrawals or something. It was visible on the call because he was shaking so hard I didn’t even need to see his hands to see it. But he crushed it in the interview, was clearly well prepared, asked insightful questions, and had the background and skillset I was looking for. Anxiety is a natural, normal thing. Doesn’t impact how well someone can do a job unless that job requires precision motor skills or something.
I had the reverse happen to me in 2010. They called me from a speakerphone but when the interview ended they never hung up and started talking about me. Some bad, and some not so bad either. Apparently I had a great reference. I listened for a few seconds but couldn’t handle it for some reason and bailed. I got the job like 90mins later. 15 years later I’m still there.
I did something similar a while back interviewing for my current role- I joined – no one present yet – so minimised and was reading the notes on the job etc and my dog starts barking at the bin man. Me yelling Molly shut up shut up Molly – omg shut up it’s just the bin man!!
Gales of laughter came out of my laptop – they had joined silently. I was mortified. But I got the job.
I’m a CxO and have been hiring people for a long time. If I was giving the interview, I’d do the same as the interviewer (let you know your mike was on) and then tell you to relax and be yourself. If anything it is clear you are engaged.
Also “You’re not a mess. You just look like one right now” would have given me a chuckle. We all feel the same way from time to time.
I have seen some weird shit in interviews. I don’t even think this ranks other than an endearing story.
Good luck with the opportunity.
You’re being too hard on yourself. All you did was to say what 99% of us have running through our heads before an interview. You went on with the interview, did well and it shows that you can recover gracefully from a FUBAR situation. I would hire you.
This is chat gpt lmao. I prompted it to write a viral Reddit post and it was almost this verbatim. Dead internet theory is more real than ever.
“There it is. You’re caught…. What the hell did I do? Killed them all, of course.”
And this is why I don’t wear air pods. Hope you got this job tho you didn’t say or do anything crazy.
If I were the interviewer, I think I’d be more likely to think well of you. It’s obvious you’re really invested in this job interview going well.
As someone who has done plenty of HR work, and hiring/firing. This would be amusing, mildly endearing, and not something that would register as a red flag to me. We all need to give ourselves pep talks or hype ourselves up for stuff like interviews. Totally normal. Just unfortunate they heard. Then again, not cool to not snnounce yourself on the call
You wer caught in a candid moment. No big deal. I hope you get the job.
Nothing wrong with giving yourself a pep talk. I’m pretty sure your interviewer has heard MUCH worse.
I give talks at technical conferences, sometimes audiences of 400+. My slide-notes always start with something on similar lines: “smile. look at audience. take a breath. palms upwards.” I share my slide-notes publicly, pep-talk and all.
I think that your pep talk is (1) best practice, (2) something to be emulated and copied, not be ashamed of!
(No need for self-deprecation. Did you really look one at the time? Do you think your pep talk would be more effective without the self-deprecation? Your call.)
After years of living alone, remote work, and general covid-related isolation; I developed a really bad problem with talking to myself all the time.
Took a while to adjust back to normal society and keep my thoughts in my head.
This is not a FU. It’s actually pretty good to know that the interviewee actually wants the job and is willing and ready to prep themselves up. I’d think of it as funny.
Had a guy not realize it was a “camera on” interview. He was wearing a tank top and boxers. His apartment bedroom was a mess. So…it could have been worse?
Somehow I got overruled, and we hired him anyway. He lasted six months. -_-
Honestly I think this is a plus. It definitely shows that you are determined and want the role
I’ve seen some crazy stuff during interviews and this doesn’t even come close. If I were part of the hiring committee, I’d absolutely give you some grace with this and certainly wouldn’t use it against you… if anything, it sounds like you really wanted the job.
NFU. it shows you’re human. Good luck and hope you get the job!
Don’t worry about it. They know everybody that’s sitting in that chair is nervous. At least they know you’re human.
I interview and hire people. This would be in the plus column.
Whatever as long as you did ok during the interview. Last time I had a zoom interview I hung up on them by accident – twice. Still got it. Whatever.
Totally should not hold it against you. Hopefully it made you more human to the interviewer and you’ll find that your moment of embarrassment was actually a blessing in disguise.
Always mute audio and video when joining: https://support.zoom.com/hc/en/article?id=zm_kb&sysparm_article=KB0062614
“Don’t be weird. Don’t be weird. Don’t be weird.”
“Too late.”
A remote position? You’re good… being a weirdo is expected.
In my experience as a hiring manager, this would show me that you actually give a shit about the position that I’m trying to fill and are taking the interview seriously. And depending on how the rest of the interview went, could very well get filed into the “endearing” bucket.
https://i.redd.it/szkpydsaanze1.gif
Honestly, if I were you I’d be super relieved I wasn’t saying stupid stuff in an attempt to defuse tension with gibberish or foolish stuff.
You’re fine.
Well let us know if you got it! Lol
Yeah as someone who does up to three interviews a day for a part time role at the company I work for, if this happened I wouldn’t think twice lol would honestly just be a nice change of pace and show me you care
If I was the interviewer I would have hired you for sure as long as you had the placement requisites in order. I look for honesty and genuine answers from applicants. I hate the typical corpo answers that people are trained to provide. That would have been a breath of fresh air as the interviewer.
The person interviewing you has also been on the other side, probably many times. He, and everyone else in the word, know exactly what it’s like before an interview.
Context: I’m a hiring manager in IT. Assuming the rest of the interview went well, I’d find it rather endearing.
I’ve conducted many interviews and that sort of thing helps humanize you and makes you memorable. Those are both very good things!
I personally find it very relatable and cute. If the rest of the interview went well, I would not hold it against you, especially since you didn’t say anything off color.
I was retail store manager for a few years and have had to interview people both in person and on zoom. I definitely would consider this more a positive than a negative.
Another victim of Apple’s unnecessary assault on the 3.5mm jack
Hey for what it’s worth as an HR person I’d find that really endearing and relatable, it wouldn’t change my perception of you at all. If you managed to pull off a good interview after that I’d even be extra impressed.
Heck this may actually humanize you to the interviewer. Much of the time you just want to stand out from others. Long as you held it together and made it through, this is nada.
Always mute yourself at the start of a meeting! Lets you give yourself a pep talk, and doesn’t let interviewers stealthily listen in lol.
“Pretend like you have it together.” This made me chuckle 🤭
Interviewer didn’t care about your little pep talk. We’re all running on vibes and caffeine
Update us!!! Please
Running on vibes and caffeine? Oh good, you will fit right in with the rest of the coworkers.
I interview a decent amount of people now and that wouldn’t be a deal breaker.
If I had a candidate do this, I’m adding points.
Self affirmation is a HUGE green flag for me. I teach any person I am managing or mentoring how to do this the right way and how it can be a reset mechanism for stressful situations.
If I was the interviewer my first thought would be that this person really wants the job. My second thought would be “he’s not cocky. I like him”.
Sometimes you just never know.
Many years ago I and a fellow manager were interviewing external candidates for a supervisor position. The conference room wasn’t gigantic by any means, but it was still roomy. The next candidate was shown in and we shook hands. I stepped back a couple feet and held up my hand, saying “I need to let you know that I suffer from cluster headaches and one major trigger is colognes and perfumes, and the cologne you are wearing is very strong and is going to trigger one in ten seconds unless you sit at the far end of the room.” To say he was crestfallen is an understatement. The look on his face went from a smile to “OMFG, I just blew a chance to land this position.” But the fact is that he maintained his composure, his interview went great, and while he didn’t get to wear that cologne anymore, he got the job.
I recommended someone get hired because they said that they tell themselves, “I got this”, when doing new things. That speaks to me of resiliency and ability to grow.
Growth is always uncomfortable, and to push through that is resilience.
“That’s what a lot of people with jobs tell themselves in their car every morning; you can see I’m dedicated to working for you”
Ai post
Those are in head thoughts, not outside head thoughts
Hiring manager here friend, hearing your “self pep talk” would make me more interested. Interviews are strenuous. I know this and I already know that YOU know this. If I got a “sneak peek” in to the fact that the person I’m interviewing was pepping themselves up for it, I would see that as “this person seriously wants this job”. I would make a joke about it to break the tension and think better of you out the gate.
I hire personalities, not necessarily skills. If you’ll mesh well with the team, I’ll take you over a skilled a-hole. This shows your humor which is a big plus for me
If I was doing the interview, I’d find it entertaining. Everybody has similar thoughts before interviews, yours just happened to be broadcast.
Then again, I just hired someone after the conversation:
Me: “what salary would you be comfortable at”
Them: “I’ll ask you, what the range” (good job, right answer)
Me: “realistically 70-80k a year”
Them: “I make 65k now, as long as I make 60 though, I’d be good”. (Um, huh?)
When I offered the job the next day, I laughed and said “you know you said that right?” (I offered them my original range, without a second thought, I’m not an ass).
Moral of the story: interviews aren’t perfect. People are people. It’s a nerve wracking experience for all involved. If the worst that happens is they hear you try to give a pep talk, that’s not bad.
At least you didn’t say ‘pop a titty ayeee’.
“Mostly running on vibes and caffeine” priceless
That’s a cringe-worthy moment! you nailed it anyway!
I swear I am the only person that mutes the mic before joining a call lol
This is a bot
I prefer to hire humans and this is a very human thing.
You just made the interviewer remember you. Not only that, the interviewer already knows that even under pressure, you didn’t crack and still pulled it off.
I’d say you’re a frontrunner right now because of this little “tifu.”
Pls. do update us if you got the job or not.
Gotta update us if you got the job lol
I would hire you instantly after that performance! Good luck. Update us when you get hired there.
Hope you get it
I’ve been a recruiter for 13 years and wouldn’t give a fuck if someone did this.
Interviewers are usually just employees, and you’re only human, they get it, dw.
Jokes on you, they’re hiring weirdos.
I was just thinking it’s annoying ZOOM doesn’t ding when someone joins… it really should.
I once had a kid interviewing for an internship that had a panic attack halfway through. He seemed so nervous and finally just couldn’t even speak, and I told him to take a breath, take a moment, I know interviews are so nerve-wracking and we weren’t in any rush. Once he collected himself- eyes closed with his hand on his chest breathing slowly for a LONG time – he had a good interview and he got the job. I’m sure he thought he bombed hard.
Truth is, the person interviewing you probably found you relatable. They’re just another human. They talk to themselves at their desk. They wear pajama bottoms. They forget to mute their mic. Normal human stuff happens.
Im 40, we’re all running on vibes and caffeine. It’s not a secret that when I go idle at 3pm it’s bc I’m making my afternoon coffee and I’m not about to get sidetracked by work while it cooks. Welcome.
The one major fucking reason I prefer google meet over zoom is Google meet at least makes a noise when someone joins instead of zoom’s silent surprise
Everyone knows that people are nervous for interviews. Usually the self talk was done in the car on the way. Now with interviews on phone and video calls, this stuff happens. You laughed it off. You recovered. Doubtful it will be held against you.
TLDR {warning}
a bit of encouragement here from my experience. I had an interview scheduled through an agent. I love being early (less stress) so I left hours in advance figuring I could have some coffee and chill in the area of the interview.
The drive was 40 minutes from my house. This is in Los Angeles at the time. The 40 minute drive that I left 3 hours early turned into 5 hours making me 2 hours late. The agent called me 30 minutes before my interview time, and ever 30 minutes there after. EXTREMELY stressful. I told him to knock it off and I would call him when I arrived at the destination.
I called when I hit the parking lot — he asked if I was really going through with the interview due to excessive time differences. I said, “oh you betcha! I spent all this time. I am finishing this”. He just said call me after the interview is done.
I walked in, they asked a few questions. They interviewed me. 15 minutes later I was calling the agent back.
He said “oh no that’s way too fast. do you think it went well?” I just said “if it does, it does, if it doesn’t…”
He nicely said, “brother I’ve been doing this a long time and you are the first person ever to follow through under extreme circumstances”. He basically said no one goes to an interview when they are “late” let alone “this late” lol.
He told me if they didn’t hire me he would find me something. The job did send the agent a hiring offer but said they were concerned with drive times.
I ended taking another job that the agent found for me.
I too would give you extra “props” for starting out under duress and following through if i was the hiring manager.
As someone who has done a lot of interviews, anytime someone seems aggressively human, I would hire them lmao.
Like I’d find that so charming that I’d immediately fight for you to be on my team.
I absolutely need to know if you get the job otherwise I’ll inplode
But did you get the job? 🤞
Honestly, a pep talk like that is more endearing than a red flag. And if they knock you back because of that, it’s probably not a good fit for you anyway
Don’t be so harsh on yourself. It’s normal to be nervous before an interview. If anything, this shows you care for the position.
I used to do quite a lot of interviews, especially virtual during COVID. I would have actually found this super endearing and it would show that you actually cared enough to have to give yourself a little pep talk. I know it’s embarrassing but I think it’ll work in your favor.
You’ve got this and you will be brilliant.. don’t stress .. you are human.. as others have said it shows you care and as someone that interviews a lot of people that doesn’t happen very often.. good luck!
Yeah it was awkward but you powered through, if I was an interviewer the fact you pulled together would be a massive plus.
You’re human. It’ll be ok. And I hope you get the job (if you want it).
Many, many years ago I had an interview and had printed out a bunch of notes, highlighted sections with a yellow marker, and brought it all with me in a leather binder.
After the interview, I was driving away and realized the binder was not in the car. I was so nervous that I’d left it on the roof of the car when driving away.
I went back and the HR rep told me someone found it in the parking lot. Because of the state of the papers, it was obvious that lots of stuff had fallen out and it was obvious the rep read through everything.
She made kind of a half-cringe/half-laugh face while handing everything back.
I did not get that job. But a few months later I applied for another job there and got it.
OP. Interviewers are human too. If I was interviewing someone, I would find it hilarious but it certainly wouldn’t have an impact on my hiring decision. In fact, I would probably consider it a plus. You were being authentic
Nah, you didn’t fuck it up. It showed that you were a human being. I’ve never been in the position of hiring, just as a preliminary “vibe” check and I wouldn’t see this as weakness, and wouldn’t hold it against you.
Honestly it’s not that bad of a look. Bit awkward, bit fun-spirited.
All that shows is that you take the interview seriously and that you want the position. I wouldn’t think any less of you or your abilities.
I’ve conducted several interviews and I lowkey wish people were this true to themselves. Our team basically has the same vibes, so if someone brought this energy to the interview AND THEN recovered and was able to ask/answer questions, they’d be a serious contender.
Yeah it’s awkward, but job interviews usually are. Hope you’ll get it!
Don’t stress. Everyone is running on caffeine and vibes. You aren’t the outlier, you are the mean!
No one is ever going to judge you badly for being nervous before an interview. If you let it derail your performance, stumble over yourself etc, maybe but you didn’t.
Everyone is nervous before interviews. Verbal confirmation doesn’t derail that
Things happen. I twisted my ankle after a 3 hour in person interview coming back from lunch break for another 3 hour interview. It was painful and embarrassing. I was hired. 🤷♂️🤪
If you were interviewing to be a Zoom meeting director, then that was a TIFU. otherwise it’s being a normal person.
I don’t think this would be a deal-breaker. However, I literally NEVER join a meeting with my camera live and my mic hot. I wait until I am addressed. For future meetings, you really should mute yourself in the software also. You can’t mute the wrong mic if you use the software.
“Running mostly vibes and caffeine.” Mood. I hope it goes well. We’re all people and that’s keeping it pretty real (even if you didn’t mean to), so hopefully they understand and I’m sure they can relate.
They at least know you’re not a conceited, overconfident a-hole! Might even resemble a “normal” person.
First of all, do not worry about it
Either you’ll get it or you won’t
The most important part of this entire story is not the job
The most important part of this entire story is you real realizing that you were not well prepared
You should’ve had on pants
You should not be talking to yourself inside of a meeting room
You should get a full night sleep and rest before you’re having a big meeting like this
You should always assume that somebody can hear you, in the world of zoom meetings, and iPads and nanny cams , always assume that you’re being recorded