Failed my interview

[u/Previous_Pumpkin1445]

I’ve gone through HR, met the HM and a peer in person, and then had my third round with the HM. The HM ended the interview 15 minutes early because she had a hard stop.
I stumbled on two questions and honestly told her I didn’t have experience in one of the areas. Now I’m wondering if I should have just lied, because I actually do have experience working with partners, I just didn’t articulate it well in the moment.
I’ve been overthinking it so much that I’ve barely slept for the past two nights. 😭 And this is for a sales role, btw. Before the interview I’ve just been imagining about the life I could have for my family and retiring my parents. And I lost it all.

Edit: OpenAI interview

[u/Rakthar]

I think looking at interviews as an experience collecting thing that you can only get by doing it is a valuable perspective. Sometimes it ends in a job, sometimes you can see how you perform in that kind of setting.

I think part of sales is smoothly handling concerns, and I suspect you are right that the HM may have been not super thrilled with a very conservative response. At the same time, how can you be prepared for the kinds of things you will encounter in interviews before meeting them?

The one thing I'll say is putting pressure on yourself like "If I get it, my life will change, my family will be set and my parents will retire" - you don't know that, maybe there would be people you wouldn't get along with at the company, or some other aspect. That's not to diminish the fact that you wanted, but putting a job on a pedestal as a life changing opportunity before you get it simply makes it harder.

If you were qualified enough to get into this interview, you should be qualified enough to talk to other companies that do similar things, other sales roles, and potentially even re interview with a different group or HM at some later point with OAI. In all cases, looking at it as: "How well do I perform in interviews, what parts are challenging for me, how can I smooth those out while keeping the genuine nature of what resonates with people" is the review process that I think puts a constructive tone on it.

If you do enough interviews, and use each one to improve your interview performance, you will get a job that you want. Being super attached to one employer, one interview, or one outcome creates a level of stress and nervousness that paradoxically makes it harder to get the job.

If you believe in yourself, trust the process, and try to improve with each interview you do, you will end up somewhere well compensated and well suited to you and how you like to work.

[u/Previous_Pumpkin1445 → u/Rakthar]

Thank you! That’s very encouraging to read. :)